Costa Rica closes its borders
 

The government just announced that Costa Rica will close its borders Wednesday night, and the closure will run through "at least April 12." Only citizens and foreigners with residency can enter and they must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival. No other foreigners will be allowed to board flights to CR.

This is sad but not surprising, especially with Spring Break on the horizon. Guatemala and El Salvador have also announced similar closures.

Panama too. Its ban takes effect tonight.

That's sad to here, but I hope it keeps everyone safe. We actually considered coming in April this year. Thanks for the update.

The ban will encompass Semana Senta (Holy Week), the biggest tourist week of the year. If it keeps people safe, then it has to be done.

All bars and nightspots are closed. Restaurants can remain open, but they can't exceed 50% capacity. All schools are closed too.

That should say to hear. Bars and restaurants here are closing, only takeout orders will be accepted. School closed.

They are taking it very seriously, even canceled all of the major fishing tournaments in Los Suneous. Boats are in quarantine in the Marina, not allowed to depart.

It's no different than all the other events that have been cancelled.

It is actually quite different, as many of these boats are USA citizens living aboard on a vessel that is registered and domiciled in the USA. They are not being allowed to obtain a ZARPE which allows the yacht to depart to the next port IE Home to America. In effect, they are stranded. Many have been quarantined on their vessel far more than 14 days. Some have decided to leave without the required paperwork in hopes of a sympathetic Panama Canal transit committee.

All ports of entry have been closed to foreigners for four weeks, so they weren't supposed to come to Costa Rica at all. Only citizens and foreigners with permanent residence are allowed in, and they have to quarantine for 14 days. If these people arrived after March 17, they were in violation of the ban on entry.

Los Suenos is not typically a port of entry, you are suggested to use Golfito when entering by a private yacht. The annual tournament there boats typically arrive in November and December No restrictions were published on yacht departure nor have they been since. None of these teams / vessels violated anything.

The marina at Los Sueños most certainly is an official port of entry. Did these people not enter the country properly? I still don't understand when these boats arrived. If you're saying November and December and they're still there, then those people are also in violation of the law. You cannot stay more than 90 days as a tourist. You have to pay a fine for your overstay. Then the length of the overstay is multiplied by 3, and that's the length of time you're banned from returning to Costa Rica. Is that what's going on? Are these people trying to leave without paying that fine? Lotsa luck to them.

But back to the original issue, all big public events have been cancelled as part of the lockdown. This one would be no different.

While it is an official Port of Entry, the law requires you to make call at the NEAREST port of entry once entering territorial waters of Costa Rica. That would be Golfito coming from the canal. You can stay more than 90 days with a temporary import permit for the yacht, I have done so for years. The 90 days is for the person not the vessel. Most of us simply go to Nicaragua or Panama for a few days and re-enter. The issue I am discussing is not the departure of the person, it is that they have loved down the vessels and are prohibiting them from departing as I eluded to. Several have already left, despite the ban and encountered no problems from canal authorities.

Okay. That was not clear. Plus, I don't know enough about that kind of travel, so that's the source of my misunderstanding. What reason are they giving for holding the boats?

At this point, none....many of the yachts are more than capable of departing all the way to Panama non stop Makes no Sense

Just read that the government of Costa Rica has extended the restrictions until June 15, and would apply to all land, sea and airports. There are also vehicle restrictions until the end of the month.

I really feel for everyone in the tourist industry. This is crushing.

This will make three months of the country being closed to entry by foreigners.

All private vehicles have to be off the road by 10 pm on weeknights and 7 pm on weekends. The driving curfew lasts until 5 am the next morning. On weekends during daylight hours, vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers can drive on Saturday and even numbers on Sunday.

So sad for a country that is so dependent on Tourism. Hopefully this will get better quickly.