Tico Tales - More on Guanacaste

Occasional Tales from our Life in Costa Rica

Did you catch our recent post about our short visit to the northwest province of Guanacaste and the beaches at Ocotal and Bahia Pez Vela? Well, imagine our surprise when just 5 days after our return, Costa Rica President Oscar Arias appeared with AOL co-founder Steve Case at a news conference where Case announced his plan to build an $800 million luxury resort very near Playa Ocotal. The resort will occupy an entire peninsula and feature hundreds of rooms, 300 residences, a golf course, and a sports center branded with the names of Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf. And this news isn't Guanacaste's only recent brush with celebrity. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited in December and in April Mel Gibson purchased a $28 million, 400 acre ranch. There's even a Saudi prince and his 48-person entourage holed up in the Four Seasons Papagayo as we write. If you liked our images of idyllic Playa Ocotal, you might want to start planning your trip now; big changes are coming to the area.



Playa Ocotal