Let's stop calling it tuna farming. It's a feedlot for wild tuna rounded up with speedboats, dynamite and spotter planes. Tuna can not be bread in "farms", like shrimp or catfish. They can only be herded into pens and fattened up quickly. This is no different from a wild horse roundup, and ultimately a slaughter.
Someone else called it , "an underwater pig farm."
Granjas Atuneras S.A. is a sociedad of Venezuelan and Spanish interests, who are seeking to profit privately from a public resource. For each kilo of tuna produced, 20 kilos of frozen sardines will be 
fed to the caged tuna. In the wild, tuna eat once a week, but in the feedlot cages they'll be fed three times a day. All this environmental destruction will benefit the fish markets of Tokyo.
Your submissions are welcome, and we especially invite the opinions of native Costa Ricans.
For an review of the impact of the Tuna Farm, read Jonathan Haas' Letter to the Editor of the Tico Times by clicking here.
Unfortunately, the referendum about installing tuna farms at the mouth of the Golfo Dulce cannot take place any time soon. There are various bureaucratic hurdles. For instance, it is not permitted to have a referendum within 6 month of other elections. The next elections for the presidency will take place in February of 2010. This would give the community a deadline of July 2009 for the referendum. This is is too so
on to raise funds, complete the legal process and conduct campaigning.
At the moment, it will be at least another year before the referendum can take place. A referendum is still the preferred option to settle the tuna farm issue once and for all. A year will give us plenty of time to educate the public about the tuna farms. Fundraising, however, should start right away so that a consulting company can be hired to get the process started.
It is still unclear whether the district of Pavon (coastal communities from Punta Banco/Burrica to Zancudo and Comte) can conduct a referendum separately or if it will have to include the entire canton of Golfito (Golfito, Puerto Jimenez and Rio Claro) .
Background information:
Costa Ricas highest court froze the tuna project when inconsistencies were discovered in the environmental impact report filed by the company, Granjas Atuneras.
For instance, according to the company's report ocean currents move from the gulf towards the open ocean and thereby flush out any fecal matter produced by the captive tuna. However, the Sala IV found that no scientific studies of the currents exist and ordered Granjas Atuneras to provide this study, which it has not done.
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The Company states that..."currents flow from the gulf towards the open ocean and thereby flush out any fecal matter produced by the captive tuna."
Of course all the locals here know that currents go both ways, or the surfers could always just drift back to the line-up after a ride without having to paddle.
And how would you explain the bales of cocaine washing up on our beaches after a drug bust out at sea?
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Fortunately for us, Setena's approval alone does not put the project in motion. Next, the environmental minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez has to confirm Setena's decision which he is expected to do. Nonetheless, others need to give it the green light as well, our Mayor Jimmy Cubillo among them. He has promised to veto it.
So all is not lost but it looks like the project will remain on the drawing board for some time to come and we have to mobilize. We hope to settle the issue once and for all by having the local people decide in a referendum. However, the referendum is more complicated than was expected. Money is still needed to hire a consulting firm to conduct the independent referendum and pay for other expenses (lawyers, fees, etc.).
- submitted by Lili Romano
To make donations to PRETOMA, click the "donations" button here.
Last year it seemed as if the local real estate market came to a screeching halt. This year, things have picked up, surprising some local brokers.
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More sales have taken place in the Pavones area in the first few months of 2009 than all of 2008.
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One local broker has sold 5 lots in the first three months of this year. Contemplating their retirement options with smaller 401Ks, his clients are rediscovering Costa Rica. He said, "Hard financial decisions force people to rethink their life plans, and that seems to be when the Pavones area gets back on people's radar screens. Costa Rica is their plan B." This broker reports good demand for raw land priced under $100,000.
With few high quality residential homes available for under $500,000, Encanto is now accepting deposits for its Phase 1 residences (pictured here: the Aguas Verdes 2 family duplex). Encanto has responded to the changing mortgage market by offering the area's first Fractional Equity Ownership option, priced in the market's sweet spot between $50,000 and $100,000. Surprisingly, there is still strong interest in traditional whole ownership at Encanto, located in Cuervito de Pavones, in the hills overlooking the beaches of Playa Zancudo.
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Encanto is breaking new ground in the Pavones area, selling turn-key residences with resort amenities.
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Encanto is designed for "ownership made easy," with a rainwater-fed pool, concierge services, local transportation, gear garages, and hiking trails. Stylish, high-quality interiors are provided by the premier Costa Rican firm, Tamarindo Pacific Interiors.
Bank-financed developments in our area and throughout Costa Rica have been put on hold or cancelled altogether. However, Encanto is in the conservative position of being an all-equity-financed project with no debt. Said local project manager Lisa LaMagna, "We sleep really well at night knowing we aren't owned by Banco Nacional."
Freddie Wiggins of Pavones Point Realty, said, "More people are coming to our area because it's so much cheaper and more beautiful than the central Pacific or Guanacaste. Once people get here, they either love it or hate it. This place is paradise, it's magic." He called Pavones "recession proof."
Freddie recently sold Lago Correntoso (pictured, right). While he will not divulge the sales price, the palabra del calle is that the house sold for $1.2 to $1.3 million. This for a 5,000 square foot housing compound of superior construction with local hardwoods, a stunning ocean view, and pool, all on a shy 2 hectares (4 ¾ acres) of lush hillside.
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The Lago Correntoso home sale is the first to break through the $1,000,000 level.
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Marketing has become increasingly high-tech. Brokers depend on their web sites to draw people to the area and position themselves as a local resource. Nathalie Donohue of Costa Rica Horizon.com has provided a wealth of "insider" information and services.
You may also be interested in:
Pavones real estate 2010 wrap-up, December 2010
Just in time for summer, get in bikini shape with Venus Surf Adventures' Bikini Boot Camp. This is a popular new offering from Pavones' own surf camp. There are still spots left for the first week of May, and flights are cheap right now.
This addition to the Venus lineup includes a fruit and juice cleanse, light meals, yoga, trail hiking, beach running, a massage, and lots of surf instruction and yoga. Plus, Venus includes an all-natural outdoor spa experie
nce, and while we don't want to ruin the surprise, yes, you can have a green mud facial like these happy campers.
Visitors to Venus get a lot more surfing in here than at other surf camps, because they have hours of water time every day, exactly when the tides are right for small waves, and they can learn to surf without a crowd.
Contact info@venussurfadventures.com or click on the photo.
Driving along the beach road past the point, towards Punta Banco, I saw a woman struggling to pull a very large fish out of the water. What a big fish! No that's not a fish, it's a log, with branches. No, she's carrying another person. The time is 2:00 p.m.
I dumped the truck at the side of the road at Chocuacu and ran onto the beach, helped drag the woman onto shore and began CPR. A young woman, pretty and flaca, in her twenties, lifeless. Pushing on her chest, I thought I was beating a cadaver. Never in my life have I been so scared, so filled with terror. Brown water foamed from her mouth, her eyes were open and unresponsive. Push, push, push.
To her girlfriend, I said, "ok, hagalo, como ese, uno dos tres, uno dos tres, duro y duro, no deja, ok? Yes, she could copy what I was doing, and she did. I ran kicking up sand, across the street to Alex and Amy Outerbridge's house, yelping like a macaw "help, help".
Alex was like lightning down to the beach, where he continued CPR. Karin Wiggins had pulled over and she called an ambulance while I called Ruey Carabajal, a retired paramedic.
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"Ruey there's a drowned woman at the beach by Chocuacu."
>> Is she dead or alive?
"I don't know."
>> OK I'm coming.
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Freddie drove up on a quad with the young woman's boyfriend, Thomas, a visiting professional surfer. Ruey arrived and he pushed the water out of her lungs using a sideways Heimlich maneuver. Jenny was breathing again, it was a miracle. Her name is Jenny H. from Venezuela. Jenny was rolled onto a windsurfing board that Alex had retrieved from his house, and they carried her onto Ruey's 4x4. Time 2:30 p.m.
Meanwhile Freddie drove into the Cantina and shouted "Is there a doctor or paramedic here?" Scott Heimaster of the Carlsbad Fire Department had just at that moment finished a surf session. Scott threw his arms up, and in a minute he was at Ruey's house. Together, the two trained first respondents, Scott and Ruey, administered fluids and electrolytes intravenously. Jenny had gone into seizure. Time 3:00 p.m.
Thomas, Jenny's boyfriend, was with her the whole way, talking to her, staying in contact with her. Ruey administered oxygen from his welding tanks. Freddie was working the phones to find out where the ambulance was and arranging air transport to San Jose. Ruey and Scott determined she needed to be in a trauma center at a major hospital, not driven to Golfito or Nelly. I remember their frustration at not having the equipment and medicines they were accustomed to having available in their professional work.
Freddie worked the phones tenaciously, calling helicopter rescue services, air medics and hospitals. Ultimately Clinica Biblica, no doubt the best hospital in Costa Rica, would send an air-medic plane to Tiskita in Punta Banco. Jenny was convulsing in seizure, and had not regained consciousness. Time: 3:30 p.m.
The police arrived, six officers, asking the woman's name for their report. The ambulance arrived at 4:00 p.m.
By 4:30 the entire crew and patient were taken by ambulance and cars to Tiskita, where Peter and Elizabeth Aspenal had cleared the runway for emergency air transport. There was a delay with the plane, the hospital said the plane left at 3:30 but it was just leaving now, at 4:30 p.m. Scott later said that delays happen even in California, but it was cold comfort.
At 5:30 the plane arrived with a medical doctor and administered tranquilizers and other medicines to the still convulsing and unconscious young patient. When all was set, they took off, literally into the sunset, at 6:00 p.m.
A simple fainting from dehydration or hunger can happen in the worst place. While the details of Jenny's current condition will remain private, the doctors at Clinica Bilbica are giving a positive prognosis.
Swim safety tips:
- Stay hydrated and don’t skip meals.
- Learn to swim, and teach your child to swim, or invest in lessons
- Don't rely on a surfboard: If you surf, you must learn to swim well
- Swim with a friend
- Don't dive into shallow breaking waves
- Put a fence around your pool
- Don't mix alcohol or pot with swimming
- Watch your children closely
- Don't turn your back to the ocean, see what waves are coming.
- If you don't feel good or have doubt, don’t swim.
- Learn CPR.
Coming in May: Your own private emergency: what to do, how to get help, travel insurance, and phone numbers you need in your cell phone, not your cabina.
All travel is "más tranquillo" if you know what to expect, so this month we've begun a series of articles to help our friends, family and visitors get here. If you've traveled the puddle jumpers before, you might appreciate "Problemitas and solutions."
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Problemita: Your surfboard bag is 1/32th of an inch over 9 feet.
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Two commercial airlines operate between San Jose and Golfito. These are Sansa Airlines and Nature Air. But how can you make a reservation? Nigh impossible it seems. The web sites of both Sansa and Nature Air are bug ridden and crash constantly, especially on weekends. Your American bank will often reject a charge originating in Central America.
We recommend that travelers…
- Call the toll free number on the back of your credit card before you attempt to book travel. Tell your credit card agent that you will be traveling to Central America and that you want them to accept all charges originating in Central America. Do this even if you visit here every year, or every month.
- Call the offices of Sansa or Nature Air during regular Monday to Friday business hours. They do not provide reservation services 24 hours, 7 days a week; neither does Taca, the major carrier in Central America.
Neither Sansa nor Nature Air fly after 4:15 pm. If you want the most direct travel option to Pavones, aim for a flight that arrives in Juan Santamaria before 11:00 am or 12 noon. Allow 1 hour to clear customers and get your baggage (normally it is much faster). Then allow 15 minutes to get to the Sansa terminal, and 40 minutes or more to get to the Nature Air terminal. Note that the weather picks up in the afternoon, especially in rainy season, and those flights have a higher chance of being cancelled.
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Nature Air used to be called Travel Air until they crashed, shut down, repainted and reopened.
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Which airline, Sansa or Nature Air?
If you are o.k. with a single prop plane, fly Sansa. If you want the added security of a double prop, fly Nature Air.. Sansa's schedule offers more flights to Golfito. So if you miss your flight into or out of Golfito or Coto 47 (20 minutes from Golfito), or some act of God cancels the flight, you have a better chance of getting onto another flight the same day.
The Nature Air experience is just plain nicer. They have wide windows that make for a very picturesque experience. Their terminal is calm. Sansa's terminal is a bit too close to the runway action, loud and windy.
Nature Air's prices exclude a $20 "fee" that isn't calculated into the price until you checkout. Nature Air has a completely non-refundable, non-exchangable "locos" fare of $78 (including their $20 fee). Their full price fair is about $115 (plus $20).
Sansa's terminal is next door to Juan Santamaria, where your international fight will arrive, so the connection is quick. Pay a porter c1,000 ($2) per person to carry your luggage, or roll it yourself. Exit the airport and turn left, it's a 5 minute walk.
Nature Air's terminal is in a suburb of San Jose called Pavas. If you're staying at the (recommended) very lovely Grano D'Oro hotel for an evening, or anyplace in "el centro", it's a quick 10 minute taxi ride to Nature Air. (Ask at your hotel).
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Problemitas and solutions.
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Problemita: You and your buddies are huge stocky fellows and push the plane over its weight allowance. The airline wants to put you on separate flights.
2 Solutions: Plan ahead and charter a plane. If there are 4 or 6 persons traveling together, this is a very good option and, to some, worth the premium price. Alternatively, you can plan arrange for a very comfortable tourist van drive you to your destination. This is scenic and pleasant and will cost less than 4 airline tickets. (More information on ground transportation coming in May)
Problemita: Your surfboard bag is 1/32th of an inch over 9 feet.
2 Solutions: If your board bag is over 9', but your board isn't, take the board out of the bag and, with the duct tape you should be traveling with, tape some t-shirts around the nose. I have seen people transport their prized surfboards on Sansa doing just this, it works. The guys at Sansa, they get it.
Problemita: You and 4 buddies are traveling with surfboards.
Solutions: See Fat Guys problemita above. Also, bus travel is a seriously under-rated way to arrive in Golfito. The buses here are as comfortable as the Hampton Jitney, but without bathrooms onboard. From Golfito, if you are a glutton for punishment and a true cheapie, you can take the 10 am or 3 pm bus to Pavones.
Taxis to Pavones: If you prefer incredible comfort, when you arrive at the Tracopa bus station in Golfito, flag down one of the many 4x4 taxis that cruise the thoroughfare. If you don't see one, flag down any taxi and ask them to radio their dispatcher so send one to you ("nosotros necesitamos un taxi quatro por quatro para playa Pavones.") Taxi fare is $60 to $75 for the scenic 1 ½ hour ride.
Problemita: You brought more than 25 pounds of luggage.
Solution: You will be charged $1 a pound overage on both Sansa and Nature Air. You really don't need that much gear here, so don't pack a Patagonia catalogue. You may not be charged if you are very nice, or a frequent traveler, or if the manager is out to lunch, and this is a gift to be accepted graciously without tipping.
Problemita: Your luggage won't be on your flight.
Solution: In Pavones, we have an easy solution to this. We arrive at our destination and then call Alex, our best local taxista, and ask him to bring our luggage the next day, and then tip him or his buddy $10 (c5,000). We also do this if we need something urgently from the pharmacy. Ask your host for assistance and don't sweat it.
Problemita: You arrived late and missed your flight.
Solution: The big suck. Be prepared to pay again for another ticket. Seriously. If you booked through a travel agent you may only pay $50 per ticket.
Problemita: All flights are cancelled because of a storm.
Solution: They will put you on a bus to your destination. The bus will be packed like sardines. They will not refund any portion of your fair. It will take you 8 hours to get to your destination. Your only solution is to grin and bear it, or cough up more dough for another flight.
Problemita: You have 2 hours to kill waiting for your flight's departure, and you're hungry.
Solution: Check your luggage if you can. Then take a taxi (c1,000) from Departures to Casona de Mariscos, eat like a queen , have a Pilsen on ice, tip the mariachi band if they are playing, and have the parking attendant flag you a cab back to the airport. Delicious.
Problemita: This is all just more than you can handle, isn't there an easier way?
Solution: Yes. We highly recommend arranging your travel through your local travel agent (a vanishing breed we admit), through our local travel agent Katie Duncan at Tierra Mar (dial 011 506 2775-1614) or TicoTravel.net.
PHONE NUMBERS:
NATURE AIR: IN THE USA 1-800-235-0272, IN COSTA RICA (506) 2299-06000.
SANSA AIRLINES: IN THE USA 1-877-767-2672, IN COSTA RICA (506) 2290-4100.
Do you have a question, idea or correction? Send it to blogger@goodmorningpavones.com.
Escuela Camino Claro now has 47 students. Computer Literacy Classes start in April, and donations of used laptops are welcome. The school is also organizing a beach cleanup after Semana Santa.
Visiting volunteer Canadian dentists attended 380 patients in 4 days in Punta Banco in March; Chuki got his teeth cleaned. The favor was returned with a cleaning out of the dentists' cabinas.
A woman faked a 911 call to get the cops off their posts at the courthouse in Golfito, where $1.6 million of cocaine was being held as evidence, subsequently 3 cars pulled up and robbed the place, all rumors and innuendo (including from the US Navy) point to an inside job.
Costa Rican coke dealers said to cut with lidocaine for the tourist trade, people not likely to be repeat customers.
It's April and the crabs have stopped their full moon migrations, so lowlanders by the beach can turn on the lights again at night.Good Morning Pavones welcomes your submissions, letters, and photos. E-mail to blogger@goodmorningpavones.com.
Letter to the Tico Times:
There is a battle going on for the soul of Costa Rica, and it is taking place in the Golfo Dulce. Southern Zone locals, fishermen, surfers, environmentalists and those with tourism-related businesses are fighting efforts to put a tuna farm in some of the most pristine waters in the world. This issue has re-emerged and is close to final approval.
This is a classic example of a few powerful wealthy foreigners seeking private profits to the detriment of everyone. Granjas Atuneras S.A. is a Venezuelan and Spanish company looking to place between 10 and 100 cages measuring 50 meters in diameter and 20 meters in depth just outside of the mouth of the Golfo Dulce. The tuna would be corralled by helicopters, nets, dynamite and speedboats hundreds of miles out to sea and then dragged back to the Golfo Dulce to be placed in the cages.
The problems with this project are immense, beyond the deceptive approach, lack of transparency and accountability of its promoters, and include:
- The death and destruction of fish that don't survive the netting and 30-day towing process. Many dolphin, marlin, sailfish, tuna and other marine life will die in the process.
- A no-fishing zone will hurt local fishermen and negatively impact the community.
- The use of huge amounts of feed to fatten up the tuna so they can be sold and flown to Japan will cause many problems. Frozen sardines brought over from Peru can contaminate local waters with foreign elements introducing new viruses and unknown illness to the local ecosystem. This has been documented in Australia and the Mediterranean Sea.
- The cages will pose a serious risk to sea turtles, humpback whales, whale sharks and other marine life that passes through the mouth of the Golfo Dulce.
- Many tuna will die in captivity due to stress and weakened immune systems. These dead fish and feed debris will attract sharks and other unwanted predators in waters that are enjoyed by local surfers, divers and tourists.
- The concentrated fecal matter from the caged tuna will add another blow to the environmental balance of this fragile ecosystem. This may pose the biggest threat to the Golfo Dulce. Even the company admits an eight-year viability window before the waters are spent and it needs to move on. Those with personal experience from Maine to Panama to Australia can attest the environmental damage and degradation of local waters of these projects.
- This is an unnatural and destructive process that will add no local benefit. It will only add death and contamination to one of our last virgin waters. The only ones to benefit will be the closely held owners and their favored politicians.
President Oscar Arias, what type of legacy do you want to leave? Please help us save the Golfo Dulce and Costa Rica's reputation as a defender of natural splendor at a time when it is most under attack.
Jonathan Haas
Pavones
Let's stop calling it tuna farming. It's a feedlot for wild tuna rounded up with speedboats, dynamite and spotter planes. Tuna can not be bread in "farms", like shrimp or catfish. They can only be herded into pens and fattened up quickly. This is no different from a wild horse roundup, and ultimately a slaughter.
fed to the caged tuna. In the wild, tuna eat once a week, but in the feedlot cages they'll be fed three times a day. All this environmental destruction will benefit the fish markets of Tokyo.
