QUEPOA SPORTS BAR by Agua Azul GRAND OPENING TODAY!!
Location: Below Cosi across from Villas Lirio in Manuel Antonio
Time: Starting at 12:00 noon
TODAY!
Life Project Education
In 2015, Life Project Education emerged as an experimental homeschool project, a seedling in a modest 2-bedroom, one-bathroom rental home in Manuel Antonio. Four years later, seeking permanent roots, founder Alys Jasmine Robinson relocated to an expansive 16-bedroom, 16-bathroom dream estate where her once intimate project is now a blooming, vibrant alternative educational initiative serving 70 students.
New branches of this tree of learning continue to grow like the young minds it nurtures. Once an offering for ages 5-9, Life Project now offers preschool, prekindergarten, elementary education, and the current Upper Years children (ages 11-13) are co-creating their future secondary education campus, a collaborative project called “The Village”. Projected to start construction in December 2022, the Village at Life Project Education will accommodate adolescents through 12th grade.
2022 Aqua Inspirations
After months of planning, the International Game Fish Tournament Observers (IGFTO), Junior Achievement-Costa Rica, and Marina Pez Vela Youth Career Day, titled Aqua Inspiration, kicked off on Wednesday, June 1, 2022.
Twenty team members and volunteers met up Wednesday at Runway Grill for a walk-through of the sequence of events in the afternoon, followed by a tasty dinner hosted by the IGFTO.
On Thursday, IGFTO personnel and the Junior Achievement-Costa Rica team met all student and school administrative participants at Liceo de Londres School. All participants were presented with event shirts labeled Aqua Inspiration, followed by comprehensive training by Junior Achievement-Costa Rica on critical career-building skills such as team building, communication and self-presentation, and leadership.
Pelagic Pura Vida Blue Marlin Classic
Hosted by world class Marina Pez Vela, in Quepos Costa Rica, March 24 – 27, 2022, International anglers from Australia, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and South Africa joined those from across the United States including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas, to participate in the first Bluewater fishing tournament of its kind.
With a truly unique tournament format that featured “no boundaries” as well as offering separate “sonar and non-sonar” divisions, this tournament was a true reflection of PELAGIC’s bold and innovative spirit, and willingness to try new things to improve the tournament experience for all participating anglers and teams.
Renacido: The Artist Reborn
Renacido Festival hosted their inaugural event in Manuel Antonio from Friday to Sunday, November 26-28, 2021. Billed as a celebration of the rebirth of art in Costa Rica, the festival brought many local and international artists together to create and make music together. To ensure safety and limit the crowd, music was dispersed between three venues: Papugami’s at Tres Banderas, Plinio, and Hotel La Colina with a shuttle running constantly between each.
Things heated up on Friday night, as each venue had a unique combination of sound, ranging from soulful folk and moody blues to high energy funk.
Andre Nowacki, manager of Papugami Tiki Bar at Tres Banderas Hotel, said, “The different locations to enjoy amazing music was a top experience of the festival, never a dull moment!”
On Saturday night, over at Plinio, Tommy Panamarenko and Bethany Joy shared their more acoustic sound and haunting harmonies. At Hotel La Colina, the Fagan brothers Ben and Chris raised the energy level to the delight of their fans who traveled from Dominical and Uvita. Over at Tres Banderas Hotel, After Irma, a band based in the US Virgin Islands but with some roots in Costa Rica rocked it out. The guitarist and singer-songwriter RC Sanders lived for some time in Dominical and produced an album during his time there in 2020. This time, he brought the band to play their original groove style with a violinist and percussion player.
Renacido Festival
November 26th – 28th, 2021
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Renacido (reborn) is a celebration of the rebirth of art in Costa Rica. As have we all, the arts suffer financially during the pandemic, yet we still share our hearts and passion, keeping hope and faith alive in the quarantined, the ill, and the struggling. With the world and our workspaces closed or restricted, limiting us from making a living, Renacido blesses us with a multi-venue music event for the artist, by the artist. Warm your soul with Fire dancers. Inspire the artist while they create live murals in the jungle to the sound of local and touring musicians in the stunning township on the hill, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Come! Vibe with us!
Buy Tickets Here!
Brisa Elegante
Quepos has a new landmark in the Marina Pez Vela, the 100 ft wooden sail cruiser Brisa Elegante. With her two masts, she dominates the view of the marina. Come and check it out yourselves!
What kind of sailship is this?
Brisa Elegante was built in 2010 by the Fethiye Shipyard in Turkey. She is a Gulet, a type of sail cruiser known for its spacious and robust design. Shipbuilding in the area of Fethiye has a long tradition. Even the Phoenicians more than 2000 years ago had their ships built in this region. Gulet became popular in the 1930s in the Eastern Mediterranean, with growing popularity during the following decades. Today, Gulets are popular for day cruises and week charters in the Meds, especially in Turkey, Greece, and Croatia. But Brisa Elegante is special! Her hull is built from solid 3-inch mahogany planks, giving her a unique look and strength. She boasts a spacious foredeck, giving room for functions, weddings, parties, and for your family and friends to enjoy a cruise on the Pacific Ocean.
Why does Brisa Elegante look like a pirate ship?
Well, she is built in a very traditional way, like sailships have been built for centuries. In the days of the Buccaneers, the ships were about the same size as the ship you see now lying in the marina. Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria had nearly the same size as Brisa Elegante and a crew of 45 sailors. However, she is no replica of a pirate ship; she is built to an original and traditional design. So, by boarding her, you will get the very feeling that generations of sailors had during the past 500 years!
What kind of tours do you offer?
To start growing your sea legs, you can join us for a morning or a sunset cruise. This cruise takes you from the Marina Pez Vela along the coast of Manuel Antonio along the shore of the National Park. Experience how sailors have felt, leaving the harbor and setting sails. Feel the wind moving the ship forward and see the water rushing under the bow and along the hull, an adventure you will never forget.
We serve refreshments and small snacks during the cruise and will stop for a swim and snorkel break.
If you are in for longer cruises, you are welcome to be on a charter with Brisa Elegante. She has 5 staterooms with double beds, each with an ensuite bathroom, and comes with full board. Explore the natural wonders and relax on the sundeck. Listen to music at the bar, sit with friends and family, and enjoy guided excursions from the comfort of the ship. It will bring you to the best spots without the hassle of repacking your luggage every other day.
Contact us at info@sailcr.com.
Liberación de Tortugas
Tortugas de Isla Damas is a turtle conservation project near Quepos. Isla Damas, a small island of beach and mangroves, is where one of the seven species of sea turtles comes up to nest… the Olive Ridley turtle. Turtles nest nearly year-round here and the hatching is truly a beautiful event to witness. However, the turtle nests are at risk to egg poachers and other threats if left unprotected outside the nursery.
Here are some fascinating facts and current statistics on sea turtles.
- Sea turtles are ancient species, having been around since the time of the dinosaurs – about 110 million years!
- It takes 20-30 years for a sea turtle to reach sexual maturity. When a female is ready to lay eggs, she returns to the nesting beach where she was born even if she has not been there for 30 years! Some females nest every year until the age of 80.
- On the beach, hatchlings must avoid natural predators like birds, crabs, raccoons, etc. to make it to the sea. Once in the water, hatchlings can be consumed by seabirds and fish or subjected to things such as drift nets. Few survive to adulthood, with estimates ranging from one in 1000 to one in 10,000.
- Sea turtles’ natural lifespan is estimated to be 50-100 years.
The Tortugas de Isla Damas is a registered non-profit in Costa Rica, their mission is to conserve the turtle population through educating the public about these gentle creatures and acting as a hatchery for the turtle eggs.
Throughout the year, the turtles return to the beach to lay their eggs. This is when the eggs are collected to protect and incubate them in the hatchery, therefore raising their chances of survival. When the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are then released back into the sea
Contact FB @tortugasdeisladamas, 506 8777 8880.
Quepolandia has gained 200,000 visitors in 2 years!
I was scrolling through my old FaceBook posts and found this screen capture of our visitor count reaching 250,000 in February 2018 from it’s launch in 2009. I was thrilled that day.
2 years later our visitor count is approaching 450,000! That’s 200,000 in 2 years!
That’s more than 8,000 visitors per month. Advertise online with us. GET INFO HERE.
Quepos Fishing Fleet Recognized as Top Captains of 2019!
By Rebecca Johnson, PR Manager FishingBooker
FishingBooker, the world’s largest platform for booking fishing trips, works with over 5,500 captains all over the world. Some of these captains often go the extra mile to make the fishing trip a success. This year, we decided to honor the stories that stood out and give them a bit more spotlight. Jackpot Sportfishing from Quepos made it to our Captain Spotlight list: Heroes of 2019!
Here’s their story:
Jackpot Sportfishing caught our eye twice last year, on two of their different boats. Back in February, they took part in the first-ever all ladies tournament here at the Marina Pez Vela in Costa Rica.
Despite being the underdog with the smallest boat in the fleet, the 31’ Good Day took home the honors for the biggest Tuna of the weekend. But it wasn’t all about the Tuna:
“Over the weekend we released 8 Sailfish & caught 3 nice Tuna. Marbely & Cathy Gilmour in our team caught their first-ever Billfish, well-done girls! Stella Humphreys, Iby, & Marbely caught their first-ever Tuna, Marbely’s fight being an epic 45 minute battle on a light spinning rod!”
While this event was all about the ladies, Jackpot Sportfishing didn’t do badly when their tournament crew was all-male, either. They proved this in March when they competed in two tournaments in one weekend.
Taking home the Dorado and Tuna Jackpots on both day one and day two of the Quepos Billfish Cup, they put their good luck down to their lucky fishing shirts… but we think there might be something more to it than that!
Let’s Talk About Trogons
Lattice Tailed Trogon
The fossil record of the Trogons dates back 49 million years to the Early Eocene. They are closely related to Mousebirds and Owls. The word trogon is Greek for “nibbling” and refers to the fact that these birds gnaw holes in trees to make their nests.
Trogons are residents of tropical forests worldwide. The greatest diversity is in the Neotropics. They feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly any distance. Trogons are generally not migratory, although some species undertake partial local movements. Trogons have soft, often colourful, feathers with distinctive male and female plumage. They are the only type of animal with a heterodactyl toe arrangement (inner toes face front, outer toes face back). They nest in holes dug into trees or termite nests, laying 2–4 white or pastel-coloured eggs.