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Costa Rica Adds Crocodile Warning Signs at Beaches and Rivers

Costa Rica has begun installing 55 warning signs at beaches, rivers, national parks and conservation areas where crocodiles and caimans are known to live, as the country prepares for one of its busiest domestic travel periods of the year. The signs are being placed ahead of Costa Rica’s midyear school vacation, which runs from July 6 to July 17. The campaign is aimed at both local families and international tourists visiting coastal and river areas during the break. Authorities said the warning signs are being installed in places where crocodiles and caimans are regularly present. The first sites include Sixaola, Puerto Viejo, Banano, Bananito, Matina, Mawamba, Caño Blanco, Lepanto and the ferry dock toward Playa Naranjo. Other areas identified for warnings include Manzanillo de Cóbano and the Bribri Indigenous Territory of Kéköldi. The goal is to prevent visitors from entering risky areas without realizing the danger. Crocodiles are often found near river mouths, estuaries,...
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Costa Rica to Start Major Road and Rail Works — and Braces for Gridlock

Costa Rica’s transport ministry is preparing to launch seven major road and rail projects in the coming months, and it is already warning drivers that several will advance at once — a convergence that could snarl traffic across the Greater Metropolitan Area and key routes to the airports and the coasts. Public Works and Transport Minister Efraím Zeledón said the tender for the San José–San Ramón corridor expansion is due to be published this month. The $770 million project will be split into two contracts awarded to different firms, mirroring the approach used on the Barranca–Limonal stretch. In September, the ministry expects to publish the tender for widening the San José–Cartago highway (Florencio del Castillo), a roughly $600 million project that, although presented as a private initiative by the firm MECO, must go to an international bid. The metropolitan electric train adds another front. The rail agency, Incofer, expects to tender the “Tibi” train in t...
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Costa Rica Airport Now Selling Fast Track Access

International travelers using Juan Santamaría International Airport now have a paid option to move through some of the terminal’s busiest checkpoints more quickly. Airport operator AERIS has launched SJO Fast Track, a new priority access service for passengers arriving in or departing from Costa Rica’s main airport. The service became available July 1 and costs $100 per person for a single use. For departing international passengers, the Fast Track access point is located before the immigration checkpoint, giving travelers entry to a priority lane during the airport’s busiest hours. For international arrivals, the service includes two priority access points: one before immigration and another before Customs. The airport says the system is meant to ease passenger flow at strategic points inside the terminal, especially during peak travel periods. It does not replace the required immigration, customs or security controls, but gives eligible travelers access to dedicated lanes be...
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Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Costa Rica Sloths Named After Them

As Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce draw global attention around a reported wedding celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York, Costa Rica’s role in the story is not a secret honeymoon, a private estate or a surprise beach visit. It is two baby sloths in Manuel Antonio. There is no confirmed public record of Swift and Kelce visiting Costa Rica together. Their clearest Costa Rica tie appears to be a lighthearted wildlife rescue story from The Sloth Institute, a Manuel Antonio nonprofit that named two orphaned sloths Taylor and Travis after the celebrity couple. The first, a baby two-fingered sloth named Taylor, was rescued on November 18, 2025, after hotel staff in Manuel Antonio found her clinging to an older three-fingered sloth. The pairing was unusual because two-fingered and three-fingered sloths are different species. With no mother nearby, and the baby too young to survive alone, the organization took her into care. Taylor needed round-the-clock feeding and close...
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Landslides Keep Costa Rica’s Route 32 Closed

Route 32, the main highway linking the Central Valley with the Caribbean province of Limón, remains closed in several sections after landslides triggered by the heavy rains of Tropical Wave No. 19. The same system flooded communities, forced evacuations and left damage across the Caribbean region and the Northern Zone. The closure has affected the Cerro Zurquí sector since Thursday night, with additional blockages at kilometers 107 and 109 (miles 66 and 68), near Siquirres, where crews and heavy machinery are working to clear debris. The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) has not given an estimated time for reopening the road. The first landslide at kilometer 107 has already been cleared, but crews then shifted to another point where a fresh slide is blocking the highway in both directions. Heavy-truck drivers have been stranded since Thursday afternoon, and some described watching the mountainside give way onto the road. Two tractor-trailer cabs were struck by...
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Costa Rica Women’s Tennis Team Wins Billie Jean King Cup Group

Costa Rica’s women’s tennis team won the Billie Jean King Cup Americas Group III title after defeating Barbados 2-1 in the final and finishing the tournament undefeated. The victory also secured Costa Rica’s promotion to Americas Group II for the next competition cycle, giving the national team a step up in the regional structure of women’s international tennis. Costa Rica completed a perfect week at the Polideportivo de Ciudad Merliot in El Salvador, where the team beat Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Jamaica and Panama in the group stage before meeting Barbados in the final. The championship tie came down to doubles after Costa Rica and Barbados split the singles matches. The Costa Rican team won the deciding doubles point to close the series and complete its unbeaten run. The national team was made up of Ariana Rahmanparast, Lucía Gallegos, Allison Blanco and Valentina Obregón. Andrea Brenes captained the squad. The Billie Jean King Cup is the main international team competit...
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Costa Rica Reviews PriceSmart Site After Archaeological Material Found

Work at a PriceSmart construction site in Santo Domingo de Heredia could be temporarily stopped after archaeological material was found during earth movement, prompting the National Museum of Costa Rica to ask environmental authorities for an immediate suspension while specialists inspect the property. The request was sent to Setena, Costa Rica’s environmental review agency, after material of possible archaeological value appeared at the site where the new PriceSmart Santo Domingo project is being developed. The National Museum said no more earth movement should take place until a museum archaeologist carries out a technical visit and issues a report on the find. The case puts a familiar Costa Rican tension back in the spotlight: major development moving across land that may still hold traces of our pre-Columbian past. The Culture Ministry said the project already had environmental viability, granted by Setena on Nov. 3, 2025, under resolution No. 1622-2025-Setena. The pro...
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