Pochote

Introduction

Pochote is a popular coastal town in the Puntarenas Province in Costa Rica, located along the Pacific coast on the Nicoya Peninsula. Pochote offers unparalelled sightseeing and attractions. This small village boasts some of the best sport-fishing in Central America with local guides that can actually guarantee your catch! Guests in Pochote are close to world-class golf, a casino, and beautiful sandy beaches. Nearby enjoy tours that take you to Turtle Island to enjoy scuba diving and snorkeling, Curu Animal Reserve to see the howler monkeys, and Prison Island, the infamous prison the world forced the Costa Rican government to shut down in 1970. Guided tours are available to all of these destinations and more.

Sights and Activities

• Turtle Island (Isla Tortuga). This eco-protected, white sand beach island is a favorite with many. It offers trails to areas of interest and a gift shop. Swimming, snorkeling and diving are a fun way to spend part of the trip. This eco area is world-renowned as the nesting place of the spotted and green back Sea Turtles If go in late August you may see just-hatched sea turtles struggling to toward the sea.
• Curu Animal Reserve (Refugio Silvestre Curu). This large animal reserve is home to large cats, panthers, tigers & leopards. It's also home to Golden and Howler monkeys, exotic butterflies, three-toed sloths and a veritable plethora of other typical jungle animals. The tropical butterflies are huge and colorful and delightful.
• Bird Paradise (Isla Pajarro Paraiso). This large rock island is home to thousands of birds in varied species. A true birdwatchers paradise, hence the name. You can take hundreds of closeups of birds - they really let you get close to them and aren't scared of humans.
• Cedro Beach. This is a beautiful beach, where you can get lunch. It offers trails and animal life. You can also fish right off the beach.
• Prison Island (Isla De Prisio). This is the island prison Costa Rica was forced by world powers to close in 1970. The death rate of prisoners was very high. For the student of eighteenth and nineteenth century architecture, it's a veritable gold mine, from the handmade block cells to the hand-formed stone spike walkway. The island is surrounded by shark infested waters. The prisoner art will amaze you. The two parts called the Hole and the Death Hole, will give you cause to ponder, why Costa Rica had such a low crime rate for over a century.

Keep Connected

Internet

It's easy to find internet access, and although you can still can find a lot of internet cafes, wifi is growing fast in the country. The further away you get from San Jose, the slower and more expensive it becomes when you are using an internet cafe. Wifi is generally free of charge at most places though and apart from off the beaten track parks, jungles and mountains, the connection generally is ok. Some internet cafés also offer international calls via either phone or IP using services like Skype.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

• The country calling code to Costa Rica is 506.
• To make an international call from Costa Rica, the code is 00.

There are plenty of phone booths around and you will get the best rate using a pre-paid international card (can often be purchased in internet cafés and other small stores). There is usually a connection fee making short calls extra expensive. International calls are fairly expensive. The cheapest way to make them is over the internet using a service such as Skype at an Internet café. But making short calls using the domestic calling cards (you can make international calls using these but the denominations of the calling cards are quite small so your call will be short!) or the international calling cards available within Costa Rica (all from the government phone monopoly ICE) is the next best deal.

Those travelling with a mobile phone and willing to pay the roaming costs should ensure it supports 1,800 MHz GSM network. Note that the GSM phone systems in the United States and Canada use different frequencies and that travelers from there will need a "world" handset, such as a tri-band or quad-band phone, if you want to use your existing cell phone. If you want to use a local Costa Rica number, you can rent cell phone service, and of course anyone can buy a cell phone. If you have an unlocked cell phone (either one from home or bought in Costa Rica - all cell phones sold in Costa Rica must be unlocked), prepaid (prepago) SIM cards can provide a local number and service can be purchased throughout the country by anyone with a passport from any country. Try using companies like Grupo ICE under the Kölbi brand, TuYo Movil, Movistar and Claro.

Post

Correos de Costa Rica (website in Spanish only) is the national postal services of Costa Rica. You can find post offices (correos) in almost any city and town and they are generally open from 7:30am to 5:30pm or 6:00pm Monday to Friday and 7:30am to noon on Saturdays. There are not that many mailboxes, so it's best to ask your hotel or go directly to the post offices. Services tend to be slow but generally reliable and on the whole cheap regarding letters and postcards. It costs about US$0.20 to the USA and Canada (taking about 1 week to 10 days), US$0.25 to Europe (about 2 weeks) and US$0.30 to Asia and Australia (3 weeks or even more). All in all, if you can try and arrange your mail from the capital San José as it's generally quicker from there. Small packages are also no problem, though take them to the post offices unpacked for inspection first! Otherwise, arrange things through private international courier services like UPS, FedEx, DHL or TNT.

External Links