Tag: beaches

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8 Costa Rican New Year Traditions

8 Costa Rica New Year Traditions from Grapes to Beaches

By Sarah Jordan in Tico Times, December 26, 2024

1. 12 Grapes for 12 Wishes

As the clock strikes 12 not everyone is kissing their loved ones for the New Year. Some are starting their New Year with the love of grapes. 12 grapes that is. One grape for one wish. One of the long-running traditions in Costa Rica for New Year is eating 12 grapes. With every grape, a wish or intention is made, one for each month of the upcoming year.

When I asked my neighbors if it mattered which color all they said is well it depends if you like seeds or not. So, I am assuming the color of the grape won’t make any difference in making my wishes come true, I guess I will soon find out.

2. Left Hand Luck

Another popular New Year’s ritual I often hear about is starting the year with money in your left hand, para que no se vaya. There is no specific amount that goes along with this ritual. Simply hold a bit of money in your left hand as the clock chimes at midnight and you’re set to welcome a year of prosperity and abundance.

3. Sweeping Out the Old

Clearing the way for fresh beginnings lies at the heart of this Costa Rican New Year’s tradition. It is out with the old and in with the new! With the intent of sweeping out the negative energy that lies stagnant, the home is swept clean on New Year’s Eve inviting fresh good vibes for the upcoming year. Meanwhile, others prefer to wash the entrance once the New Year finally rings in, welcoming new beginnings right from the doorstep.

4. Choose Your Lucky Colors (and Bloomers!) Carefully

Depending on who you talk to, you’ll hear different takes on this one! Some folks swear by slipping on some yellow bloomers for buena suerte, while others say to wear them inside out. On the other hand, I have heard as long as you’re rocking something yellow, you’re good to go. I will let you decide on this one. But it doesn’t end there!

The same goes for the color red if you’re hoping to spark more passion and or find the love of your life in the year ahead. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to attract wealth, health, and abundance, green undies are the choice for you.

5. The Running of the Maletas

If your New Year’s resolutions include a year of travel, then you’ll want to grab your suitcase for this one. This fun and lighthearted tradition involves running around the block with your luggage for a new year filled with exciting trips and adventures.

6. It’s Raining Lentils

This tradition might get a bit messy but it’s all in good fun and all in the name of abundancia. As the New Year approaches you toss dry lentils (yes, uncooked) up into the air then you gather them up afterward. Placing them in a little red bag or pouch you can add some coins or bills to welcome prosperity. 

7. Feast of Foods

No celebration in Costa Rica is complete without a feast, and New Year’s doesn’t disappoint.  Rompope, Costa Rica’s creamy twist on eggnog is made with a blend of milk, fresh eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and spirits. Served up beside almond cookies, pastries, and queque navideño it is a spread of pure indulgence.

Pierna de cerdo is a long-standing tradition to eat on New Year’s Eve during a late dinner. And we can’t forget the star of December, the infamous tamales. These banana leaf-wrapped treats are like delicious little presents, a true labor of love, time, and companionship shared with friends and family.

8. Ringing in the Year at the Beach

One of Costa Rica’s biggest traditions takes place on New Year’s Day when the country’s beaches become absolutely packed. And I mean packed! So much so that Costa Rica implements temporary traffic measures, including reversible lane systems, to manage the increased highway volumes on the beach routes. These are just a few of the annual rituals Costa Ricans enjoy on New Year’s. Many homes and families put their own spin on traditions, but one thing remains the same, the sky lights up with fireworks as people gather on the beach, atop

Playa Blanca, Punta Leona near Jaco, Puntarenas, Pacific Coast.

Both photos by Charlie Doggett to illustrate article by Sarah Jordan in the Tico Times, online English language weekly newspaper.

¡Pura Vida!

Happy New Year!

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The Allure of Beaches

A Sample of My Beach Photos and Why I Don’t Live on a Beach . . .
My Beachside Hammock View
Manzanillo Beach, Costa Rica

Flying Over Many Beautiful Beaches
Tambor Bay, Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio Park Beach
Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

Corcovado South Beach
Corcovado National Park, Carate, Costa Rica

Hermosa Beach
Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Manzanillo Beach
South Caribbean, Costa Rica

Surfer
Manuel Antonio Public Beach, Costa Rica

Barefoot Beach Soccer
Manzanillo Beach, Costa Rica

Sunrise
Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo, Caribe South, Costa Rica

Ohhhhhh, this was difficult to choose, even as samples! There is that camping on the beach shot or the birders hiking up Corcovado Beach I wanted to include, and those horses in the evening fog along another beach, and the long slim Flamingo Beach or the couple picnicking under a tree on a beach! Though I do not swim in the ocean (I consider it dirty) and don’t surf or even boat much, I love to go to the beach and the photo ops are simply unlimited! I love photographing beaches!

Because it is hot and humid most of the time on the beach and the cost of living higher than Central Valley where I live, I am not likely to move to the beach, though never say “never!” Also most of the best medical services are in the Central Valley which is important for an old man!  🙂

But I will continue to make visits to both coasts as I just did for Christmas at Tambor Bay on the Pacific. This June I will be on an island in the Caribbean of Panama at Boca del Toro. In September I do a repeat stay at Banana Azul Hotel in Puerto Viejo, South Caribbean, and for Christmas this year I will spend a week at Si Como No Resort & Wildlife Refuge on the Pacific Coast at Manuel Antonio. Most of my in-between trips are to the mountains which I love equally well but find too cold much of the time for living, thus between trips I live in the perfect weather of 70’s farenheit in the central valley, the best of all worlds!

My two beaches photo galleries:  Caribbean Beaches  and  Pacific Beaches

-o- 

FOR YOU BEACH LOVERS (Read The Costa Rica Star newspaper articles):

One Costa Rican Beach Ranks Among Top 25 Beaches in the World
This is a little-known, seldom visited beach in our South Caribbean near Manzanillo where I have stayed, Punta Uva. It doesn’t get the attention (or advertising that Manuel Antonio or Guanacaste beaches, but I loved the beautiful nearby Manzanillo Beach and will try Punta Uva eventually.

As with most of the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, the hotels at Punta Uva are small and basic in the midst of nature.   (NOTE: This ranking of beaches is done each year by TripAdvisor based mostly on tourist rankings and certainly not scientific! Last year they included our Manuel Antonio Beach on this list.) Someday I will try visiting this beach,

Planet Hollywood Beach Resort to Open in Costa Rica Fall of 2018

This will be one of those all-inclusive expensive resorts where they entice you to never leave their hotel property and all activities are available says Travel Weekly magazine. It will be like some of the other all-inclusive Marriott’s, Hilton’s, and Barcelo’s in Costa Rica, with the theme of movies and movie stars whom they entice to visit there (part owners). More like going to Disney World! And another way American big businesses are making money off Costa Rica. And what some Americans want here!

We already have some Hard Rock Cafes here and I they are opening a beach hotel in Guanacaste sometime this year. These kinds of hotels are mostly on the northwest coast of Costa Rica in the Guanacaste desert or driest part of the country where you have to go further from the beach to see much else. A lot of Californians come down to stay on the beaches, flying into Liberia.

There is even talk of a big amusement park and there is already an automatron dinosaur park near Liberia. It is not my favorite part of the country, though there are still some more national parks I want to see in that area.

¡Pura Vida!


And Celebrate with Me! My Income Tax was filed & accepted today! Paid in full. 

Though it is disgusting how much tax I have to pay for no services from the states other than my SS Check (my money) and the Embassy here that I no longer need now that I’m a resident. And it is embarrassing to admit that I am a U.S. citizen as the whole world laughs at a country that would elect Trump and the NRA-owned Republicans while the most violent gun-toting country in the world watches it’s citizens kill off each other while demanding billions of dollars more for a bigger army to go kill people in other countries. How sad! 

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Tempisque River Today

Little Blue Heron
Tempisque River, The Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica

I’m having trouble with my computer shutting off every few minutes, so only one photo for now and more later from our boat trip on Rio Tempisque and a drive through Playa Hermosa and Playa Coco. I of course made lots of photos!  🙂  It was windy and thus not as many birds as we would normally have and I only got maybe one new or first time bird. But a good trip and I learned about some more Guanacaste beaches. Hope to get photos up soon!