No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTravel & TourismActivitiesOpen doors, bright lights: Marina Pez Vela's community outreach in Quepos

Open doors, bright lights: Marina Pez Vela’s community outreach in Quepos

QUEPOS, Puntarenas – The fate of this small coastal town has often been determined by external influences: the Standard Fruit Company, Palma Tica and, more recently, a huge boom in tourism based on the popularity of the nearby Manuel Antonio National Park.

The leadership of the Marina Pez Vela in the heart of the town seeks to break the community’s historical duality between the locals and the gringos  by working with the Municipality and other actors to create collaboration for the general improvement of Quepos. The Marina has been making an effort to invite all quepeños in to make use of its facilities as a public space.

Marina Pez Vela
Ivannia Alvarado / The Tico Times

Sales Manager Scott Cutter says this aspect of the Marina is particularly important to him.

“For me to be a part of a project that starts to… show people that development isn’t intrinsically bad and can create great public space for future generations of local people and better job opportunities – that’s a fun thing,” Cutter told The Tico Times.

Marina Pez Vela
Ivannia Alvarado / The Tico Times

Cutter’s love of the town and its history has led him to create free public events such as family movie nights, school graduations, support for the Independence Day faroles parade, a Día de las Mascaradas with trick-or-treat included, and the Christmas Bright Lights boat parade. These events are done with the sole purpose of creating a safer and more fun Quepos.

“We try to do all these public events so that the community of Quepos takes ownership and feels that the Marina isn’t just some other gringos,” Cutter said.

Marina Pez Vela
Ivannia Alvarado / The Tico Times

The Marina formed an alliance with the Quepos Municipality to work together to improve the malecón, or oceanfront promenade, to create a safer public space that people could enjoy throughout the day.

“We did all the architectural work for the malecón: the paving stones, we put the material in, and then the Municipality put it together. All of the new benches and flowerpots on the malecón, the Marina donated them to the Municipality and we’ve given them a full design plan on how to redesign the whole malecón,” Cutter said.

See also: Yacht or not? How Marina Pez Vela won over Quepos, and transformed it

This help on behalf of the Marina contributes to the Municipality’s project of beautifying the town.

“The malecón has been appropriated so that the people and tourists who come here feel safe,” Emily Fernández, from the Quepos Municipal Office of Tourism Management, told The Tico Times.

Marina Pez Vela
Ivannia Alvarado / The Tico Times

Cutter says that’s all part of the Marina’s vision and goal of empowering the people of Quepos to feel proud of their town.

“We don’t want to be the people who change Quepos. We want to be the people that helped Quepos change itself,” Cutter said.

The Marina has been carrying out the Bright Lights Boat Parade for four years now with the goal of creating an enjoyable family event to start off the holiday season.

Marina Pez Vela
(Courtesy of Marina Pez Vela)

“Bright Lights can’t grow. We can get better. It’ll be more fun, more boats, cooler lights. It can’t get any bigger here because we don’t have any more space. I think the Marina… may become a starting point just like the Festival de la Luz” in San José, Cutter said.

He says he plans to keep building on past successes.

“It just takes time. I think that’s one of the things the Marina’s good at. They understand that none of the things that we’re going to do here are about doing an event and tomorrow it’ll end. They know that if you really want to change it, it is about doing 50 events. If you want to change it, it’s two to five years of this,” he said.

Marina Pez Vela
(Courtesy of Marina Pez Vela)
Marina Pez Vela
(Courtesy of Marina Pez Vela)

 

 

 

 

The Bright Lights Boat Parade will be held on Dec. 9 at Marina Pez Vela in Quepos, Puntarenas with more than 15 illuminated boats. For more information visit the Bright Lights webpage.

Trending Now

Fan Violence in Latin American Football Spurs Debate on Security and Culture

Images of a fan jumping from the stands to escape a beating as bottles, rocks and seats fly through the air at a game...

Panama Canal Warns of Traffic Decline as Economic Uncertainty Grows

The Panama Canal will take in about $400 million less in the next fiscal year due to a drop in ship traffic caused by...

Guatemala Prisons Erupt in Violence With Guards and Workers Taken Hostage

Gang members rioted this Friday in two prisons in Guatemala and took several guards and civilian employees hostage, a week after uprisings in which...

Honduras Community Demands Justice in Environmental Murder Case

Three defendants accused of murdering an environmental activist in Honduras 11 months ago appeared before a court this Thursday for a preliminary hearing, the...

US Cracks Down on Costa Rica’s Narco Network with New Sanctions

The US Treasury Department moved against a Costa Rican drug trafficking ring today sanctioning four individuals and two entities tied to cocaine smuggling and...

FBI Recordings Reveal Costa Rica Ex-Minister Celso Gamboa’s Drug Ties

Costa Rican authorities continue to hold former security minister Celso Gamboa in custody as U.S. officials push for his extradition on drug charges. Recent...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica