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$40 Million Marina Project Announced for Puerto Viejo

September 25, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Entertainment, Tourism | 14 Comments

Puerto Viejo Playa Negra - The Barge
The barge at Playa Negra, Puerto Viejo which used to be a marina. The new project is planned for the same area.

The consortium Grupo Caribeño Internacional S.A. has announced a huge marina project for Playa Negra with berths for 384 boats. The plan includes the building of 2 breakwaters, a commercial zone, administrative offices, a artisan’s marketplace and yacht repair and maintenance facilities. The investors behind the group plan to invest $40,000,000 in the project and say it will create about 2,000 jobs.

The consortium is made up of American and Costa Rican investors from the real estate and agriculture sectors. Their legal representative, Walter Coto, said this is their first marina project. He added that the first draft of the project proposal was presented two weeks ago to the Comisión Interinstitucional de Marinas y Atracaderos Turísticos (Cimat).

Coto said that the work will begin in 8 months if the permits are attained in line with their projections. The construction stage would last 2 years. The estimate of 2,000 new jobs includes the personnel necessary to operate the marina and the supporting commercial enterprises.

According to Coto, Puerto Viejo has the best natural conditions for a marina. “Studies by a consulting firm determined that the depth of the water and the marine currents in this zone are optimal.” Currently no marinas exist in the Costa Rican Caribbean.

Cimat also has another proposal under consideration for construction of a marina in Moín, near the existing cruise ship terminal in Limon.

Coto stated that the objective of the business would be to develop a project with the least possible environmental impact. “We want a construction which project the Caribbean identiy, that reflects the culture, the form of life and the feeling of the residents of this area.”

Rugeli Morales, mayor of Talamanca, noted that 88% of the Canton of Talamanca is a protected zone. “We don’t want a development which wouldn’t be harmonious with the natural environment.”

Other local residents were concerned with the type of tourism that the development would bring, specifically big money tourists and sportfishermen. Colin Brownlee, owner of the local hotel Banana Azul, worries that “the marina could attact a crowd which not as culturally diverse and tolerant as has historically been drawn to the area. Other Costa Rican resort towns seem to be predominantly American tourists.  The visitors who come here often have environmentalist-leanings or are they’re lives are not primarily driven by financial gain. These visitors have contributed to this environment by volunteering their time with local organizations and helping make this area the leader in areas such as recycling, organic farming and other green initiatives.”

The plan needs the support of the municipality as well as Cimat. However the council has already declared the development “in the interest of the local public” on their meeting on the 29th of March. According to this agreement the municipality would be responsible for the construction and administration of the breakwaters.

Cimat noted that there are actually applications in process for 22 new marinas in Costa Rica. Half of these projects are in Guanacaste.

With reporting from La Nacion: Empresa pretende construir marina con 398 atracaderos en Puerto Viejo

This project could be the biggest change to ever come to Puerto Viejo. Residents and visitors alike are encouraged to make their voices heard on this issue. One way to do so is to leave a comment on this article.