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.

Whenever you go on a surfing vacation, you obviously want to experience the best surfing that the world can offer you. So, how can you narrow down all the potential surf spots? Well, you first need to remember that a fantastic surfing vacation will be different for every surfer. The thing that makes a vacation great will depend on what the surfer is looking for. For example, it may be low cost, the wave choice, and it can be the travel partner.

Basically, there are three general groups that usually go on a surfing vacation. By knowing which group you belong to, you will be able to find out what makes a satisfying surfing vacation for you.

For hardcore surfers, you will usually be traveling solo. You are also experienced well enough to ride harder and much more challenging waves. So, the experiences that you will usually look for are bigger, faster, and much more challenging waves. Or, you will be looking for some serious waves. This will also involve traveling to various remote locations to find the perfect wave. These places are not easy to get to and will require some trekking.

For serious or hardcore surfers, you will want to go to Teahupoo, the Banzai Pipeline and also in Cyclops, Australia. You are also the type of person who isn’t really that much particular when it comes to the cost of travel. What you want is to experience big waves that will be able to satisfy your cravings.

For family surfers, you will be bringing your family on a surfing vacation. For this trip, you will balance the desires of the rest of the family and your surfing desires. You will also need to go on a place where everyone will have a lot of fun surfing. Unless your spouse and your kids are expert surfers, you can take them to the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii but this is very unlikely. The best possible place that you can take them would be in Waikiki, Mexico, San Diego, and even on Costa Rica. These places will be able to cater to the needs of the entire family. It will be able to provide waves that is perfect for beginners as well as waves that are more challenging for serious surfers.

Beginner surfers are the easiest surfers to go on a surfing vacation. If you are a beginner, then you will find that there are plenty of locations that will be perfect for you. In fact, you don’t even have to travel out of the country just to find the perfect wave for your skill level. You can go to Hawaii, and even in California. If you wish to travel out of the country, then you can try going to Costa Rica, which also provides a lot of places for beginners to surf.

After you find out which group you belong to, the next thing that you need to do is to consider other important things and put them on a list, such as your travel partners, the destination you plan on going to, the weather, the crowd, the surfing conditions, and also the pros and cons of each area you list down as a potential location for spending your surfing vacation.

Remember these tips and you can be sure that you will be able to experience the most satisfying surfing that you will ever have.

photo credit: maveric2003

It’s really rare to see surfers get injured. But, you need to remember that although surfing is relatively a safe sport to do, there are dangers that you should be aware of. You still need to be careful whenever you hit the water as surfing has its inherent dangers.

In surfing, drowning is by far the most obvious risk there is. And, there are quite a number of ways where you can unintentionally raise the odds of drowning whenever you go surfing.

The first is by not being prepared to surf. You need to remember that you will be dealing with strong waves and if you get wiped out, you will need to swim. Also, being able to swim is not enough as surfing will put you in a place where the waves are very strong, which means that you need to be physically fit in order for you to get yourself out of harms way.

You have to remember that it is common for surfers to fall off their boards. In fact, even the most advanced surfers still fall off their boards.

Training is the key in order to prevent the risk of drowning or at least minimize the risks. When you fall off the board or you get wiped out, the first thing that you need to do is locate your board. You have to keep in mind that your board is positively buoyant which means that you will be able to use your board as a floatation device when you experience a wipe out. If you lose your board or if it drifts to the shore, you will need to swim back. This will require you to have a strong stamina as you will be dealing with strong currents.

So, before you surf, it is important that you should get fit first and also learn how to swim. By being a strong swimmer, you will be able to pull yourself out of dangerous situations in case you are wiped out whenever you go out to surf.

Another common error is by not being alert. Although surfing looks like a simple sport, you need to remember that there are quite a number of things that you need to be aware of whenever you go surfing. For example, the winds near the shore can shift rapidly which can throw you off balance and push you off your board. Riptides and current eddies are also things that you should be aware of as it will prevent you from swimming ashore easily.

You should also always follow the unwritten rule in surfing, which is never to surf alone. Your surf buddy is your backup and you are also his or hers. If you do get in to trouble, your surf buddy will be able to assist you. For example, if you unexpectedly experience getting cramps while swimming ashore, your surf buddy will be able to help you get out of the water safely. You should also do the same for them.

You also need to be aware of underwater rocks, unseen underwater formations, and coral reefs which can potentially damage your board as well as your body. Marine life can also be a problem, such as jellyfish, and sharks. Watch out for the presence of all these things and you will be able to know whether it is safe to surf or not.

Surfing is a fun sport. However, you need to remember that surfing has its inherent dangers. By following these tips, you can be sure that you will be able to surf safely and also have a lot of fun in the process. Also, you might want to check the waves if it is suitable for your skill level. You wouldn’t want to surf a wave that you can’t handle, would you? Surfing a wave that is too dangerous for your skill level can have disastrous consequences.

photo credit: Shot in the Blue

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.

Nosara, Costa Rica has a lot of surfing spots that you can try. Some spots are for experts only, while there are also spots that can cater to novices and beginners.

Playa Guiones is one of the most ideal surfing spots in Nosara. You will get good waves in this part of Nosara and is perfect for novice and advanced surfers. If you are looking for better waves, Playa Ostional will be able to provide it for you. However, this spot is only recommended for experts to surf in as there are sharp rock formations in the area, and heavy shark population. Also, Playa Ostional features blistering hot black sand beaches which are less accommodating to surfers.

The great thing about Playa Guiones is its pink sandy beaches as well as its multiple peaks from both the left and the right. With ideal beach breaks, you will definitely have a great time surfing here. If you want to travel to the hottest surfing spots in Nosara, you have to expect that this will be no easy feat as there are only very few paved roads in the area. However, according to surfing aficionados who already traveled across Nosara, it will be well worth your time even if you have to walk some distance just to get to the perfect surfing spot in the area.

Nosara, Costa Rica also has a long surfing season. You will be able to enjoy the best waves during October up until May. For the most ideal surfing experience, you may want to go to Nosara, Costa Rica between December and April. With this kind of surfing season, you will be able to have a lot of flexibility when it comes to your travel plans.

The best time to surf is in the morning. There are fewer surfers in the area and you will also be able to experience the best waves during this time of day. This means that if you really want to make the most out of your surfing in Nosara, then you will want to skip or avoid overdoing your wild nightlife and parties.

Nosara, Costa Rica is one of the best surfing destinations that you should try to visit. If you are truly a surfing aficionado, then you will definitely want to get to this place. Here, you will be able to have a lot of fun surfing. With a great climate combined with fantastic waves, you can be sure that your travels will be well worth it.

photo credit: jurvetson

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.