org news

Mariale Acosta was crowned Miss Universe Costa Rica 2026 on Friday night at the Costa Rica Convention Center, completing a comeback that had made her one of the most closely watched contestants in this year’s national pageant. Acosta, representing Heredia, won the crown after a live final that brought together 14 candidates, national entertainment figures, international pageant guests and a large television and social media audience. Brenda Alfaro and Samaria Montero completed the final three after the last question round and final messages to the jury. The event was broadcast live on OPA and held at the Centro de Convenciones de Costa Rica, where the pageant has grown into one of the country’s biggest entertainment events. The Miss Universe Costa Rica organization says its galas draw more than 1,500 attendees per edition and its content has reached more than 20 million views across television and social platforms. Acosta’s victory closes a notable chapter in her pageant c...

Costa Rica is heading into a rainy, unstable weekend, with the National Meteorological Institute ( IMN ) warning Saturday that a low-pressure system sitting over Pacific waters near Central America could strengthen into a tropical depression in the coming days. The IMN said the Intertropical Convergence Zone parked over our country is pumping in moisture and instability, setting up generalized downpours, high cloud cover and electrical storms. Through this early morning there were no significant rains, but the agency expects thunderstorms to build through the afternoon and persist into the night across much of the country this weekend and into early next week. Forecasters rate the nearby disturbance as having medium-to-high potential to develop, and say they will keep it under constant monitoring. For now it is not a named storm and there is no evacuation order — but travelers should plan for rain, lightning and the possibility of swollen rivers and localized flooding. Exp...

Costa Rica will hold its sixth National Ocean Cleanup this Saturday, June 6, bringing volunteers together at dozens of beaches, rivers and community sites across the country. The cleanup is being organized by Fundación Operation Rich Coast in collaboration with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute as part of activities linked to the June 8 oceans observance and the 30th anniversary of Costa Rica’s Bandera Azul Ecológica program. This year’s campaign has 51 confirmed participation points in the Greater Metropolitan Area, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limón. Organizers are calling on communities, schools, businesses, local groups and residents to take part in a coordinated effort to remove waste from coastal areas, waterways and public spaces before it reaches the sea. Puntarenas will have the largest number of cleanup points, with 33 locations confirmed. Sites include Jacó, Manuel Antonio, Playa Uvita, Playa Pavones, Playa Zancudo, Playa Montezuma, Playa Matapalo in Quepos and severa...

Costa Rica is expanding the use of coral gardening as part of a growing effort to restore damaged marine ecosystems along the country’s coast.The technique works like an underwater nursery. Small coral fragments are collected, placed on submerged structures, allowed to grow in controlled conditions, and later attached to degraded reef areas. The process gives corals a better chance of survival and allows them to grow much faster than they would on the seafloor.The current wave of coral gardening in Costa Rica began with a pilot project in Golfo Dulce in 2013. Thirteen years later, the method has helped cultivate thousands of corals along the Pacific coast, with one of the clearest examples now underway at Isla Tortuga in the Gulf of Nicoya. “We place the coral fragments in a nursery, like a hatchery, which is why we collaborate with agronomists. This gives them time to grow in a more controlled environment. If these fragments remain on the seafloor, they die,” marine biologist...

Sometimes I record something interesting and I think ‘I should share this with the good people who read the Tico Times,’ but whatever it is I want to share isn’t quite enough for an entire article. It could be because I’ve already written about that particular creature or a video is neat but doesn’t really need a full page of text to accompany it. I’ve decided the best way to share this sort of information with you is to smoosh a couple of unrelated tidbits into one article and label it Latest News. Let’s dive in. Predators in Action Each camera trap monitors just a few square meters of Costa Rica’s wilderness. I’m continuously shocked at the variety of species and animal behaviors these tiny windows into the wild provide. One type of behavior that proves particularly elusive is predation. What are the chances that a predator will pursue its prey directly in front of one of my cameras? Well, recently, I’ve had a stretch of amazing luck and recorded three different predator...

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police ( OIJ ) is warning of a steep rise in “virtual kidnapping” extortion, with complaints jumping more than sevenfold over the past year — a pattern that authorities say increasingly targets people who run businesses or advertise services. Reports of the scam climbed from eight cases between January and May 2025 to 58 over the same months this year, a roughly 625% increase, the OIJ confirmed. Pablo Calvo, acting head of the agency’s Criminal Investigations Department, said most victims are people with a business or entrepreneurial venture — the profile criminals appear to be hunting. In a virtual kidnapping , no one is actually abducted. The OIJ describes a relatively new scheme in which suspects contact a target under the pretext of hiring them for a job — construction, transport, sales or professional services — and arrange to meet in an isolated location. Once the person arrives, callers convince them they are be...