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9009010901?profile=originalChristmas is right around the corner, and with it are holidays and school vacations. For a fun adventure in the sun with rainforest, beaches and volcanoes, head to Costa Rica for your family vacation.

Costa Rica is a top family vacation destination for warm tropical sunshine and seas, beautiful beaches, rainforest adventures, affordable easy travel and plenty of kid-friendly activities. It is one of the safest countries in Central America and English is widely spoken.

What makes Costa Rica so grea

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9008896289?profile=originalYoga retreats at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat, on award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, draw people from all over the world. So do Pranamar Villas’ daily yoga classes with popular instructor and Pranamar yoga director, Nancy Goodfellow.

Now Nancy will be holding two inspirational Costa Rica yoga retreats, called Embracing Totality, at Pranamar Villas in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, next year in 2016. The seven-night all-inclusive retreats will be held May 21 to 28, 2016 and

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9009009653?profile=originalIt is once again time for whale watching in Costa Rica!

The 2015 whale-watching season in Costa Rica gets going every year in August and September in southern Costa Rica. In Uvita Beach, there is a Festival of Whales & Dolphins every year in September. The annual festival marks the peak of the annual migration of southern Pacific Humpback Whales to the Ballena National Marine Park in Costa Rica

Less than an hour north of the Ballena National Marine Park, Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living e

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9009006457?profile=originalWhether you are traveling for a couple of days, a few weeks, or even months, all of that sitting, standing, carrying and hefting luggage does a number on your body and especially your back and neck. You may even have been suffering from back and neck pain before your trip from stress, tension, overworking, etc.

Yoga can help. There are several easy yoga poses you can do almost anywhere to help ease many of the common symptoms of traveler’s back pain. You can do these poses at the airport, in your

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What’s the latest vacation craze? Surfing and yoga retreats in the balmy tropics are the hot fashion.

But what if you don’t know how to surf or live far from the nearest ocean? Is it still an adventure worth taking? Try it and you’ll see. Here’s what a few surf retreat fans had to say:

Surf-camp-01.png?width=272“This week has been about so much more than learning how to surf ... the support & encouragement you have given me, and this beautiful place will stay with me for years to come. I never imagined myself as a surfer c

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One of the top day tours on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast, Veragua Rainforest Research & Adventure, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

The highly popular nature and adventure attraction, and important scientific research center, was four years in the making and now five years open. In that time, the tour destination has achieved a long list of successes.

Veragua Rainforest entrance walkway"Everyone is very proud of the work and effort we have given during these years," said Federico Quirós, Administrative Financial Man

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9009004878?profile=originalVacation rentals in Costa Rica are very popular, and often the most economical travel option for families and groups of friends. Pay per night for multiple hotel rooms, with maybe only breakfast included? Or stay in a Costa Rica beach rental for a few days, weeks or month with plenty more space and luxury amenities, at much lower prices than a luxury beach hotel.

The North Pacific Coast of Guanacaste, Costa Rica is known for beautiful beaches. You can pretty much find it all here – white sand, go

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9296607059?profile=originalBuilding in Costa Rica is very different from North America and most of Europe. Located between 9 and 11 degrees latitude above the equator, Costa Rica’s tropical climate comes with its own special considerations.

There are four constants in Costa Rica: sun, rain, wind, and … more sun, rain and wind! Unlike Northern Hemisphere homes designed for freeze-thaw cycles, Costa Rica’s eternal tropical climate deals mostly with varying levels of humidity. Then there is all of that amazing tropical biodiv

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9009000888?profile=originalThe cute and cuddly sloths of Costa Rica will once again feature in international television and online programming. The award-winning production Nature will air a two-part program called Nature’s Miracle Orphans on PBS on September 23 and 30, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. (ET). After each broadcast, the episode will be available for online streaming at pbs.org/nature. Nature is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. Nature’s Miracle Orphans is a BBC Production. The series has been consistently

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Your Guide to Living in Atenas, Costa Rica

9296605683?profile=originalLearn all there is to know about Atenas, Costa Rica in this super handy guide from Pure Life Development of Atenas. If you have any questions on anything to do with Atenas, Costa Rica, get in touch with Atenas Costa Rica realtors, Dennis Easters and Gerardo Gonzalez Porras. They have been successfully helping customers buy and sell real estate in Costa Rica, do land development and home construction in Costa Rica for 10 years.

9008998089?profile=originalYour Guide to Living in Atenas, Costa Rica

With an ideal location, Aten

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9008997056?profile=originalWouldn’t it be nice to dine in a restaurant that only served freshly-made meals made with locally-sourced ingredients, vegetables picked that same day, sauces that didn’t come from a jar or can, bread hot out of the oven, juices that only a moment ago were whole fruit, and desserts loving crafted by an on-site pastry chef?

 

In fact, you can. This is what is cooking at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The renowned Costa Rica eco-adventure hotel at the base of the Rincon de la

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Creamy, gooey, mouth-melting, milk, white, dark, bitter, sweet … chocolate melts our hearts not just our taste buds.

Cacao-beans-photo-courtesy-of-Smithsonian-Magazine-300x161.jpg?width=300As the story goes, chocolate was once considered gold. Prized by the Aztecs and Mayans, and formerly reserved only for royalty in Europe, chocolate has held an irresistible allure for cultures worldwide over the past 4,000 years. In some areas, chocolate beans were even used as currency.

Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao fruit tree, which originated in the Americas, and g

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9008994901?profile=originalThe dry tropical forest covering the western side of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Guanacaste, Costa Rica creates an interesting ecosystem for many different animals and plants than you would see elsewhere in Costa Rica.

 

The award-winning eco-hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, located at the base of the massive volcano, offers fun and fascinating Costa Rica nature tours. You can visit waterfalls and natural volcanic hot springs, go hiking in the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, learn about ancient cul

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9008995857?profile=originalThe Nicoya Peninsula in the northwest region of Costa Rica in Central America is known as a “Blue Zone”. That means people here are more than twice as likely as elsewhere to reach a healthy age of at least 90 and frequently live to be over 100.

9008995879?profile=originalU.S. author and researcher Dan Buettner’s 2008 book, “The Blue Zones”, is written about his research with National Geographic and the world’s top longevity scientists to identify places around the world where people live measurably longer and better. After

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Being right on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, with warm Pacific Ocean, uncrowded white sand and shady palm trees, you may never want to leave your hammock or cushy lounge chair. However, there's also a lot going on in this region of the southern Nicoya Peninsula, so if you should get the urge to be active and adventurous, here are 8 top things to do in Santa Teresa Costa Rica.

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Daily Yoga Classes


You can go to beginner and advanced yoga classes every day

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9296602688?profile=originalA fresh, vibrant, personal style marks the energetic new website of Hotel Tropico Latino in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.

The intimate beachfront hotel launched the new 2015 website to the public this week, giving viewers a fully-responsive user-friendly experience with a mobile-first design, making it easy to navigate on a wide range of web browsers and devices.

There is a lot of new information for people to find out about the magnificent hotel, delivered in bite-size chunks easy to digest, and that

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9296604258?profile=originalPay per night for a hotel room, with maybe breakfast included? Or, enjoy a private spacious condo or beach house that lets you have your own, comfortable “home away from home” while on vacation?

Over the past 10 years, vacation rentals in Costa Rica have become very popular, and it’s no wonder. Vacation rentals can be a really economic travel option for families, groups of friends, and couples. Staying in privately-owned apartments or homes that are rented by the day, week or month gives vacation

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Nearly all of Costa Rica’s two million-plus tourists each year visit at least one beach during their vacation. Logistics are easy given that the San Jose International Airport is a little less than one hour from the closest Pacific Coast beach, and it only takes 30 minutes or so to get to the coast from the Liberia International Airport in Guanacaste in the north Pacific.

Called “El Coco” by Costa Ricans or “Coco Beach” by foreign visitors and residents, Playa del Coco is one of the oldest beach

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9008985867?profile=originalIf you like the thrill of riding rough and fast down the rugged terrain of an active volcano in Costa Rica, passing through rainforest, splashing through rivers and getting muddy, then this new mountain biking tour is for you.

 

In Guanacaste, Costa Rica – a major area for mountain biking – Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin has created the Iron-Horse Downhill Mountain Bike Tour for travelers who want to experience the unparalleled adventure of mountain biking in Costa Rica.

 

Over the years, Costa Rica has

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9008855854?profile=originalFinding your bliss is easy on a Costa Rica beach vacation at Hotel Tropico Latino.

With inspiring daily yoga classes, Costa Rica yoga retreat vacations, and the marvelous natural spa at the beachfront hotel in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, there is no better way to relax.

Imagine having a soothing massage or relaxing in a yoga class while listening to the rhythmic sound of ocean waves (real ones, not recorded), enjoying cool sea breezes, and looking out at shimmering white sand and the brilliant blue

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