Everything you need to know that happened in the last 2 months in Costa Rica.

Each day we sift through hundreds of articles in English & Spanish to bring you the very best ones from Central America. From investment indicators to new infrastructure projects. Adventure stories to politics. It’s all here.

Costa Rica May 2014.

Zack Kruzins

Costa Rica Tourism

• Marina in Costa Rica Set for June Groundbreaking (Trade Only Today) After suffering a deep economic loss following the departure of the Chiquita Land Company, Golfito Costa Rica is ready for a comeback. Golfito Marina Village & Resort, Costa Rica’s newest resort catering to super yachts, is scheduled to break ground in June in this southern Costa Rican town. Improvements have already begun with the renovation of the town’s central boulevard and roads.
• Natural Riches: Abundant Flora, Fauna Highlight Jaunt through Costa Rica (Commercial Appeal) Though Costa Rica occupies 0.03 percent of the planet’s surface, it hosts 4 percent of worldwide species and is worth putting on your travel agenda in 2014.
• In Search of ‘Wild’ Costa Rica (New York Times) Costa Rica is home to large tracts of untouched yet accessible rain forest and according to News York Times Travel, it is the most bio-diverse vacation you will ever have.
• Tourism Sector in Costa Rica Poised to Grow 5.5% in 2014 (Costa Rica Star) Costa Rica is set for a good year in tourism growth as visitors from Asia and Latin America are willing and more able than ever to travel both within and beyond their borders.
• Costa Rica’s New Border Crossing Fees Are in Full Effect & Causing Delays (Costa Rica Times) Costa Rica’s border crossing fee is in place like it or not. The fee started to be collected on April 1st. It’s a $5 departure tax and a $2 payment for protection services at the border, which are provided by Costa Rica.

PDTillman

Costa Rica Lifestyle

• Costa Rica Is Getting More and More Expensive. Here’s Why: (Costa Rican Star) Is it more expensive for an expat to live in Costa Rica than say Panama? Maybe so, a recent report by Costa Rican TV network Teletica says that expats living in this tropical paradise are not feeling the Pura Vida when it comes to their personal finances, and their stories confirm the ongoing trend of skyrocketing prices in consumer goods and services.
• Eight Factors to Consider When Choosing Your Overseas Retirement Destination (Huffington Post) Do you know what your lifestyle requirements are? Do they fall in line with living abroad in a tropical (and maybe less expensive) climate? Check out Huffington Post’s top eight factors to consider when moving abroad to find out.
• Costa Rica Untapped (Audubon) A real wilderness adventure awaits in one of the world’s most popular nature travel destinations, Costa Rica, where you get off the beaten path (and life’s rat race) on the Osa Peninsula.

Barnaby Wasson

Costa Rica Real Estate

• Real Estate Leads Costa Rica FDI (The Nation via Google Translate) Foreigners are investing in Costa Rica real estate in record numbers. In 2013, $1.16 billion was invested according to information from the Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (Cinde), the largest contributor to Costa Rica’s foreign direct investment numbers.
• 2014 Real Estate Trends Looking Up in Costa Rica (Digital Journal) The Real Estate market in Costa Rica is looking positive in 2014. With the new wave of retiring Americans and Canadians comes a new wave of buyers and future expats.

Zhu

Costa Rica Economy

• Business in Costa Rica: Intel Outside (The Economist) Intel shuts a factory, slicing away one-fifth of the country’s exports and possibly crippling its export economy. The pain will be felt across the economy. Intel’s operations in Costa Rica are worth around $2 billion a year, making up about 20% of the country’s exports. The firm accounted for 11% of net foreign direct investment in 2000-12.
• Intel and Bank of America Layoffs Stun Costa Rica (The Oregonian) Did Costa Rica’s presidential election cause a fallout in its economic sector? Both Bank of America and Intel might think so. Both companies stunned Costa Rica’s government by announcing they would fire about 3,000 workers in the Central American nation just two days after the opposition won a presidential runoff.

T_Pixel

Costa Rica Environment

• Greenwashing Away Minority Land Rights in Costa Rica (Huffington Post) Amid the clamor of a presidential runoff election this week, few likely noticed one of Costa Rica’s outgoing president’s last acts: the signing of Law 9223. The law is unique in that it gives recognition of the Rights of Inhabitants of the South Caribbean and does something apparently quite simple: It removes several long-standing coastal communities occupying some 900 acres along Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coast from the confines of the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge.
• Tulemar Receives Costa Rica’s Environmental Blue Flag Award (Digital Journal) For the seventh consecutive year, Tulemar Beach has been named one of the cleanest beaches in Costa Rica.
• Access to Water Becomes Fundamental Right in Costa Rica (Aqua Now) Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly passed a bill that will make general access to water a fundamental right. The new bill establishes water for human consumption as a priority use.
• Stunning Photos of 8 Million Flower Petals Raining Down on a Costa Rican Village (PetaPixal) Word’s can’t describe it…watch 8 million flower petals shoot out of a volcano in Costa Rica.

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