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Costa Rica Upholds Construction Rules to Protect Wildlife and Water

Costa Rica’s First Chamber of the Supreme Court has upheld construction regulations for the buffer zone around the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, reinforcing local rules meant to protect sea turtles, aquifers and wildlife corridors in one of Guanacaste’s fastest-growing coastal communities. In Resolution No. 000725-F-S1-2026, issued on June 4, the court rejected an appeal filed by JBR Capital Ventures S.R.L. against the Municipality of Nicoya. The decision confirms a previous ruling by the Administrative and Civil Tax Court, which had upheld the municipality’s Temporary Regulation for the Issuance of Construction Permits in the buffer zone of the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge. The ruling is significant for Nosara , Playa Guiones and Playa Pelada, where real estate growth has brought steady pressure on water resources, coastal habitat and the refuge’s surrounding ecosystems. Ostional is internationally known for the mass nesting of olive ridley sea turtles, and the refu...
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Costa Rica Begins License Checks for Bicimoto Drivers

Costa Rica’s Traffic Police have begun enforcing license and registration rules for “bicimotos,” the small motorized two-wheel vehicles that have become common on city streets and delivery routes across the country. The move follows an internal Traffic Police instruction sent June 11 to national and regional traffic chiefs. The 16-page document tells officers how to apply existing traffic rules to motorcycles with pedals and similar vehicles, ending the perception that many of these units can circulate like regular bicycles. The first focused operation took place Monday near Plaza González Víquez in San José, where authorities seized six bicimotos. Officials said enforcement will be gradual, rather than through permanent checkpoints aimed only at bicimotos, but drivers are now expected to bring the vehicles into compliance. Under the instruction, a vehicle is not considered a bicycle if it has an electric, combustion or hybrid motor that can move it without direct and cont...
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Scientists Discover New Deep-Sea Ghost Shark Species Off Costa Rica

A team of Costa Rican and Brazilian scientists has identified a new species of deep-sea fish living in the Pacific waters off Costa Rica, highlighting how much of our country’s marine biodiversity remains unexplored. The newly described species, Rhinochimaera costaricana , belongs to a little-known group of cartilaginous fishes known as long-nosed chimaeras, sometimes called ghost sharks. Although related to sharks and rays, chimaeras form a distinct branch of fish that has existed for hundreds of millions of years. The discovery was published this month in the scientific journal Zootaxa by researchers from Costa Rica’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (INCOPESCA), the University of Costa Rica, and Brazil’s Federal University of Pará. Scientists based their description on three male specimens collected from Costa Rica’s Pacific waters between 2000 and 2023. The fish were found at depths ranging from 390 to 787 meters (about 1,280 to 2,580 feet), ...
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Surfer in Costa Rica Survives Needlefish Strike to the Heart

A Brazilian surfer survived a rare and severe ocean injury in Costa Rica after a needlefish leapt from the water at Playa Pavones and struck him in the chest, puncturing his heart. Fabiano Duarte da Costa, a 42-year-old physical educator from Itajaí, Brazil, was surfing at Playa Pavones, one of Costa Rica’s best-known surf breaks on the southern Pacific coast. He was sitting on his board waiting for a wave when the fish jumped from the water and hit him directly in the chest. Duarte later said he felt the impact and a sharp pain before losing consciousness. The injury immediately turned a normal surf session into a life-threatening emergency. The first critical break came on the beach. A doctor happened to be nearby and began first aid almost immediately. According to reports from Costa Rica and Brazil, Duarte suffered cardiac arrest after the strike, and the doctor performed resuscitation on the sand before emergency responders took over. Duarte was first treated in the ...
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Costa Rica Wildlife Cameras Capture Rare Swamp Eel Encounters

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I should have a near zero percent chance of recording freshwater eels with my camera traps. Not only are they found underwater, but they’re found in the type of water that isn’t easy to see through. Most eels prefer still, stagnant water with lots of detritus and tangled roots. I do have the only underwater camera trap in Costa Rica (shout out to Dr. Christopher Bunt , fisheries research scientist and developer of underwater camera equipment), but that camera needs water with decent visibility to work properly. The only way I could record eels is if some other creature reached into the goopy water, grabbed an eel, pulled it out of the water, and showed it to one of my terrestrial camera traps. Luckily enough, that’s exactly what happened four times over the last few months. My first camera trap video featuring a creature with an eel in its mouth was recorded on a drying cattle pond. An American crocodile emerged from the water and slid by the camera with a large eel in its ja...
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Costa Rica’s Strongest El Niño Impacts Expected Between October and March

Costa Rica could face its most significant El Niño-related weather impacts between this October and next March according to projections from the National Meteorological Institute ( IMN ), raising concerns about reduced rainfall, higher temperatures, water availability, agriculture, and wildfire risk across parts of the country. The IMN said the developing El Niño event is expected to strengthen during the second half of 2026, with its peak influence on Costa Rica likely occurring from October through March. That period coincides with the transition from the rainy season into the dry season, when El Niño’s effects are often felt most strongly. El Niño is a natural climate pattern caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. In Costa Rica, it typically brings below-average rainfall to much of the Pacific coast, the Central Valley, and the Northern Zone, while temperatures tend to rise above normal levels. Caribbean impacts can va...
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El Salvador Peach Festival Brings Highland Experience to Chalatenango

The eighth Peach Festival opened today in Río Chiquito, a community in the San Ignacio district of Chalatenango Norte. Local producers and tourism operators host the two-day event through Sunday centered on the peach harvest in the northern highlands. The festival features guided tours of peach and strawberry farms, where visitors learn cultivation practices and pick fruit straight from the trees. Participating producers and cooks sell and serve peach-based products such as jams, desserts, natural drinks, wood-fired sweet breads, preserves, peaches in syrup and pupusas filled with local fruits. Some stands also offer peach wine made in the area. Tour operators provide packages that include transportation from other parts of the country, local guides and stops at nearby viewpoints and natural sites along the Río Chiquito. The highland location sits at higher elevation than lowland areas, which brings cooler temperatures and supports the fruit production that defines the event. ...
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