About This Condo
Luxury Large Ocean View Condo Near Beach. Your Home Away from Home. 3 Bedroom/2 Bath with Family Room, Dining Room, and Full Kitchen…
Why Costa Rica?
Warm, clean beaches, beautiful scenery, friendly people, and many outdoor activities, and a slow relaxing pace of life. Costa Rica is a great place to visit. Eco Tourism : Tourists do things outdoors and enjoy the ecology. Costa Rica has no army to support so it spends its money on education and the environment. It is like visiting Hawaii, but it is less developed, less expensive, and more wildlife.
Its Not Your Imagination – The Ocean is Warmer Here
In California, there are plenty of beaches, but the waters are cold. In Jaco, Costa Rica, the ocean waters are just as warm as they should be. You can go right in without getting used to it or talking yourself into it. You can do so even in December or at night and even without a wet suit.
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Jaco, Costa Rica
Your condo is located in Jaco, a small beach town which is the closest beach town to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. It is about a 75 min drive SW from San Jose via bus, van, taxi, or car. The main part of town is about 3 miles long. It has local restaurants, shops, grocery stores, spa, salons, banks, bars, casino, night clubs, gyms, and even American restaurants. It has stores to book tours for anything or to anywhere in Costa Rica. It has cars, bikes, surfboards, ATVs, and quads for rent. It is also easy to walk. The people are friendly, helpful, and many Speak English.
Before You Travel to Costa Rica
Link to US State Dept for Passport
Click HERE for information on baggage and prohibited items.
Costa Rican Weather
It varies with where you are and what time of the year. So, it is best to bring a variety of clothes from shorts to something for the mountains at night.
Click Here to See the Current 10 Day Forcast
Click Here for a Celsius to Fahrenheit Converter
Geography of Costa Rica
Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. On the west is the North Pacific Ocean and on the east is the Caribbean Sea. It is not an island, despite what you saw in Jurassic Park!
Money in Costa Rica
Christopher Columbus landed in Costa Rica (Rich Coast). The money is therefore the colones (Spanish for Columbus.) 1 colones is not worth much vs. the dollar.
Spoken Language
The language is Spanish, though many Ticos speak English fairly well, especially if they work in tourism.
Here are two links to help you learn the basics
Spanish Dictionary: Type in your Phrase and it will translate it for you
The Costa Rican People
Costa Ricans (Ticos) are generally friendly and educated people. Most seem to like visitors from other countries and treat them well. There are, of course, exceptions, but on the whole, you can expect to be made welcome wherever you go.
Safety & Crime
Is it safe? Sure, but of course use the same precautions you would visiting any tourist spot just like any part of the USA. Like parts of the USA and other countries in the world, there are parts where you have to be more careful of walking, at night, and of your possessions.
Travel To Costa Rica
Various airlines fly to San Jose, such as Continental¸ US Airways, and Delta.
There are usually non-stop 5 hour flights from Phoenix, AZ (PHX), Los Angeles, CA (LAX), and Houston, TX (HOU) to San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO). But, sometimes they are only once a week and sometimes not at all.
There are of course non-stop flights from most cities in the US: Atlanta(ATL) / Charlotte (CLT) / Chicago (ORD) / Dallas (DFW) / Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) / Houston (IAH) / Los Angeles (LAX) / Miami (MIA) / New York (JFK) / Orlando (MCO) / Phoenix (PHX)
Check the Following Sites for Price and Travel Dates;
USAirways Special — US Airways is now offering a No Payment for 6 months promotion on all flights to Costa Rica!!
Taca — Costa Rican Airlines. Usually cheaper but flights are limited to mainly LAX
Driving & Getting Around
Driving : Probably should not drive yourself your first time here. The Obeyance of traffic laws and signals and changing lanes are not what you are used to. Some joke (or is it true?) that red lights and stop signs are advisory.
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Conservation Ecology Ecotourism
Every year, many thousands of visitors come to Costa Rica because of one simple fact. Although Costa Rica covers only 0.03% of the surface of the earth, Costa Rica has approximately 6% of the world’s bio diversity. For this reason alone, Costa Rica has become a Mecca for ecotourism : outdoor activities and events. The country is into preserving the ecology. This leaves this beautiful place intact for other to see next week, next year or next century.
What will you find in Costa Rica?
• 1,000 species of butterflies
• 1,200 varieties of orchids and See this!
• 850 species of birds
• 130 species of freshwater fish
• 4,000 species of insects
• 160 species of amphibians
• 220 species of reptiles
• 1,600 species of fresh and salt water fish
• 208 species of mammals
• 9,000 species of plants
• Cloud forests
• Rain Forests
• Volcanoes (2 active!)
• Mangrove wetlands and swamps
Water & Electrical
The word for HOT, in Spanish, is caliente. Caliente begins with a “C”. Water faucets imported from the USA almost all have a “C” on them.
If you are from the USA, you do not need a converter for your appliances as the condo has regular 110/220 outlets. Your laptop should also work in the condo which has free wi-fi.
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