Over nearly a century, the Central Pacific Coast town Quepos has evolved from the banana-driven economy of the United Fruit Company to a popular tourist destination. Last year a quarter of all visitors to Costa Rica spent time and money in Quepos and the nearby Manuel Antonio National Park area.
In recent times, Quepos has reemerged as a world class sportfishing destination, hosting eight major tournaments this season, including the upcoming Offshore World Championship in April. Behind this surge is the Pez Vela Marina, a state of the art complex first opened in the early 2010s that has space for almost 200 boats and can accommodate ships up to 200 feet in length.
With its assortment of shops and restaurants, a giant screen for outdoor nighttime movies in the summer season and a just-built multi-story condo, the marina has become not only a good source of local employment, but also the new center of gravity for Quepos.
Long before there was a Pez Vela Marina, long before there was a Manuel Antonio National Park, life in Quepos revolved around the pier, the railroad, the banana plantations and the area known as the Zona Americana, which served as a neighborhood for the United Fruit Company management and workers.
Sitting in the shadow of the new marina, the Zona Americana is distinguished by its neat two-story wood frame houses, most of which date from the nineteen thirties and forties. In Quepos history, countless businesses have come and gone, hotels opened and closed, restaurants were here one high season, and gone the next.
One local institution has seen it all, and continues to thrive. Tucked away on a cul-de-sac a two minute walk from the marina is the original Quepos clubhouse, the Club Banana.
Since 1939, it has been a combination restaurant, cantina, game room and meeting place for generations of Quepeños. Tuesdays and Fridays are reserved for karaoke and the line to sing is always long. I was there on a recent Friday night. The club was full, the mood celebratory. The service was good considering the chaotic mix of crooners, drinkers, dancers, pool shooters, foosballers and ping pongers.
I spoke with the present proprietor, Diogenes Zuñiga Navarro, whose family has run the Club Banana since the 1990s. He considers the club as a places for all in the community to share and enjoy. They have hosted weddings, receptions, local awards ceremonies, birthday parties, and are equipped to handle family gatherings of any age group.
I mentioned the proximity to the marina and he said that all tourists are welcome, but also made clear that his club was not really reliant on the weekly high season visitors. The night I was there, the crowd was almost all locals and both the bar and the kitchen were hopping.
While few of the annual visitors to the gleaming Pez Vela Marina will know of the existence of a place a two-minute walk away, the Club Banana rolls on, looking toward its second century of serving the local Quepos community.
