Costa Rica Beach Real Estate – The best “Blue Flag” rated beaches

Flamingo (Guanacaste) and Piñuela (Osa) regain the award however, the beaches of Carrillo (Guanacaste), Punta Uvita and Colonia (Osa) lost their flag rating.

A total of 58 beaches from both the Pacific and the Caribbean will fly the Ecological Blue Flag this year, after passing a difficult exam.

These beaches comply with the requirements to get one, two, three or four stars for its sanitary security and adequate environment for swimmers.

84 beaches got into this program during the 2006, and passed throughout several examinations, such as water quality, cleanliness and security.

At the end, 58 of those passed the test (70% of the total). The beaches that got the highest qualifications are located in Puntarenas.

• Playa Blanca, at Punta Leona, got the highest qualification of the list with four stars.
• It is followed by the beaches of Manuel Antonio and Espadilla Sur, with three stars.
• With two stars, there are the beaches of Puerto Escondido, Gemelas, Pochote and Manta (Punta Leona).
• At the coast of Guanacaste, Conchal, Junquillal, Punta Islita and El Madero got two stars as well.
• At Limón, nine beaches from the south got the flag, but none of them with more than one star.

The Ecological Blue Flag Award:

The number of awarded beaches jumped from 57 to 58, from the 2005 to the 2006.

• The beaches Flamingo (Guanacaste) and Piñuela (Osa) got the flag back during this last evaluation.
• Carrillo (Guanacaste), Punta Uvita and Colonia (both at Osa), on the other hand, lost the distinction.
• Also, the beaches of Camaronal (Guanacaste) and Dulce Vida (Puntarenas) received the award for their first time.

These beaches were awarded at a symbolic ceremony at the INBioparque, in Santo Domingo de Heredia.

Communities and schools:

Along with these beaches, some communities and schools that passed similar examinations got the award this last year. On the communities’ category, 71 were inscribed, but only 29 of those got finally awarded.

On the schools category, 490 were evaluated, but only 164 got the award. Compared with the 2005, the number of communities awarded for its environmental quality jumped from 21 to 29.

Meanwhile, the number of schools awarded dropped from 222 in 2005 to 164 last year.

“We’re still analyzing the data we have from this category, to find out what exactly happened”, said Darner Mora, coordinator of the ecological program.

This program started 11 years ago, and it’s carried out by the Aqueducts and Sewers Institute (A&SI), the ministries of Health, Environment and Education, by the National Chamber of Tourism (NCT) and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (CRTI).

Annual Distinction:

The Ecological Blue Flag program integrates experts from the ministries of Health, Education and Environment, as well as from the A&SI, NCT and the CRTI.

Four categories: the initiative started back in 1996, like an award that was given to the cleanest beaches; then the schools category and the communities’ category was open. This year, a fourth category was open to award the zones that protect wooded areas.

Water quality, solid waste use and environmental education are some of the points evaluated. Each category has its parameters. This is an annual evaluation, which means that any beach, community or school can lose its flag.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission use this article.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.