Hi kristen,

We have two all inclusive resorts in Jaco such as Marriott Los Suenos and Los Suenos Resort and Marina which uses the facilities of Marriott.

But if you go to Gunancaste, this is why people seek all inclusive resorts in Costa Rica. Most of the resorts are built that was because Guanacaste is a region that is not walkable. You are either in your hotel grounds or you have to drive miles in a shuttle to get to a tourist activity. So Guanacaste built most of the all inclusive resorts in Costa Rica because of convienance for their guest. Other part of the country are not like that and have towns where you stay and interact with the locals. Good Luck

Hi Hellen and thank you for your questions. It is a straight forward question but it has many answers and often raises more questions. We think it is best said by other sites and articles which we will post here.

This is from a site called Surf in Jaco http://surfinjaco.com/2010/11/costa-rica-floods-exacerbated-by-illegal-construction/

As with so many other national disasters like the Costa Rica Floods, the truth comes to the surface from the governments spokespeople. Most of the homes that are destroyed are not legal and that Costa Rican’s have built houses on that land despite not owning the land and the danger of avalanches.
Costa Rica Floods in Atenas
This was true in Atenas a few years ago when Costa Rica floods killed scores of families. The homes were built at the bottom of a high ridge that common sense would tell you that the location is going to be prone to avalanches. But that did not stop those people or many of the people in San Antonio de Escazu from building. The government is saying they will help with damage from Costa Rica floods and then out the other side, saying more or less, this is not our fault. Laura Chinchilla said on television today that she will help the families rebuild but once again, rebuild illegal homes? Here you can read a report of Costa Rica’s own emergency service warning of Costa Rica floods and avalanches yet nothing was done to safeguard these areas. Three months ago in Santa Ana area an entire mountain came down. Luckily no homes were built on that land since it was a grazing area for cattle. That tragedy could have been prevented if Laura restored the natural use of the land to forest. The only reason mountains here in Costa Rica do not avalanche often is because of the trees and deep rooted plants. Cattle grazing produces short lived grass and not very deep in root. Typically grass is enough to prevent erosion from Costa Rica floods but the soil in Costa Rica is up to 1.5 meters and it is atop aggregate not solid rock. This combination needs trees that can stabilize the aggregate as well as the soil.
Costa Rica Floods and the Politics
While Laura Chinchilla travelled to rich countries last month to seek investments into Costa Rica, she was and is neglecting the needs of the country’s infrastructure. Her claim to office was reduction in violence and drug smuggling. However, many prominent Costa Rican’s abroad and at home are critizing Laura’s lack of attention to the problems the country faces. Just in the last 6 months alone there has been multiple disasters that are all man made and from lack of governmental enforcement. Many real estate investors decry foul when they follow the rules and the government threatens them with consequences all the while Costa Rican’s do as they wish.

For example, in the outlying area of Puriscal a US investor wanted to cut some of the trees on his 40 hectare plot. As most US investors are responsible people, he contacted MINAE to ask for permission to cut the trees. In Costa Rica it is illegal to cut down trees without getting MINAE approval. This man waited for over a year for MINAE to come to the property to put a red X with spray paint on the tree and filing documents after documents. During this time, the neighboring land owner, who is a Costa Rican citizen owned a similar size lot of 50 hectares. He had cut down half of the trees on his lot and did it within a week. He did not ask for permission from MINAE and he suffered no consequences. If a foreign investor does this, you can be sure that MINAE would level heavy fines against the property. The point to all of this is that the land that is being developed by foreigners in Costa Rica are not damaged from natural events like rain because they follow the rules. If Costa Ricans followed the rules none of these disasters would have happened in the last six months. They were all man made and caused by illegal building or clearing of the land.

Areas that have heavy foreign investments, such as Jaco, the owners and developers work with the local government to make the community safe from Costa Rica floods and avalanches. Jaco has had no flooding thanks to the 5 rivers that the government keeps open and clean. These rivers collect the rain coming down from the mountains, which line Jaco’s backyard, and feeds it into the ocean. Often we see in Jaco the rivers swelling with bright orange or orange brown water which is the rich soil mixed in the water and from that you know it is raining in the mountains and soon or later it will arrive in Jaco. But seldom do you see a Costa Rica floods in Jaco because of the foreign investors following the rules. Now Laura Chinchilla is asking the USA for money to help with their man made disasters which is a double slap to US investors. The moral of the story is, if Costa Ricans followed their own rules that they push down the throats of foreigners none of these disasters would have occurred. Examine each “disaster” in the last year and you create your own conclusion not ours.
Flood warnings
Avalanche
Avalanche study for Escazu in 2002 warned of the dangers
Estudio del 2002

Wow 6 weeks since the last question, I guess the site is really doing a good job in answering everyones questions.

Gerald thanks for asking this question because you are correct, it is hard to find and it seems nobody has created a site for the Jaco Rays soccer futbol team.

thejacoblog.com has the Jaco Rays game schedule