Potrero Beach in Guanacaste has become an accessible beach for people with disabilities, reduced mobility, and senior citizens. The beach features 33 meters of retractable walkways and an amphibious chair provided by Las Buenas Acciones Verdes de Monge in collaboration with the Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism.
The accessible beach will be open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be managed by the Ecological Blue Flag Committee of Potrero Beach. “We are very pleased to reaffirm Monge’s commitment to the environment and society with the sixth accessible beach. This project has two purposes: to reduce pollution and generate social impact,” said Carlos Fernandez, director of Monge’s Good Green Deeds program.
Since 2021, more than 11 tons of plastic caps have been collected, which were used to build and install over 300 meters of walkways and six amphibious chairs across six beaches: one in Playa Espadilla in Manuel Antonio, two in Puntarenas, one in Manzanillo in Limón, one in Playa Ventanas de Osa, and the most recent one in Playa Potrero in Guanacaste.
Organizations of people with disabilities from Guanacaste participated in the inauguration and tested the equipment. “For the Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism, each accessible beach inauguration is one more step towards achieving our goal. We all have the right to leisure and recreation. Thank you, Monge, for following every step by our side,” said Stephanie Sheehy, executive director of the Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism.
The amphibious chair supports up to 90 kg. It features stainless steel screws, special canvas for saline waters, does not absorb humidity, weighs 26 kilos, and is made of recycled plastic.
The walkways are modular, can cover any surface, are highly resistant, and have a long useful life. Each panel weighs 74 kilos and measures 1.5 x 3 meters, with a total of 11 panels making up the 33 meters located at Potrero Beach in Guanacaste.
To build this walkway and the amphibious chair, 1,000 kilos of plastic caps were needed, and the process cost US $6,300. The campaign to collect plastic caps is ongoing in the more than 200 Monge stores throughout the country. Monge takes the collected material to its distribution center, consolidates it, and then manufactures the walkways and amphibious chairs.
