Costa Rica announced on Friday that it plans on ramping up police presence at popular tourist hotspots after two female tourists were murdered last weekend.
The Judicial Investigation Police this week reported they have recorded 555 murders this year, just two less than the total number of homicides recorded in 2015. Crime figures last year prompted OIJ to declare 2015 as Costa Rica's most violent year in record.
Starting this June, police in Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Cahuita, Flamingo, Dominical, Nosara, Sámara, Playas del Coco, and Tamarindo will start taking criminal complaints, according to Public Security Ministry spokesman José Vargas.
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.
Crime is down in Puerto Viejo and the rest of Costa Rica's south Caribbean coast, police and residents say, and it's safer here than in some other popular tourist destinations. So why does a 2-year-old U.S. travel alert remain in place?
Many residents of Costa Rica's south Caribbean coast say that in the area surrounding Puerto Viejo crime is no worse than anywhere else. So why is there still a travel alert about armed robbery from the U.S. Embassy?
Rip currents (more commonly known as rip tides or undertows) are one of the most dangerous and ubiquitous members of Costa Rica’s beach communities.
While...
