Costa Rica

Bordering the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic side of the country there stand the port installations of the Port of Limón and also those of Moín terminal. These installations have all the necessary equipment for the movement of general merchandise, the export of bananas, coffee and the new mode containers. It can also handle the transfer of crude petroleum which is pumped to the nearby national refinery.

There are three main ports on the Pacific ocean side; these are Puntarenas, Quepos and Golfito, the latter two of which were designed and equipped for banana export. At present Puntarenas is a docking port for ships coming from various parts of the world, be they commercial or private, and there is still a considerable amount of activity there in spite of the fact that the main activity has moved to the nearby port terminal of Caldera standing a few km to the south of Puntarenas.  All these ports are linked to the capital by land or by air and in the case of Limón and Puntarenas, also by rail. In the Gulf of Nicoya, in the west of the country facing the Pacific Ocean, there stands a port which has a very special features; this is the sugar port of Punta Morales which was designed and equipped exclusively for the export of cane sugar, an important mainstay of the national economy.

Notwithstanding the enormous marine wealth of the country, which has increase dramatically with the tenfold increase in Costa Rica’s territorial waters; the country has a small-scale fishing industry. Both the small fishing fleet and scant infrastructure for deriving benefits from these natural resources are still in their infancy and are only now receiving significant help from the state. Up to now they have counted on the help provided by friendly nations, particularly Taiwan and Spain, the state supports and encourages the formation of cooperatives. Taiwan collaborates in investigations into better fishing methods and sea-fish farming; Spain cooperates in the training of sailors and in the improvement of fishing-ship design by means of the National Trade Institute. Fishing as a sport is more highly developed and has special areas for sport competitions, specially as regards the fishing of sailfish and bass, which attract both amateurs and professionals from the country itself and from many others countries around the world.

Both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines (except for very short stretches of the former) have large, typically tropical beaches with luxuriant beautiful vegetation. They are part of the national heritage and as such free access to and full enjoyment of the same is guaranteed. Some of them have been declared national parks or reserves, and in some cases sanctuaries too for the protection of animal species in danger of extinction. In the last few years, particularly, there has been a striking rise in the construction and equipping of modern beach hotels and other private hotel facilities, as well as other facilities created by the Costa Rica tourist board. The state has taken great care to provide proper communications of all kinds and thus there is guarantee that these natural beauty spots will be enjoyed to the full. A safe, modern and flexible system of communications with the capital has transformed our beaches into musts for visitors, both from Costa Rica and from abroad all the year around.