Nice information on US Passports Fee increases, going up July 13, 2010.

Price Increase Alert: Passports – SmarterTravel.com.

I ran across this article today and thought it would contain some helpful information for our guests.

Airline Fees: The Ultimate Guide (Latin American and Caribbean Edition) – SmarterTravel.com.

This article was originally posted on Insidecostarica.com

Driving the new San José – Caldera highway can be a pleasure. It is pothole free, is well marked, has slow vehicle ramps
on hills and takes your from Chepe (San José) to the Puerto (Caldera/Puntarenas) in less than an hour.

But, there are some things you have to be aware of before you set off on the new highway.

1. Tolls. In total there are four toll booths from San José to Caldera: Ezcazú (¢320_, Guacima (¢480), Atenas (¢640) and Pozón (¢490) for a total of ¢1.930, each way. Not having enough money on hand can leave you stranded on the highway.

2. Slow drivers. The highway seems to be filled with slow drivers, drivers who insist on going 40 km/h where the maximum speed posted is 70, 80 and 100 km/h. These slow drivers create major traffic congestion in areas where there is no passing or slow traffic ramps. See Mystery of Slow Drivers On San José – Caldera Highway Solved

3. Drivers do not move over. Costa Ricans are known for their “king of the road” attitude. They will not pull over, use the slow traffic lane where available or allow passing in spite. So, always be wary of slow moving traffic. Always assume that around the corner is a yatzu waiting for you to rear end him or her.

4. No service stations. Before setting off on the new highway, make sure, and I can’t stress this more, that you have a full tank of gas. There are no gasoline service stations on the highway and the nearby ones are in towns like Atenas, Orotina and Guacima. Walking to get gas from those points is an adventure in itself.

5. It’s dark at night. In sections between La Sabana and Piedades, at the toll booth centres and some sections between Pozón (Orotina) and Caldera are illuminated, but the rest of the highway is not. It gets dark out there and there are populated areas to fill the night sky. Make sure you carry a flashlight in case you get stuck. And with that thought in mind, make sure you have reflective clothing, tape, etc in the trunk to let other drivers see you in the pitch dark of night.

6. Watch your speed. Although the highway has posted speed limits, the road is conducive to speeding. There are some sections of the highway that you can easily top 120, 140 even 150 km/h. But, guess what? The traffic cops have figured that out also. And have posted themselves in unlikely places, with radar in hand, waiting for you. For the now the fine can be around ¢20.000 colones or the cost of a lunch, depending on the traffic cop, but come March 1, if the new Ley deTránsito goes in effect, that fine could be ¢200.000 and points or dinner out with the whole family, if you know what I mean.

7. Toll booth operators. By and large the majority of the toll booth operators on the new highway are courteous, greet you with a good day or evening and bid you a “buen viaje” (good trip), just like the electronic sign in says. But some, well, don’t even look at you, continue their shouting conversations with other attendants and make you feel that you are bothering their life, even after spending endless minutes in traffic waiting to pay the toll. And if you are one of those driving a van, be prepared to pay more at some toll centres, as they hit you with a “big vehicle” story.

8. And on tolls. I am not sure who is the genius behind the toll fares. Why not just make it ¢300 at Escazú, ¢500 at Guacima, ¢600 or ¢650 at Atenas and ¢500 at Pozón. No, sir. It has to be ¢320, ¢490, ¢640 and ¢480 (respectively), which means having to fumble for those pesky ¢5 and ¢10 coins, then have to wait while the toll operator counts out each coin or wait to get change back from a ¢1.000, ¢2.000, ¢5.000 or ¢10.000 note. (Can’t wait until the ¢20.000 and ¢50.000 notes come out, to pay for a ¢320 toll). For the sake of Pura Vida, just round out the tolls to the nearest ’100′, it will work out in the end.

9. On Quick Pass. The Quick Pass is the smart way to cross the tolls. Of course not is you are in Guacima, Atenas or Pozón, since the Quick Pass lanes are also being used for manual payment due to the high volume of traffic. The idea behind the Quick Pass is exactly that “a quick pass”. The electronic sensor reads your approach, takes out the toll from your account, opens the gate and lets you by. But not on the aforementioned three toll stations, where you get in line like the rest of us. I am sure you are wondering what did you ever spend the us$30 bucks for the contraption.

10. More on Quick Pass. If you decide to splurge on the Quick Pass take note. For one, it can only be obtained from your nearest HSBC branch, where you will be asked to sign up for an account that requires your cedula or passport. Then the cost is us$30 if you are not a HSBC customer (us$15 is a customer). To open an account to save the us$15 be prepared for a banking bureaucracy second to none. I won’t go into that here, want to be fair to the other banks who have been shun out from this lucrative market.

All in all, barring the whining and complaining, the new San José – Caldera highway, some call it a road, is the next best thing to sliced bread when it comes to travelling to and from the Pacific coast.

A trip from San José La Sabana to the Puerto Caldera is 52 minutes, traveling to and Jacó is 70 minutes or less (without speeding and normal traffic).To and from Tamarindo, Flamingo, etc is now under 4 hours. San José to Liberia under 3 hours, Playas del Coco 14 minutes more. The southern zone is now more closer than ever, especially with the near completion of the Costanera Sur.

So, fill up your tank, pocket full of colones and go cruising in Pura Vida Land!

Enrico Cacciatore

Editor@ Insidecostarica.com

photo credit: Daquella manera

This week of Semana Santa (Easter in the USA), I have noticed a lot of cultural differences between Costa Rica and how we celebrate Easter in the states. First of all most of Costa Rica shuts down for the entire week prior, they tend to celebrate it more on the Thursday & Friday before Easter Sunday, so if you’d like to buy alcohol or need to go to the bank you need to do so before close of business on Wednesday.

Since most of the country seems to have off of work during the week of Semana Santa they all tend to travel to the beaches. We have noticed a huge influx of people in Mal Pais and Santa Teresa this week. With the increase of tourism we have also noticed an increase in the transit police. Normally they don’t tend to patrol our area of Mal Pais & Santa Teresa very much but we have heard that they are out in force this week and are issuing citations to those people who are breaking the new traffic laws that just went into effect on 3/1/2010.

So… this week sees the Price Family staying at home an awful lot because our only form of transportation is an ATV. If we were to pass a transit police officer with 4 people on an ATV and only 1 helmet, we’d be a shoo in for a $200.00 ticket and that would be a bad ending to a wonderful vacation. If you are traveling to Mal Pais or Santa Teresa in the near future take this on advisement that you need to wear a helmet if you are on an ATV or Motorcycle.

photo credit: stevendepolo

I woke up this morning thinking about this blog post. I cannot believe we have been in Costa Rica for almost 3 months. Our time here is winding down and I think all of us are a bit on edge about having to go back home. I have noticed that my DH is spending more time on the computer reconnecting with the world, I am running out of books to read and my kids are starting to get the I don’t want to go back attitude. All in all it is always worth it and our family definitely benefits from the time we spend here.

My top 5 reasons I love bringing my children to Costa Rica:

• The Weather – We leave the damp, windy & cold mid-atlantic coast in mid January and literally have to change clothes when we arrive in San Jose. The constant bright sunshine and hot weather ( around 90 F everyday) is just perfect for telling the kids to “go outside & play”. We all sweat a lot and we all drink much more water everyday.
• The People – Costa Rica has really benefited a lot from the dollars they receive in tourism. The Ticos (Costa Rican Natives) for the most part have taken this growth in stride and they are truly happy that we are here and spending our money. My children have several local children that they play with and when they go into their homes they can see that it isn’t about all the stuff you have, you can have fun, make up games & just play. Without all of the latest toys.
• The Food – Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica is one of the “blue zone” countries as written about by Dan Buettner in his book about Living Longer. We try to stick to locally grown fruits & vegetables mostly. The local restaurants are wonderful and the local grocery stores have everything you need. It’s fairly inexpensive to eat typically but if you just have to have that large bag of Dorito’s, they have it but be prepared to pay extra.
• The Television – We have a SKY satellite connection that gives us mostly all the channels we need. I like that their menu is categorized and has a block of channels just for the children. I like that some of the channels show programs in english and some of them are in spanish. I love the fact that I rarely see a commercial! When there are commercials it is usually for another show or movie. I don’t think I have seen one “product or toy based commercial” at all. Most of all I like the fact that the television usually stays off.
• The Inconvenience – We are so far removed from any major city that any kind of family excursion takes planning. I like that the girls are getting to see that we can’t just run down to our local “Wal Mart” and get something when we need it. Sometimes we just have to make do with what we have or go without for a little while. I think that’s a healthy lesson for us all.

Most of all coming to Costa Rica reminds me of traveling to my Great Grandparents house in the rural area of west Tennessee when I was a child. The dusty dirt roads, the long walks with my cousins (going nowhere) & getting to spend lots of one on one time with my family.

In 2009 Costa Rica passed several new driving laws which will hopefully make the roads safer for everyone. One law that I wanted to point out has to do with car seats for children.

I found a fellow blogger listed these laws like the one I quoted below. According to his article, driving a child without the proper safety seat is a Class A offense which carries a fine of about $400 + the loss of ALL of your drivers license points.

Driving a child without proper safety seats (and you lose all 50 points). Included is driving a motorcycle or any other motorized similar vehicle (like quadracycles with a minor and that minor has no helmet.

Read the whole article…

The first year we brought one convertible car seat w/ a five point harness for the youngest (2yrs old at the time) and a regular booster seat for the older child who was 5yrs old at the time.  We checked the convertible car seat as baggage (most airlines will let you do this and not count it against your baggage limits) and we put the reg. booster into one of our larger suitcases.

According to these new laws ANY child under the age of 12yrs old has to be restrained in a booster seat so my advice to you would be that if you have a child under the age of 12 and you are planning to drive a car in Costa Rica, bring a booster seat. They are fairly cheap here in the US and I’m sure they’d cost you double if you bought one or rented one there.

Fishing in Costa Rica is as diverse as anywhere in the world. I have been fishing there for 15 years and you can catch many different species of salt water fish there from large reef jacks to beautiful sailfish and almost everything in between. This article will focus on fishing from the reefs.

Fishing from the reefs is one of the most exciting areas for me to fish because of the danger involved in standing on the reef and dodging the incoming surf. I usually try to find an accessible reef at high or low tide with a taller vantage point so that you can look more into the water and see the unexposed parts of the reef thus better avoiding getting your rig snagged on it. I generally use floating plugs when fishing from reefs as the will glide over the unexposed reef and not get snagged. Many of the fish you can catch like roosterfish and big jacks will require a larger popping plug. I prefer wooden lures (yellow and white works well for me) thrown past submerged reef with a very fast retrieve. Smaller floating rigs can also be used for the smaller jacks as well as cero mackerels.  I also use braided line tied off directly to the lure which makes for an easier landing of the fish and lessens the chance that you will be cut off by the razor sharp reef.

One word of advice for fishing from the reef: Always keep your eyes on the incoming swells because they sneak up on you in a hurry!

This is a first in a series about surfing Costa Rica.

I have been surfing for 40 years in various parts of the world. This column will focus on my surfing experiences in Costa Rica. I have been surfing in this beautiful country for 15 years and it is one of my favorite places not only for the surf but for the natural beauty, the people, the fishing and many other outdoor activities.

I will start with the break called “Mar Azul” which just so happens to be located right out my front door. Mar Azul is a left hand point break that breaks best on a large south swell. It has several peaks starting with the large first peak that begins right in front of a very large reef rock. It can be a sketchy drop for a beginner and is only recommended for advances surfers depending on the size. The inside second peak is much more user friendly and when working correctly can break for over 200 yards. The paddle out is usually easy because you can begin paddling at the mouth of the bay into which the waves break without getting your hair wet. Mar Azul does not break often, but when it gets big enough it can be one of the most fun waves in Mal Pais.

The first time we traveled to Costa Rica as a family in 2006 our daughters were ages 5 & 2. We foolishly decided that we didn’t need a stroller because once we got to Costa Rica we’d never use it. If only we had thought about how big some airports are and how heavy our carry on bags would be, we might have changed our minds about bringing a stroller if we had known that we would be carrying our respective “toddlers” through 3 different airports in one day.

I had a backpack filled with 2 extra sets of clothes (one for each girl), a couple extra pull-ups, snacks for all of us, sippy cups for both girls, their “lovey’s”, some crayons, some books and a Video Now player (mini DVD’s) that my oldest daughter got for Christmas. Needless to say my bag was kinda stuffed, then to be carrying a 20 lb. two year old in my arms across the huge Miami Airport was exhausting.

My husband was carrying a very full & very old fashioned briefcase that he had inherited from his father. He had the laptop bag across his chest and was intermittently carrying the 40 lb. five year old. The trip back from Costa Rica hurt him the most. He came back with Bursitis in his elbow, it swelled up to be the size of a small grapefruit.

It was our decision right then & there that we were taking a stroller from now on!!!

In 2007 & 2008 we used the Cosco Jeep Wrangler Twin Sport All-Weather Stroller. I was pleasantly surprised that we got 2 years worth of use out of this stroller since it was on the low side of the price range and it did recommend the combined weight not go over 70 lbs.

This year the girls are going to be 8 & 5 when we travel to Costa Rica. I know that most of you are probably thinking “This woman is crazy, she just won’t let her kids grow up.” It’s not that I don’t want them to grow up I just know how big and scary some airports can be and I would rather have the girls together, sitting in one spot where I can locate them quickly. We found a stroller that will accomodate a combined weight of 100 lbs.

My husband likes to fly to Costa Rica and then to our home in Mal Pais, all in one day. That trip can be tiring for any adult, let alone children.