6 Comments so far

1. Allyson on July 22, 2009 9:03 pm

   Cheap????
   Except for inexpensive hotels there’s nothing cheap about Puerto Viejo. Activities like horse riding or ATv’s are about 50-100% more than in California. Food in stores and most restaurants is more then in the US. I don’t really find it “cheap”. Even Pacific coast of Costa Rica has better prices than Puerto Viejo.

2. eric on July 23, 2009 1:39 pm

   the publisher of the article is orbitz.

   i know nothing about editorial policy at away.com, but the article is probably more appropriately titled “the author’s favorite 10 beaches he has visited in the last 10 years and not felt totally ripped off”, or more cynically (here comes a totally baseless accusation of corporate influence)….”top 10 margin-generating beaches for orbitz.com”

   he states in his criteria that he is not listing the cheapest beach destinations. all of this is not to say that puerto viejo is not awesome, because it is. however the piece struck me as something contracted by orbitz to generate some excitement about travel, using the “budget” angle as a marketing means to lessen potential travelers’ anxiety over planning a vacation during a recession.

3. Allyson on July 23, 2009 8:12 pm

   Eric, I think you are absolutely right. Good investigative work.

4. Editor on July 23, 2009 11:25 pm

   I didn’t have any doubt this article was a sort of self-serving self-promotion for the Away.com site (but thanks for the tip on it’s link to Orbitz).

   Nevertheless, it’s good exposure for Puerto Viejo. Intentions of Orbitz selling more stuff beside, it will bring more people to the area and the site gets a lot of traffic.

   Unfortunately the same thing could be pretty much said about any travel publication (print or online) these days — including this site admittedly. Hard journalism and travel writing have never been much associated.

   That said, in their defense, there are a lot of places they could’ve picked if the only criteria was to sell more on Orbitz given that Puerto Viejo has no package holiday offerings on Orbitz and very few hotels bookable on Orbitz.

5. Colinsito on July 24, 2009 7:06 am

   This article has also been syndicated with press releases that have appeared on other sites.

   I know many people who like traveling to Puerto Viejo do not like all the publicity. But, like most places around the world, hard times have fallen on many of the businesses here and the hardest thing to watch is local people (non-foreigners) get laid off from their jobs with little hope in site of a new one around the corner.

   They seem to take it mostly in stride as they are used to not having much… but you can tell they sure liked having a job versus not having one.

   Thankfully we have been doing okay at Banana Azul. But when I see all the stuff happening around me, I think the hardest thing I would have to do to cope is lay off staff.

6. Donna on September 25, 2009 8:26 am

   I’ve been to a lot of the places mentioned here and they’re all just wonderful, out of the way places to lay back and relax. Yeah, the prices of everything, worldwide are exorbitant and not likely to get any better but do your homework and don’t come in to these places with some out of date guide book in your hand quoting 5 year old prices.
   Tourism is down worldwide and it’s hit the poorest the hardest. There are excellent travel packages available for most every pocketbook and when you do travel you’re helping some local resident keep a much coveted job. Just bear in mind the economy has been harder hit in some areas than in others and how can you compare California with Puerto is beyond me. Obviously, you don’t own a vehicle in this country.