http://puravidadvd.com/features Your Source for Puerto Viejo Social News and Costa Rica Networking Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:09:03 -0400 en http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/reggae-bike-rides-and-amazing-food/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/reggae-bike-rides-and-amazing-food/ Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:09:03 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/reggae-bike-rides-and-amazing-food/
8 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/bagels-in-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/bagels-in-costa-rica/ Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:47:04 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/bagels-in-costa-rica/
That afternoon there were four generations of family in my house, many...

16 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-crocs-rocks-and-shocks/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-crocs-rocks-and-shocks/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:44:38 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-crocs-rocks-and-shocks/

14 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adios-congo-bongo-hola-suerre-caribe-hotel-2/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adios-congo-bongo-hola-suerre-caribe-hotel-2/ Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:59:22 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adios-congo-bongo-hola-suerre-caribe-hotel-2/
After 45 minutes of walking in the hot, humid weather with nothing to drink, we arrived at Suerre Caribe. .. and immediately booked it. Suerre Caribe is the only hotel in the Puerto Viejo area that has air conditioning! Bonus! Getting served in Costa Rica is a long process as the Ticos are in no hurry... Lunch can be a 90 minute ordeal....Since then, I have learned that there were 5 or 6 muggings there in the last 2 weeks and some locals told the teen group that they should not walk there in the dark but ...

17 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/beach-time-puerto-viejo-province-of-limon-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/beach-time-puerto-viejo-province-of-limon-costa-rica/ Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:02:59 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/beach-time-puerto-viejo-province-of-limon-costa-rica/

11 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adventurous-escapes-exploring-costa-rica-on-horseback/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adventurous-escapes-exploring-costa-rica-on-horseback/ Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:50:57 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/adventurous-escapes-exploring-costa-rica-on-horseback/
On both nights we were free to select our own restaurant for dinner. Based on a glowed review in our Fodor's guide, we discovered La Pecora Nera, an Italian restaurant that rivals best in the United States and many in Italy.

It was hard to imagine the food would be amazing when the van dropped us off at the end of dirt path. But sure enough once we turned stumbled down the dark road, we found a beautiful and very busy open-air restaurant run by a chef from Italy. After our first night in Puerto Viejo, we lost the other two members of our group. ...

7 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/jungle-tours-and-wildlife-watching-travel-briefs-ap/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/jungle-tours-and-wildlife-watching-travel-briefs-ap/ Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:50:57 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/jungle-tours-and-wildlife-watching-travel-briefs-ap/ The magazine says that while the Pacific side of Costa Rica gets most of the visitors to the country, the Caribbean side has rich rainforests and exotic creatures like howler monkeys, bull sharks and crocodiles. Tortuguero National Park is known for its turtles. The wild beaches, with rainforests often reaching right to the shoreline, include Playa Negra, named for its black volcanic sand. Puerto Viejo is known for surfing..

17 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/we-left-consumerism-in-the-dust-to-explore-the-real-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/we-left-consumerism-in-the-dust-to-explore-the-real-costa-rica/ Sun, 28 Jun 2009 03:50:56 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/we-left-consumerism-in-the-dust-to-explore-the-real-costa-rica/ It's just the way it is.

So we're in CR with absolutely no idea of how to get to our desired destination. We'd cabbed to the border deciding just to wing it -- a decision that sometimes works, but other times leaves you amply sampling the national beer in a border cafe, after being told that the last bus to Tamarindo left four hours ago.

But, imagine yourself in this border cafe, amidst coconut-cracker wrappers and hombres con bigotes, suddenly overhearing the words "Guaranteed the Rays will dominate the Sox in the ALCS," coming from behind....

12 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/aguas-claras-playa-chiquita-more-sun-less-money/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/aguas-claras-playa-chiquita-more-sun-less-money/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:24:07 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/aguas-claras-playa-chiquita-more-sun-less-money/ Aguas Claras in Playa Chiquita, Costa Rica with cottages going for $70-$220

Set amid hibiscus bushes and palm trees, Aguas Claras is a relaxing retreat three miles south of Costa Rica's lively surfing capital, Puerto Viejo. The inn's five brightly colored stilted chalets are a short walk from the gorgeous (and surfable) Playa Chiquita and have ceiling fans, screened kitchenettes, and sitting areas. Breakfast at the on-site Miss Holly's Kitchen includes a fresh fruit salad, omelets, and baked goods.

13 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/trouble-in-puerto-viejo-paradise/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/trouble-in-puerto-viejo-paradise/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:24:07 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/trouble-in-puerto-viejo-paradise/
One weekend during Eagen's visit, they rented an SUV and drove to a cabin near the beach in the tourist town of Puerto Viejo, a surfing and nightclub hot spot south of Limon. The Emilys must have felt no particular need to worry about safety. For decades, Costa Rica had been regarded by travelers as the safest Central American nation.

But that reputation was beginning to fray by 2000, especially in coastal towns like Limon. Stickups and carjackings of vacationers were increasing, although the authorities were not anxious to publicize such crimes since tourism is a pillar of the Costa Rican economy. On Sunday evening, March 12, the woman left their cabin to visit the beach bars. They left a club at about 10 p.m. and were seen driving off, presumably toward their cabin. But they didn't make it home - or to age 20. ...


14 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/restaurant-recommendations-in-puerto-viejo-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/restaurant-recommendations-in-puerto-viejo-costa-rica/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:24:07 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/restaurant-recommendations-in-puerto-viejo-costa-rica/
7 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-continues-to-protect-its-ecological-beauty/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-continues-to-protect-its-ecological-beauty/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:24:07 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-rica-continues-to-protect-its-ecological-beauty/
The Central American nation, whose name is Spanish for "rich coast," has protected about 27 percent of its territory in the form of 24 national parks or nature reserves. In 2008 it ranked first in the Americas and fifth in the world on the Environmental Performance Index, a gauge for quantifying a nation's environmental policies.

As an ecological tie-in, the purpose of my visit was to explore Selva Verde (Spanish for "green jungle"), one of Costa Rica's first rain forest resorts with an ecology educational component.

After touching down at the airport, I boarded the lodge's van for the 42-mile, two-hour ride over an excellent road that ran through the steep, lush, rain-forested mountains. During that time, I caught a glimpse of sprawling San Jose and an up-close look at Braulio Carrillo National Park to the northeast. Then, after passing through Puerto Viejo, a small town in the Atlantic Coastal lowlands, we turned left for the five-minute drive to Selva Verde.

13 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-ricas-best-caribbean-beaches/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-ricas-best-caribbean-beaches/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:34 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/costa-ricas-best-caribbean-beaches/
Playa Negra is a peaceful expanse of black sand that curls from Cahuita National Park south into Puerto Viejo. The farther north you stray from town, the more deserted the beach gets; you won't have to hike to far to find your own patch of sand. Best of all, the palm trees fringing the length of Playa Negra are perfectly spaced for hammocks. Banana Azul, which is tucked into the jungle between Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, rents them out or you can pick up one on the cheap from the vendors along Puerto Viejo's main drag.

9 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/health-clinic-in-puerto-viejo/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/health-clinic-in-puerto-viejo/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:34 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/health-clinic-in-puerto-viejo/ Waiting in line

10 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/munoz-and-vindas-claim-curcuito-nacional-de-surf-daystar/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/munoz-and-vindas-claim-curcuito-nacional-de-surf-daystar/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:34 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/munoz-and-vindas-claim-curcuito-nacional-de-surf-daystar/
The situation in the Open was that Torres needed to reach at least 5th place in this date to earn the national title, but in his semifinal heat, the surfer couldn't find the waves, and came in 4th place. With Torres situated at 7th in the Gran Finals Terraza - Reef, this opened a window for Jaco's Jairo Pérez and Muñoz to fight for the championship with the points earned with the 6 stars of the date.

11 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/best-of-the-web-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/best-of-the-web-costa-rica/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:34 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/best-of-the-web-costa-rica/
20 Vote(s) ]]> http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/a-guide-for-the-budget-traveler-to-costa-rica/ http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/a-guide-for-the-budget-traveler-to-costa-rica/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:35:34 -0400 Souley Puerto Viejo Costa Rica http://puravidadvd.com/features/category/Puerto-Viejo-Costa-Rica/a-guide-for-the-budget-traveler-to-costa-rica/
Most travelers will spend at least 1-2 nights or more in San Jose, Costa Rica's Capital City because it is the transportation hub and the primary transit point in the country. For instance, if you're traveling from the Caribbean Coast to the Pacific Coast, most likely you will have to overnight in San Jose, before continuing your journey.

10 Vote(s) ]]>