Pez Vela: World-Class Marina in Quepos

Harold Lovelady has been planning on building this marina in Quepos for 11 years now and finally this June the marina officially opened. At this point there are 97 slips but expansion is already in the works, ““It started as a small project, but as more people expressed interest in a marina, we had to redesign the original plan to accommodate the potential demand,” Lovelady said. “It was evident we needed to make a larger, world-class marina. So that's how it turned out.”

The residents of Quepos, a port city originally built by the United Fruit Company to export bananas and administer surrounding plantations, do not seem to know what to make of the Pez Vela. Currently about 20 people work at the quiet marina and its location right outside of downtown worries many residents that the marina will not create the expected up rise in tourism and job opportunities. However the mayor of Quepos assures that it is very positive, saying, “Members of this town will be trained to work at the marina, which means there will be more education, more jobs and more investment. The people of this town will soon begin to see the benefits of having a world-class marina.”

Get-a-Way in Manuel Antonio

This weekend was my birthday, so we decided to take a mini road trip down to Manuel Antonio National Park (about an hour south of Jaco Beach). We got a great deal through some Realtor friends in San Jose and ended up staying at a beautiful ocean view luxury condominium on the mountain. Even though Manuel Antonio is not very different than Jaco Beach, getting away for a few days and relaxing in a different city always feels like a wonderful vacation. We spent some time at the beautiful beach, surfing, getting sun, people watching and best of all, monkey watching! And luckily we also had time to enjoy some delicious birthday meals and most importantly fabulous wine and champagne. I can’t wait to go back and spend more time in Manuel Antonio and at the fantastic condo at Pacifico Colonial.

International Living Conference in San Jose

This past week our RE/MAX team was in San Jose working at the International Living Conference at the big Marriott. We had a great experience both professionally and personally. It’s always nice to get away from the beach for a few days and enjoy the bustling city life of Costa Rica and now that the new highway is open it only takes us an hour to be in a completely different lifestyle.

Throughout the entire conference there were speeches being conducted and Hannah and I each got assigned a topic. Hannah did a speech on the Central Valley and mine was on Rental Management in Costa Rica. Public speaking is not my forte, so I was pretty nervous going into it, but as soon as it was over it was like this huge weight that was lifted off of my shoulders and then I really got to enjoy the rest of the conference.

Following the conference we had two days of Real Estate tours, the first all around the Central Valley visiting various projects in Santa Ana, Escazu, Ciudad Colon and La Sabana; then the next day we drove out to the Central Pacific (our comfort zone) and toured properties in Jaco, Hermosa, Herradura and Esterillos. The tours were a huge success and lots of people are now returning home excited about their new interests in Costa Rica.