January 2019

Jan 18, 2019

Five Fruits You Must Try While You are in Costa Rica

The fruit in Costa Rica is exquisite and exotic. The variety of fruit that naturally flourishes in this tropical utopia is quite impressive. Widely known fruits like bananas, avocados, papaya, and pineapple are available at nearly any market. Fruits like guanabana, cas, maracuyá, pitaya, and mamón chino, however, might be entirely new and unknown to you.

It would be a shame not to experience some of Costa Rica’s most delicious fruits just because you weren’t sure what they were or how to eat them. Here is a little guide to five fruits that you might have never tasted before but definitely should while you are in Costa Rica.

Guanábana

Guanábana, also called soursop, is a strange looking fruit that is native to Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Guanábana is relatively large with a green and slightly spikey exterior. The inside of the fruit is white and fleshy with a circular arrangement of medium-sized black seeds.

This fruit is commonly served as a juice or just sliced and eaten whole. What makes the guanábana very special though is its natural cancer-fighting properties. The leaves and fruit also have anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic properties. Guanábana is pleasantly sweet and widely available in Costa Rica.

Exotic fruit in Costa Rica — A strange and sweet super fruit

Cas

Cas, also known as guava, is an abundant powerhouse fruit found throughout Costa Rica. This pear-shaped (although sometimes round) fruit is lime-green on the outside and pink on the inside. Often served in a juice, jelly, or jam flavor in Costa Rica. The health benefits of this hearty fruit are quite impressive though.

Guava is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin E, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium, zinc, niacin, dietary fiber, folate, thiamine, and riboflavin. Regular consumption of this fruit promotes a healthy immune system, regulated blood pressure, improved eyesight, and enhanced brain function. It also helps alleviate digestive problems and symptoms associated with the common cold.

Maracuyá

Maracuyá, known in English as passionfruit, is a widely loved snack in Costa Rica. To eat it you must cut it in half and then scoop out the insides with a spoon. Maracuyá is also commonly used in desserts and drinks in Costa Rica.

Maracuyá is a great antioxidant-loaded fruit to incorporate into your Costa Rica vacation diet!

Fruit from Costa Rica — All you need is a spoon

Pitaya

Pitaya or dragon fruit is a beautiful exotic fruit locally grown in Costa Rica. The exterior is vibrant pink, and the inside is white and dotted with tiny edible black seeds. There are however several varieties of dragon fruit. Pitaya is a fruit that many pass up because they don’t know what it is or how to eat it. But it is one that you should try while you are in Costa Rica.

Pitaya is full of antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals that are extremely beneficial to your overall health and wellness. This fruit helps support the cardiovascular, immune, and digestive system; as well as combats cancerous cells, reduces inflammation and promotes radiant and healthy skin.

Mamón Chino

Mamón chinos are a type of lychee. They are called rambutan in other parts of the world. This seasonal treat (usually harvested and sold between July and October) is genuinely delectable and is the ultimate roadside snack. During the season, you can find mamón chinos everywhere. Street-side vendors usually sell them by the kilos.

This funny looking fruit looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book! To eat them you remove the outer shell and eat the sizeable grape-like fruit inside. Be careful of the seed in the middle. It is nearly impossible only to eat one!

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Jan 8, 2019

Will the Wind be Offshore Tomorrow in Playa Grande, Costa Rica?

You may have noticed that it is particularly windy these days. If you are a surfer, you have definitely noticed that those strong winds are predominantly offshore. Every year, starting sometime in December and usually lasting through March, the Papagayo wind returns to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

With these winds come perfectly groomed waves and colder water temperatures. You can also expect the occasional sand blasts to the body on the beach and falling tree branches; so, watch out! The summer months in Costa Rica rival the cliché Groundhog’s Day. Every day is sunny, dry, and very windy. Record wind gusts have been recorded at 70 mile per hour!

Have you ever wondered why though? Why is this wind so predictable and where does it come from?

Without getting too technical, here’s a brief breakdown of the seasonal phenomenon known as the Papagayo wind. Simply put, wind is caused by air flowing from high pressure to low pressure areas. The strong offshore wind that you are experiencing right now actually originates in North America and flows across the Gulf of Mexico.

There are three zones in Central America were these high-pressure systems escape to low-pressure areas. Lake Nicaragua is one of these zones, and the one that affects Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast.

NASA explains this wind activity quite precisely.

“In winter, cold high-pressure weather systems move southward from North American over the Gulf of Mexico. These high-pressure systems create strong pressure gradients between the atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico and the warmer, moister atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Just as a river flows from high elevations to lower elevations, the air in the high-pressure system will “flow” downhill toward lower pressure, but the Cordillera mountains block the flow of air, channeling it through Chivela Pass in Mexico, Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua, and the Gillard Cut in Panama.”

offshore winds in Playa Grande, Costa Rica — Part of the food chain

These consistent gusty winds also cause the warmer surface water in the ocean to mix with the cooler nutrient-dense water the lies just a bit deeper. An entire food chain actually depends on the algae blooms that take place along the Pacific Coast when the nutrients are brought up from the depths.

Aside from blessing surfers with perfect surf winds, this seasonal wind is one of the main ingredients for the summer feast that takes place in the ocean.

summer in Playa Grande — Surfing in Summer in Costa Rica

The Papagayo winds are here to stay for the next couple of months, so brace yourself and enjoy the summer surfs in Costa Rica! And to answer your question, yes it will be offshore tomorrow in Playa Grande.

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