The New Jaco – Bars, Nightclubs, and Restaurants

Pee Aqui

Probably one of the best bathroom signs I have seen at Los Amigos. They sell t-shirts with this logo on it.

I had not been to Jaco in a while -  with said, a while back I wrote about how wild Jaco is and how I predicted that the desire for tourist bucks will change it.  Needless to say,  I spend some time checking out the ‘new’ Jaco a few weeks ago.

Those that experienced Jaco years ago had warnings about the lawless of the town. Druggies, prostitution, pickpockets etc, pretty much ran it.  I’m impress how Jaco has changed. The last time I was there, old men with their bellies protruding from Hawaiian shirts with hookers on their arms was a common occurrence. And high-rise cranes littered the sky in development.  Not anymore.

However,  Jaco still has it problems, last August the mayor  was arrested for embezzlement, illicit enrichment, misrepresentation and fraud and there are still those undesirables that  cruise the streets and beaches, harassing gringos to buy drugs and other illegal items. Jaco has also become sorta the “no-mans-zone” for drug traffickers. This has increased the on-foot police force – which is a good thing as it gives the tourist a sense of security.

Costa Rica’s Future – US Marines, Drugs, Investments, Tourism, and Oil

US Marines have been deployed to Costa Rica to help combat the drug smuggling

Last week our email box was pretty much filled with, “Why the US Marines were invading Costa Rica?” Even at our Facebook  account, a few commented on right-wing political BS, “It’s all about the oil, about building a military base in Costa Rica, and of keeping an eye on all the other dangerous countries around like Venezuela.”

However, I would like to comment on the one of the insanely ridiculous rumors and accusations received from Playas De Cocos where we quote from her email:

“Many of us believe that these ships have been evacuated from the Gulf because of the threat of an explosion from the oil well that has been spewing oil for over 80 days.  Apparently the sea floor has raised up almost 30 feet and fissures are forming.  Even though they have capped the well as of the early hours of the morning, no one seems to know yet if this cap will hold. They say that if the well explodes, this will cause a fire as large as a mountain and a tsunami that will wipe out many of the Gulf States.”

Costa Rica Developer Sues Bank Over Jaco Project

Jaco Condo

Developers of Jaco Condo Project sue bank for $120 million.

Yesterday morning, the Internet was flooded with the Press Release FROM the developer of a Jacó condo and hotel project suing its lenders, seeking arbitration on $120 million that has caused what it claims was a successful project on the verge of  falling apart. No doubt the $120 million was an eye-opener of what is at stake.

The developer, Desarrollos Naturales de Costa Rica S.A., named Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica and Banco Improsa S.A., as the defendant. It was pretty clear the developer wanted to make everyone aware of whom the “Bad Guy” was and sought public support. Banks have always been the portrayed as the Snidely Whiplashes.’

Just about every Social Media website (Twitter mostly) had the story copied from every major website like Yahoo, PRWeb and CNBC. Type in Desarrollos Naturales de Costa Rica S.A in Google and the first three pages are filled with the story.

Without getting into the legal grit,  lawsuits of this nature have two things in common, money and most important, time, which they are trying to buy.  Obviously, it appears to be some type of investment tactic for the developer, in a wishful wish the Costa Rica economy turns around, which it is.

Fishing Dorado Out Of Costa Rica’s Los Suenos – Jaco

There are good days fishing and there are awesome days fishing. This Costa Rica fishing trip was awesome. For two days we fished out of one of Costa Ricas best marinas, Los Suenos, about 6 miles north of Jaco and out about 20 miles with the infamous  Richard Krugs, Americana Sportsfishing, who has been putting together fishing charter services for almost 30 years.  We went for the meat, over 200lbs was was packed into a huge ice chest.

In two days we caught 40 dorado, 1 sailfish and 1 tuna. Each dorado was over 25lbs with one 50lbs and another around 60lbs. On the first day when the captain spotted a huge debris patty about 1/4 mile long and 50 yards wide, we knew we were into some fun. Within minutes we got out first hookup and many times we had double and triple hookups.

Dorado - The male head is square where the females head is round

Dorado - The male's head is square where the female's head is rounded

Costa Rica’s Drug Smugglers Problem – Crocodiles

Cock are just lurking for Drug Smugglers

Costa Rica Crocodiles are just waiting for the sweet taste of Drug Smugglers

As Costa Rica slowly but surely becomes the new hub for drug trafficking, and with San Jose now the place to smuggle containers of drugs to the US,  it now appears that drug smugglers have a new problem, which is not the US DEA, local police or competition, but crocodiles!

It’s no surprise that the Central Pacific between Puntarenus to Quepos with the hot tourist spot of  Jaco between has become the focal point for smugglers. Local commercial and charter sports fishing services have seen an increase in smugglers paraphernalia like floating 50 gal gas/diesel drums and plastic bags and newspaper sporting the containers place of origin, South America, particularly, Columbia.

On a recent fishing trip out of Los Suenos, we spotted a huge debris patty, which was great for catching Dorado, but also great for catching smuggler’s garage. Water bottles, plastic bags and empty quarts of oil littered the patty. Most sports fishers are very anal about eco-minded Costa Rica, so this garbage comes from those that could care less about Costa Rica’s environment and care more about their illegal cargo.