With three marina projects in the works on the central Pacific coast, fishermen and sailing enthusiasts can look forward to new places to dock their vessels and hang their hats in Quepos, Puntarenas and Playa Herradura.
Hundreds of new slips and dry-docking spots on the coast are being built and more are planned, often in conjunction with luxury hotels, condominiums and restaurants.
In HerraduraBay, the Los Sueños Resort and Marina (www.lossuenosresort.com) is growing in an effort to make the location more convenient for guests and residents.
Down the coast in Quepos, a $13.6 million, 178-slip project is under way at Marina Pez Vela (www.marinapezvela.com). And in Puntarenas, a roughly $100 million project called the Puerto Azul Resort and Marina (www.paradisevip.com) is in planning stages.
Currently the only operating resort marina in the area, Los Sueños Resort and Marina in HerraduraBay is expanding housing, entertainment and culinary options.
A new commercial center with a flower shop, a DVD rental store and an Internet café are scheduled to open in December, said Ashley Bretecher, executive director of marketing and communications for the marina.
The center is called the
Marina Village Square, and it will also include Italian and sushi restaurants, a café and a beauty parlor.
In addition, 500 new condominiums, home lots and luxury villas are being built.
The addition will bring the number of properties at the marina up to 1,000. Marina properties range in price from $400,000 to $3 million.
The Los Sueños Marina already has a floating dock with 200 slips, each of which has electrical service, cable television, telephone service, security, fuel docking access and waste removal services, according to the marina’s Web site.
Slips can be rented for one to two years, but they cannot be purchased. Rates for renting slips vary based on boat length and are discounted for Los Sueños property owners.
Monthly slip rental prices range from $600 (a 30-foot slip rented by a property owner) to $6,111 (a 126-foot slip rented by a non-property owner). Security deposits range from $2,000 to $4,500.
For smaller boats, 94 dry dock spaces are available.
Los Sueños also has a Marriott hotel, a golf course, a casino, a beach club for resort residents, a bank, mini-market, buffet and an Alamo car rental service. A series of luxury homes and condominiums are also available.
A figure for the total cost of the improvements was not available, Bretecher said.  Smaller than Los Sueños, the new Marina Pez Vela in Quepos will have lots of slips but no residences for now.
Scheduled for completion in 2008, some of the 178 slips are already being sold, and they will be available to rent starting in late 2007, said marina president Harold Lovelady.
Owners of the slips can keep them for the 20-year duration of the marina’s concession, and longer if the concession is renewed or if the Legislative Assembly approves longer concessions for marinas, Lovelady said.
Each slip at Marina Pez Vela will have cell phone service, television service, utilities such as electricity and running water, and convenient access to nearby bars and restaurants.
Prices for slips range from $120,000 for a 35-foot slip to $385,000 for an 85-foot slip. Rental prices have not yet been set.
The marina will also have at least 600 meters of side-tie dock for fueling and large boats, as well as U.S.-certified repair technicians, dry dock spaces for small boats and lifts to take boats in and out of the water.
The project will include a $250,000 investment in fixing the bridge into Quepos, Lovelady said.
In Puntarenas, a boutique hotel, casino, luxury condominiums and gourmet restaurants are planned alongside a 100-slip project called the Puerto Azul Resort and Marina.
Proyecto Urbano, the Venezuelan development company that is financing the project, hopes to have the project approved for construction by the end of the year, said Andres Zamora, Central Valley representative of RE/MAX Ocean Surf, which is in charge of marketing for the project. Condos, which are in preconstruction stages, are available for purchase now, Zamora said. In total, the marina resort project is expected to cost around $100 million.
Zamora is also working with Marina de Quepos, a proposed $250 million project, to build two additional resorts in Quepos. The project has not yet been registered with or approved by the municipality, but Baldino Alegre, president of Marina de Quepos S.A., said he is in discussions with officials in Quepos. He hopes to complete the project by 2010.
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