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I have frequently read where it is good to have mail (especially packages) delivered to Miami & then they (courier??) somehow magically arrive in Costa Rica. Can I get more information about how this works & who I would need to contact to set this up? I would assume this would work well for internet orders, periodicals, etc?
You can see more at one company’s website Aerocasillas
I receive TONS of books etc., from Amazon etc., through this method without a problem.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comYou can obtain this type of service from Mail Boxes, Etc. in Pavas on an annual subscription basis. There, you get a fixed weight of mail per month for your subscription cost and then pay by the gram for overage. This is how we first received our U.S.-origin mail and packages. What we learned is that the overage charges can be very steep.
An alternative is to become a member of the Association of Residents of Costa Rica who also offer this service. For a much smaller annual membership fee, you get your mail and packages delivered to downtown San Jose (not too far from Pavas, coincidentally) for a “per piece” or per gram cost that’s significantly cheaper than Mail Boxes, Etc. And your membership fee gets you some other services. Aerocasalles(sp?) is the carrier between Miami and San Jose.
Either way, you get an “SJO” number that identifies you to the company in Miami. And either way, you get a post office box number for letters and a street address for deliveries from UPS, FedEx, etc. So you can subscribe to any magazines you wish, buy over the Internet from e-tailers who don’t ship outside the U.S., etc.
I use aerocasillas and they’ve done a pretty good job thus far. We live in the Guanacaste region and I receive my mail via delivery to the tralapa bus agency in Huacas!
Does anyone familiar with aerocasillas know if vitamins can be mailed this way? Are items opened (packages) upon arrival in Costa Rica?
I have ordered vitamins and other over-the-counter supplements from Puritan’s Pride’s website and had them delivered to my “SJO” address in Miami for forwarding to Costa Rica. I’ve also ordered from drugstore.com. In both cases, I think the packages were opened by Customs, but nothing was lost. That did, of course, occasion a delay in delivery.
The only problem with buying this way is that vitamins, supplements, toothpaste, etc. are heavy. You’re going to pay for the weight.
A better alternative, if it presents itself, is to have your stuff sent to someone who’s flying down here and have them bring it. I’ve never heard of Customs being an obstacle at the airport.
I’ve ordered vitamins and other supplements from Puritan’s Pride’s website and cosmeticy stuff from drugstore.com and had them delivered to my “SJO” address in Miami for forwarding to Costa Rica. Both packages went through Customs and there was a delay. But there was no problem. Aerocasillas should provide you the same service.
An alternative would be to identify someone who’s flying down here and have your purchases sent to them to bring in their luggage. I’ve done that, too, and had no problems with Customs at the airport.
Over the past 7 years, most of the items that I have received in Costa Rica from the USA have been opened. NONE of the items I have received from other countries have been opened.
Whilst living in the Cayman islands, (five years) practically everything I received there from the USA had been opened by the US “authorities,” especially couriered packages from FedEx and UPS.
People talk about “Big Brother” as if it’s something that will happen in the future, it’s been here for a long time folks and gets worse every day. We’ve got Big Brother’s much bigger brother already.
As you can see from “The [Bush] signing statement claims authority to open domestic mail without a warrant, and that would be new and quite alarming,” said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington. (4th January 2007)
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
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