drownings

Costa Rica has a high number of beach drownings for its size. That's due, in part, to the lack of lifeguards and vacationers letting their guard down at the beach, experts say. Here we provide tips for staying safe and a downloadable fact sheet on rip currents.

Benita Smith, a 58-year-old Nicaraguan woman, drowned in the event. Another woman traveling with Smith, Mirian Sambola, was injured and taken to a hospital in Guápiles.

The National Coast Guard Service on Saturday recovered the body of a 52-year-old U.S. tourist who drowned while swimming off Flamingo Beach, in the province of Guanacaste.

Costa Rica is known around the world for its picturesque beaches, but there are no laws that require lifeguards on its sandy shores, forcing local communities to scrape together the funds to train and employ their own. Without more resources for beach safety, experts say that preventable drowning deaths will continue.

The Judicial Investigation Police and U.S. Embassy in San José confirmed the man’s identity as 34-year-old Ibrahim Karadsheh.

Motivated by increased drownings that they perceived as preventable, a group of passionate people in this small, yet increasingly popular beach town have started their own nonprofit lifeguard program, Santa Teresa Lifeguards. They hope to not just save lives, but also to prevent dangerous situations by educating the public on water safety.