http://www.cupotico.com/ A Web Site about Costa Rica with travel information maps hotels reviews and general information. en-us Copyright 2001-2009 Cupotico.com Thu, 5 Aug 2010 13:02:22 GMT Travel admin@cupotico.com (Admin Cupotico) web@cupotico.com (WebMaster Cupotico) 40 Dominical. and surrounding villages sit right on the water's edge, and rainfall is about the same as in other coastal towns to the north or the south. Logically, Dominical's climate should also be similar: hot days and warm evenings. But this is not the case. Mornings and evenings are much cooler, and even during the middle of the day pleasant breezes come in from across the ocean. At night temperatures drop into a delightful range, making it possible to sleep without an air conditioner. Don't misunderstand, the climate here isn't like the Meseta Central, but it is considerably cooler than most parts of the coast. This is due to an odd juxtaposition of geographical features. Not far from the beach, mountain slopes start climbing sharply from the flat shelf of land that borders the ocean. They swoop higher and higher until they reach Costa Rica's highest point- Chirripo peak. During daylight hours, the sun beats down on that narrow strip of land between the ocean and the mountain slopes, heating the air, causing it to rise. As the warm air flows upward along the mountain's face, cooler air is continually pulled in from the ocean. Then in the evening, when the sun's heating action stops, cool air from the high peaks descends (cool being heavier than warm), reversing the direction of the breeze, pushing the humid, muggy air out to sea. Thu, 5 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Unusual_Climate_of_Dominical.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Unusual_Climate_of_Dominical.html South of Quepos and Manuel Antonio Over another 40 miles of a new paved road is another of those and great potential for retirement and/or investment. Since and paved roads is in place, a steady stream of traffic cruising along the beach tourists looking for rooms and retirees buying property. The village of Dominical and its surrounding communities can't help but flourish. As you might guess, many foreign residents prefer things the way they are; they dread the thought of developments and tourists destroying the peace and tranquility that has been theirs for so long. But road crews are already done with the work; it is too late for anything but anguish. As one man said, and"It will seem funny to think that in a few years we'll be looking back fondly to the time when there were no traffic lights here.and" Dominical can also be reached by traveling south on the Pan American Highway and turning toward the Pacific at San Isidro General; just follow the signs through town. Because of San Isidro's system of one-way streets, you may have to ask directions by pointing in whichever direction you are going and asking and"Dominical?and" Someone will steer you right. This road is one of the most scenic in all of Costa Rica. The narrow, paved highway traverses rich farming country, up someand­what steep grades, running along ridges with breathtaking views onboth sides of the road, looking into deep valleys where the farm houses are so distant they seem like toys. Even during the dry season, the countryside is lushly green, with trees heavy with foliage and banana trees shading the roadside. Although the drive is less than 25 miles, it takes about 45 minutes. That's the way it should be, because the scenery is so spectacular that you might miss something if you could whiz along at 100 kph. The paved highway ends at the coastal road at the Baru River, a picturesque mountain stream which empties into a lagoon at this point. A turn to the left, over the river's new cement bridge and you find Dominical. Take the first right turn past the bridge. This is not a town even though it may appear as such on the map; it's a collection of cabinas, private homes and a handful of restaurants, sometimes almost hidden behind tropical vegetation. Dominical's main street (there are only a couple of streets here) follows the river, past several rental cabins and businesses, then ends at the beach where another road follows the beach down to Punta Banda. Camping beneath a grove of shade trees is free and your tent is just feet from the broad, sandy beach of Playa Dominical. Restrooms and showers are strategically spaced along the beach. The surf is spectacular, booming in on the sand but swimming is dangerous here, with riptides to harass those not used to handling them. and"You usually don't realize what is happening,and" said Richard Dale, the owner of Albergue Willdale, a set of cabinas where we were staying. and"It seems as if you are staying still in the water, but the beach is moving away from you. We lose a couple of tourists every year to these tides, and it isn't necessary. Instead of frantically trying to swim against the current, the best thing to do is to relax and leisurely swim parallel to the beach, until the shore stops moving away. The current is only a few feet wide. Then, work your way back to shore, pausing to float on your back and rest. The water is so warm and so salty that you can float all day long and never get tired. There is no reason for anyone to drown in a riptide.and" Mon, 2 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Dominical.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Dominical.html It was the middle of February, and I was sitting with a group of friends in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific. A long, palmfringed beach stretched out into the distance as far as we could with dazzling strength. Two members of our group were com?plaining about the heat. We consulted a thermometer and found that the temperature was 85 degrees. Suddenly they broke into laughter as they realized that Baltimore, their home town, was buried under four inches of sleet and snow. Two weeks of Costa Rica's idyllic weather had turned them into indignant complainers over an ordinary 85-degree day at the beach! We all ordered a cold beer served over ice cubes (a summer tradition here) and looked out over the panorama with renewed appreciation for where we were: Costa Rica's famous Playa Manuel Antonio. Doesn't that seem to be an odd name for a beach? According to legend, a husband, worried about his pregnant wife, placed her in a dugout canoe and headed north for Puntarenas, hoping to find a doctor to deliver the baby. But before they could go very far, the wife went into labor and they paddled ashore to camp in the shelter of the protected beach. She gave birth to a healthy child whom they named Manuel Antonio, and the beach has been called that ever since.Travelers who have visited beaches all over the world swear that Manuel Antonio is the most beautiful of all. The coastline north of Manuel Antonio is a long beach of golden sand that catches the full force of the Pacific's waves as they roll in from China. Then at Manuel Antonio park, a narrow peninsula juts out into the ocean, curving about to form two protected coves on either side of the land. The waves suddenly become gentle. You'll often find a sailboat or two anchored here, gently swaying, resting on the way to the Panama Canal or the big voyage north to Acapulco. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Manuel_Antonio_Beach.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Manuel_Antonio_Beach.html South of the Nosara area is a long string of beaches with tremendous potential. It runs from the middle of the peninsula to Cabo Blanco at the very tip of the peninsula and then around the blunt end. A friend claims that, Puerto Carrillo has the best and safest beach between Los Angeles and Tierra del Fuego. Most investors agree that the developmental potential between Cabo Velas and Cabo Blanco is among the best in the country.t. Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Cabo_Blanco.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Cabo_Blanco.html about 35 kilometers south of the Tamarindo is an area with a different developmental emphasis: the beaches of Nosara. Starting at Playa Ostional a turtle-nesting beach and wildlife refuge for Ridley turtles?,a string of lovely beaches and wildlife reserves extends south to Playa Guiones. Property owners here are attempting to keep this portion of the coast residential as they struggle to shun commercial development as much as possible. It all began about 25 years ago when an American investor purchased a huge tract of forest and beach and decided to develop the property in such a way as to preserve its natural beauty and wildlife resources. He developed a plan to market about 500 lots, each set into its own part of the wilderness. Almost all buyers were from the United States or Canada; they loved the isolation and the idea of preserving beaches, forest and animals. Things were going well until a few years later, when the original developer unexpectedly dropped out of the picture (an income tax problem in the States, as I understand it). Residents feared the area could turn commercial like Samara Beach farther to the south. They formed a property owners organization, totally committed to protecting their surroundings. They've convinced the government to dedicate portions of the land to wildlife and nature reserves and are offering to donate even more land. Together, property owners work diligently to keep commercial development to a minimum. Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Nosara_Beach_how_did_it_all_began.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Nosara_Beach_how_did_it_all_began.html Tamarindo Beach begins where Playa Grande ends, a pictures que estuary separating the two. Tamarindo is where many turtle-watchers find hotelsLaunches begin ferrying passengers across the estuary about midnight. Tourists tiptoe quietly along the beach and pause to observe the huge turtles as they awkwardly pull themselves up on the beach to bury their eggs six feet deep in the sand. This is an unforgettable sight; some of these turtles are more than 12 feet long and weigh up to 1,500 pounds! The one I watched laying eggs must have been a pygmy; she was barely eight feet across. Our guide claimed that during the peak of the season as many as 350 turtles can be on the beach in a single night. Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Tamarindo_Beach.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Tamarindo_Beach.html Turtles need a wide, sandy beach with ample portions not touched by high tide; Playa Grande fills these requirements admirably. It's long, unpopulated, with few human footprints to disturb the solitude. A few homes and one or two small hotels have sprung up along the northern part, but nothing like the construction underway on other west coast beaches. As a part of Tamarindo Refuge, the area will always be somewhat restricted in tourist development, even though the natural beauty and wildness of the area is bound to attract more people in the future. Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Playa_Grande.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Playa_Grande.html An excellent example of how tourism and conservation can work hand in hand is found to the south of the Flamingo beach complex. Starting at :::: Playa Grande and continuing south past Playa Tamarindo, a broad, sandy beach serves as nesting grounds for endangered Leatherback turtles. It used to be that local resi?dents awaited the arrival of these huge, prehistoric survivors, and collected the eggs in buckets as they were being deposited, and then sold the harvest to bars and restaurants all over the country.Alarmed by the possibility of the turtles' extinction, the Costa Rican government instituted a model conservation program. Local people are enlisted to help protect the nesting grounds. Guarding the beaches and guiding tourists through the nesting grounds put local people to work. Hotels and restaurants have opened to accommodate the ever-increasing number of tourists. Jobs are created for even more local residents. This boom has only begun; future development seems inevitable. Fri, 9 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Turtles_and_Tourists.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Travel/Turtles_and_Tourists.html The next beach complex is just a few kilometers south as the crow flies. But since there is no connecting road, unless you can fly like a crow, you must return to the paved road and make a wide loop on paved and dirt roadsand—a 65- or 70-kilometer drive. This array of beaches starts with Playa Pan de Azucar and continues south to Playa Tamarindo, including the beaches of La Penca, Potrero, Flamingo, Brasilito, Conchal, Playa Grande, Tamarindo and Langosta, in that order.By far, the prettiest is Playa Flamingo. A wide, curving beach of white sand, with startling blue waves turning to white-capped rollers before crashing loudly against the shore, creates one of the prettiest scenes imaginable. Hotels here cater to affluent tourists who can afford to fly in from San Jose and spend $150 a day for rooms. Ordinary budget tourists will find few (if any) reasonably priced rooms. Ongoing building activity As you might imagine, North Americans have taken over this beach, and have built some very nice homes. Some private homes offer rooms for rent, and probably do well, for there were aband­solutely no vacancies in town when I visited here last. Most of the non-developed beachfront is also owned by foreigners. However, local authorities have done well in keeping the first 50 meters open, with unlimited public access. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Flamingo_Beach_.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Flamingo_Beach_.html A quickly developing complex of playas (beaches) begins at Playa Panama, and stretches south through Playa Hermosa of guanacaste, Playas del Coco and ending at Playa Ocotal. The prettiest beach in this complex, and the one with the most potential, is Playa Hermosa. (Hermosa means and"beautifuland" in Spanish, and Playa Hermosa lives up to its name.) This is a lovely place, with a curving shoreline of clean sand and a peninsula which shields it from the open ocean and dangerous riptides. Development lags way behind nearby Playas del Coco, the most commercially developed of all the beach communities. Since the pavement ends in the center of El Coco, tourists tend to stay here rather than braving annoying stretches of washboard gravel roads to get to nearby beaches. In contrast with neighboring communities, which are sleepy and tranquil, Playas del Coco restaurants, bars and discos stay open all night on weekends, with happy people singing and shouting in exuberance all night long. (It seemed that way to me one weekend when I was trying to catch up on my sleep!) Playas del Coco is a fun place to be, with potential for investand­ment opportunities. At least 60 North Americans live here, many with viable businesses. But for retirement or long-term vacations, I might choose one of the quieter, nearby places. A number of North Americans have houses along the fringes of the less popuand­lated beaches. I understand that several North American families live in Hermosa Beach and more are in the planning stages of building. Italians and Germans are represented here, as well. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Playas_Del_Coco.html http://www.cupotico.com/info/Region/Playas_Del_Coco.html