Nosara.com

New Tower Provides 3G Mobile Phone Service to Nosara

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:44:00 +0000

The Nosara area now has 3G mobile phone service, which means improved phone and internet service for visitors and residents alike. The telephone and power company, ICE, installed a new tower in the EE section above Playa Guiones, also known as Las Huacas mountain, and service is available from downtown Nosara to as far as Barco Quebrado to the south.
3G, or Third Generation International Mobile Telecommunications Services, includes wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data. Visitors will need to ensure that their plan allows for international roaming. Current ICE customers will need to upgrade to 3G phones. The old tower remains in service, but its signal doesn’t consistently reach some areas of the American Project.

June brings better weather and the Green Season

admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:14:15 +0000

June weather in Nosara has recovered nicely from May, when we experienced an unusual amount of rain. In spite of plenty of sunshine, it’s still a relatively slow and tranquil time with plenty of good swell for surfers and the full range of activities available for visitors. Many here have ‘World Cup Fever’ and are gathering at area restaurants to watch their favorite teams compete.
The ‘Green Season,’ which is inaugurated in May with the advent of regular rain, is the favorite time for most locals and many tourists. Plants and foliage are at their most lush, and afternoon or evening rain moderates the temperatures.
The locals here were looking for some relief from unusually warm temperatures in March and April that were attributed to the el Nino phenomenon, which is also credited for the light rainfall of last year’s Green Season. But that effect is over, leaving us with predictions for normal rainfall. Since the outlook for hurricanes is above average, we could catch some rain from any hurricanes or tropical depressions in the lower Caribbean but thankfully the hurricanes themselves never reach as far south as Costa Rica.
The return of the rains ended any concerns that our local water company had about rationing in April, when the water tables are at their lowest, and while there aren’t too many new construction projects breaking ground now, there’s no holdup on getting a water meter installed.
Costa Rica is recovering nicely from the worldwide recession, although we’re not quite back to the top year of 2007. Business owners here generally report that the past high season was a nice comeback from the year earlier and if things stay on track next year should be as strong as ever.
July is typically a very popular time here, with less rain than other months during the Green Season, and August is good as well. Visitors are as enchanted with the beaches here as ever, typically yearning to extend their stay, look at real estate, or think of ways to spend more time here in the future. Pura Vida!

Tourist Police in Nosara will improve security at beaches

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:55:49 +0000

While many locals have been concerned by an increase in break-ins in the past year, dramatic and swift action by Costa Rica’s top police official, Comisario Erick Lacayo, means that a beach-based squad of nine Tourist Police is already setting up and will be ready for the next high season here.
Lacayo flew into Nosara Sept. 28 in response to a request by locals for a detachment of the new Tourist Police. Within days he replaced all 12 members of the Fuerza Publica stationed in Nosara and brought in a new police chief as well. The additional Tourist Police were created last year and also report to Comisario Lacayo, and have the same authority as the regular police or Fuerza Publica.
Lacayo flew to Nosara again Oct. 6 for a follow-up meeting, and brought in the top prosecutor and investigator from Nicoya to address concerns about how cases are handled there.
Having taken these steps to stem crime, he said it is now up to Nosara residents to demonstrate their support of police efforts, including contributions of materials and funds to ensure the police are adequately housed and equipped.
Local businessmen and homeowners have already pledged $12,000 toward providing facilities, and they are considering quarters next to the Century 21 office where Kearmy private security was located before moving to the entrance to Club Guiones. The location, across from Casa Tucan, is near the main entrance to Playa Guiones, although they will be responsible for patrolling Playa Pelada as well.
In an impressive show of commitment, Lacayo brought in the chief prosecutor or Fiscal of Nicoya, Silvia Cubillo, as well as Nicoya’s head of OIJ, the Judicial Investigating Organization, Alex Mora, to hear about and respond to local concerns about inadequate investigations and prosecution of criminals when they are arrested.
Costa Rica has a liberal judicial system that favors releasing suspects, although the officials said they can hold suspects in jail if there is a reason to believe they might threaten victims.
The new Nosara police chief, Jason Vargas, was introduced by Lacayo, who in turn introduced some of his officers before an applauding crowd of about 100 Ticos and foreign residents, including the top police officers of Nicoya and Guanacaste.
Lacayo emphasized that the people of Nosara have much to do to follow-up and support the police effort. The disrepair of the local police station is at the top of the list, along with the donation of land for a larger station to meet the longer terms needs of this rapidly growing community, he said.
Because the police budget is limited, contributions from the community of materials and money are needed, and must be controlled through a designated organization that will oversee the use of funds and hold the police force accountable, he outlined during the three hour meeting.
According to Agnes Pinheiro, who hosted the meeting at the FUCAN building, meetings are planned in November to create the security association and elect officers. A major fundraising effort will go toward repairs of the existing station and an estimated $15,000 annual budget to provide a station and equipment for the new Tourist Police.
The current station, in the town square of Nosara, may be forced to shut down by November under an order by the Department of Health, if repairs are not underway.
An issue raised at both meetings was the difficult process of filing police reports and obtaining prompt investigations by the OIJ, because the Fuerza Publica are restricted in the amount of investigation they can do, and the OIJ, with 16 investigators for the entire Canton, must come from Nicoya to investigate.
Because tourists will not usually take the time to go to Nicoya to file a police report, Lacayo said that it will now be permitted for hotel owners, property managers, or other residents to file a report on behalf of their guests as long as an original report is signed by the victim at the Nosara delegation
But while the Nosara police can take a report on a crime, someone must still make the hour-long drive to Nicoya to file a report, or denuncia with the police there, for the OIJ to follow up with an official investigation. The OIJ must come to check on any crime whenever they are called, but a report still must be signed in Nicoya. The timeliness of the investigation will also depend on the availability of the 16 agents, few for a large geographical area.
Only nine denuncias were filed for Nosara from January to May, 2009, Lacayo said at the first meeting, although many more were filed in the Nosara office that never became part of the official statistics.
The Fiscal, or prosecutor’s office in Nicoya was the subject of much criticism for failing to detain criminal suspects who have been brought in. Cubillo described the legal process that is involved, and said that suspects could be held if victims state that they are threatened, or if they don’t have an established address in the community and may flee. Lacayo said a follow-up meeting with a smaller group could be set up to review the steps necessary to arrest, detain and prosecute suspects. While the law may seem to favor criminals over victims, he said changing the law is a longer process at the national level.
According to Mora, Costa Rica is the only country where investigators are not allowed to interrogate suspects on the whereabouts of stolen goods. Only if the suspect volunteers the information can they act on it. Proof and witnesses are the only real ways to get a suspect arrested and convicted.
Comisario Lacayo summarized, “we need money, time, service and structure. But we are doing as much as we can possible do. Think of the Nosara you want to see in the future years.”
In addition to a large delegation of police, the meeting was attended by Commandante Jose Cruz, sub-director of the Fuerza Publica in Guanacaste, Xenia Chavez, Chief of the Tourist Police, Capitan Mauricio Castillo, chief of the Fuerza Publica in Nicoya, and Agente Yinni Guerrero, Commission de Distritalizacion, a community liaison.

Online maps of Costa Rica now available

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:38:58 +0000

A new online roadmap and tourism service has been created by the Costa Rican tourism agency to help tourists navigate and find popular destinations.
he Camara Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR) said the service would provide information on Costa Rica’s borders and roads, and main tourism destinations and services.
The map shows localities, beaches and national parks in each province, as well as the most popular recreation activities in each area, such as surfing, bird-watching and turtle sanctuaries.
The map also shows public buildings such as hospitals, airports and gas stations, as well as distances between places and national and secondary highways. To access the maps, go to:
http://www.canatur.org/ingDefault.aspx

Middlebury College interns teach English at Kitson Library

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:12:54 +0000

Four Middleburg College students recently came to Nosara on internships to teach English to local schoolchildren at the Kitson Memorial Library. One of the students has written an interesting and insightful account of her experience and posted it as a blog on Middleburg’s website.
She wrote, “…my time abroad has been an experience that I would not trade for anything. My students are some of the greatest people that I have met in my entire life. The Ticos are genuinely wonderful people; between inviting us over to share the little food and wealth that they have, to picking us up when we hitchhiked, to towing our car out of a ditch when we decided to rent a car and travel to Volcano Arenal and Monteverde…the Ticos were there every step of the way!”
Follow this link and you’ll be treated to an entertaining account of her cultural experiences.
http://blogs.middlebury.edu/internship/2009/07/23/la-biblioteca-kitson-in-nosara-costa-rica/

Nosara loves its monkeys

admin — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:29 +0000

Nosara loves its monkeys, and we’re blessed with more of them here than most parts of Costa Rica. That’s because development has been more controlled and there is an abundance of trees and green space. There are also many people here who have made it their mission to protect our howlers.
The beach areas, or American Project, includes 77 hectares of protected woodlands in 22 parcels of land, that will never be developed. In spite of this, monkeys are sometimes electrocuted from power lines. Some local citizens have worked for years to raise funds to insulate the lines and protect the monkeys, and provide a refuge and care for injured animals.
Two Nosara organizations, the Refugio Animales de Nosara and SIBU Sanctuary, share a common mission, as published on their website http://www.nosarawildlife.com : “to rescue injured, orphaned, and displaced wild animals and provide them immediate medical care, rehabilitation, and eventual release into the wild. Animals unlikely to survive in the wild receive attentive, long-term care. We are also educators and advocates who work cooperatively with other organizations to encourage respect for animals’ lives and preservation of their habitat. Our work is complementary, but different.”
Check out their website, which includes information on how to build homes that have a minimal impact on our wildlife.

Local road improvements noted in ‘AM Costa Rica’

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 22:55:14 +0000

Those driving to Nosara lately have seen a lot of road construction crews at work and are amazed at how smooth the roads are between the Samara gas station (bomba) and Nosara. The work is the first stage of what will become paved hiway all the way to Nosara.
This progress was noted in the May 21 issue of AM Costa Rica, the free online English-language news organization. The writer may be exaggerating the difficulty of travel to Nosara, but people really do love it here. The paved road to Nicoya has been almost completely resurfaced, and the roads to Liberia or San Jose are better maintained than ever.
Here’s the article as it appeared in its entirety:

“Nosara road work perhaps a hint of things to come”

A visitor really has to love Nosara to get there. The main route is a gravel, mostly dirt road bisected by runoff ditches and dotted with mud holes. Frequently in the rainy season only buses and large trucks can traverse the route.

Many residents like the situation the way it is because bad roads retard development.

There is a change coming.

Workers are grading the road now, and the work looks like preparation for pavement, according to residents. Grading is done every year, and officials froze a contract to pave the Nosara road in mid-2007. The job was supposed to start last year.

“In some places it has been made wider and it is being graded to make the road drain properly,” said one resident. “They have official signs about men working and a real road crew to direct traffic, which we’ve not seen before.”

But because the rainy season is here, most residents doubt that an asphalt job can be done until at least December. The route is a rocky 30 kms or about 19 miles. The central government has been promising asphalt since at least 1985.

Finding out for sure in the bureaucracy of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes is daunting. The construction firm CASICA won a bid to do the job in May, 2007, in part because it
was the only company in the process that had a certified laboratory to keep track of road work. However, a new bid process was called for to include companies that did not maintain a certified lab, said Pedro Castro, vice minister, at the time.

This is only half of the story. In the planning stages for the Pacific coast community is a new $60 million highway project that will include seven bridges. The road will more or less follow the path of another seasonal gravel road that leads from Sámara to Playa Garza and Nosara. It will be about 40 kms or 25 miles.

This is one of the projects that is on the ministry’s wish list for Guanacaste.

The current gravel road cannot be used during the rainy season or when there is high water in the many rivers. Motorists now have to ford the rivers and streams. The road parallels the coastline.

The $60 million price tag may seem excessive, but if the job is done it will open up a section of Pacific coast property that has been a backwater. Sámara, which is further south on the Nicoya Peninsula Pacific coast already is connected to the business center and community of Nicoya with an all-weather, hard surface road.

Planners also are drafting designs for a 40-km (25-mile) stretch between Santa Cruz and Santa Bárbara as well as doing preliminary sketches for a Sardinal-Potrero road that will connect with the Golfo de Papagayo.

Banking in Nosara

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:14:48 +0000

There is an ATM machine and branch of Banco Popular near Café de Paris in Playa Guiones. The ATM accepts Visa/Cirrus branded cards but not Mastercard, and dispenses currency in either Colones or US dollars. There are other ATM machines in Nicoya and Samara that accept Mastercard branded cards, including those operated by Banco Nacional. The bank will exchange your dollars, and while virtually all merchants accept dollars, they may not offer the best exchange rate. Be sure to have your passport or ID with you, even when just exchanging currency. A book may be handy as well if many people are waiting, but the air conditioned lobby is nice!
Check the exchange rate before travelling, it is about 570 Colones per dollar as of this posting. You can see the current rate at Banco National’s website at http://www.bncr.fi.cr/BN/index.asp?c=home
Some restaurants and lodgings do not accept credit cards; you should check beforehand. Traveler’s checks are less accepted, so don’t rely on them unless your hotel has confirmed they will exchange them.
If you are carrying a large amount of cash, use a secure money belt, something that cannot be taken from you if you are distracted. You will find yourself getting very relaxed in Nosara, so don’t forget basic security precautions.
Something to consider when you are using a credit or debit card outside the U.S. are the so-called currency conversion fees. Most U.S. bank-issued credit cards add a 3% fee to transactions outside the U.S. On the plus side, you are given the most favorable exchange rate. A very useful website that shows the charges imposed by different credit cards is at:
http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange
You will also pay more for your ATM withdrawals. An added 2% exchange rate fee is typical, along with other fees your bank may charge you for ‘off-us’ transactions. These fees may be annoying but are typically part of the price of foreign travel.
Restaurants and hotels in Costa Rica pay higher fees to banks here than is typical in the U.S., and they are allowed to add these fees to the customers’ bills as an added item. You might save money by paying in cash, and should ask if there is an extra charge for using your credit card.
Also, it is a common practice here for restaurants to automatically add a 10% tip, marked on the check as ‘propina’ or tip. A little extra tip, possibly your loose change, is a standard practice for customers. There is also a hefty tax that should be added to restaurant and hotel bills. If you don’t see it, you may follow the local custom and not ask too many questions Don’t forget the $26 per person departure tax that you must purchase at the airport before going to your ticket gate. They only accept cash and Visa branded cards. The card transaction may be processed as a cash advance, which may entail extra fees and interest charges.
Travel safely, and with a little extra planning you can save some money as well!

Nosara surfing offers something for beginners to experts

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:47:21 +0000

If you are a surfer, you probably already know about the great waves here at Playa Guiones and have checked out some of the photography posted at many websites focused on surf reports. It is also one of the best places in the world to learn how to surf, and several local schools are focused on beginners. You can even plan a trip that includes both surfing and yoga instruction. The focus on balance and upper body strength make these two a great combination. The first yoga-surf retreat was offered here in 2005 and there are now many every year. While the advanced levels may take years of practice, beginner classes are accessible to a wide range of age groups and fitness levels and are a lot of fun!
Here’s a recent web posting by a reviewer who comments about surfing in Nosara:
“If you are a surfing enthusiast, then you should know about Nosara, Costa Rica. This place is one of the most popular surfing destinations in the world where you will be able to experience some of the best waves that you will ever get to ride. With beaches that are extremely clean, and almost never crowded, you can be sure that you will be able to find this place to be a surfer’s paradise.
“With ideal surfing climate combined with fantastic waves that is described as unparalleled all over the world, you can be sure that you will have a lot of fun surfing in Nosara. With a relaxed lifestyle, low cost of living, and stable economy, you can be sure that you will be able to afford surfing here…”
http://www.stokednews.com/?p=11979

The Green Season is Arriving, Hooray!

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:57:01 +0000

The arrival of the first rainshower Thursday heralded the arrival of the Green Season, cheered by residents who are tired of the hot, dry, dusty “summer” season. Our plants will become lush again and the temperatures will be a little cooler. The orange and purple “Halloween” crabs are heading to the beach to spawn, a sign that the rains are on their way.
There will still be plenty of sunshine, but the arrival of rainshowers, mainly in the evening, is especially welcome since there has not been rain since December.
Some visitors worry that the rainy season is not a good time to visit Nosara. To the contrary, there are many advantages for the travelers who arrive after April. The rates on lodging are lower, and there are fewer crowds. The roads aren’t dusty and the weather is beautiful.
When packing for a trip during the Green Season, you should bring a compact umbrella or lightweight rain parka. A rain hat can be handy. Cotton and natural fibers dry more slowly so synthetic fabrics can be more versatile. Footwear can get muddy so bring washable sandals. Leather takes longer to dry and can get moldy over time.
You’ll still need plenty of sunscreen, and don’t forget your flashlights.