Calendar of Events and Posts
Aug
11
#1 on Google!
August 11, 2008 | Tags: Site news | 3 Comments
July was a great month for Puerto Viejo Satellite — not only did we hit a record for number of visitors, surpassing 10,000 visitors in one month for the first time, and a record number of page views, over 22,000, but we are now #1 when you search for Puerto Viejo on Google.
Of course, you’ve known we’ve been the most comprehensive and up to date site for Puerto Viejo for a long time but Google just took a little while to catch up.
If your business still isn’t listed on the Puerto Viejo Satellite map, you’re missing a lot of potential customers. You can add it in a few minutes on the List Business page.
If you’re already listed, you can upgrade your listing to include a weblink to your website for just $75 a year. You can upgrade here. Upgraded listings not only get a weblink to their site but have lots of other benefits.
Jun
20
Informacion de tours y actividades ya esta disponsible en español
June 20, 2008 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
Yes, our tours page is now available in Spanish! It joins the map page and the transport page as fully bilingual pages. So we’re well on our way to providing a fully bilingual site! Thanks to the great translation services provided by Agustin at Hotel Banana Azul.
Ver la pagina de tours y actividades en español | See the tours and activities page in Spanish
Now you can read about all the tours and activities we recommend in either English or Spanish — and you can book them right online too!
May
22
Starting June 1st, Interbus will be offering service to Turrialba from Puerto Viejo, San Jose and Arenal as well as intermediate points.
From Puerto Viejo to Turrialba they depart daily at 6 a.m. and arrive at 10 a.m. From Turrialba to Puerto Viejo the departure is at 8:15 a.m., arriving 11:30 a.m. The cost is $35 for adults and $17.50 for children.
Puerto Viejo Satellite offers booking of any Interbus route (and when we book it, it is easier to make changes or get a refund in case of a cancellation than if you were to book directly on the Interbus site). Click here to search fares and schedules and make a reservation.
May
11
Cahuita Map Images Added
May 11, 2008 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
Google has finally upgraded their map images for the Cahuita area, which formerly were blurry and cloud covered. Now there are crystal clear images of the Cahuita area, easily good enough to pick out individual businesses. The beach looks so inviting in the pictures that I want to jump right into my screen!
So now it’s time to add your Cahuita businesses to the satellite map.
Puerto Viejo Satellite isn’t just for Puerto Viejo anymore but for the whole of Costa Rica’s South Caribbean.
To see the images check out one or all of our current Cahuita listings:
- El Encanto Bed and Breakfast Inn
- Roberto’s Tours and Restaurant
- Cahuita National Park
- Cahuita Center
You can add new listings on the Add Listing page.
Apr
10
115 Places Now Listed on the Map
April 10, 2008 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
With many local businesses adding their listings over the last few weeks, there are now 115 places listed on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Map! They represent an amazing diversity of places to eat, shop, stay or visit in our community. If your own favorite places are still not listed, you can add them here. The basic listing is completely free.
Visitors to the area and residents alike are also finding more and more on the site and we are optimistic this is contributing to a positive business environment for the area. Visits to the site continue to grow, with new records being set regularly. In March, almost 9,000 unique visitors came to the site! And on Tuesday, a new one day record was set with 482 different people coming to the website to research hotels, discuss topics on the forum, read the Talamanca News, get detailed directions and options on how to get here or get around or for many other reasons.
Some of the most recent additions to the map:
- Cabinas Guaranas (also a new Puerto Viejo Top Pick)
- Cabinas El Tesoro
- Cabins Mor Solutions
- Casa Viva Beach House Rentals
- Jordan’s Jacuzzi Suites
- Laundry
- Lotus Garden Japanese Restaurant
- Mighty Rivers Ice Cream
- Pan Pay
- Pulpería Manuel Leon
- Soda Miss Sam
Mar
31
Current Puerto Viejo Weather and Forecast now Available! Surfing too
March 31, 2008 | Tags: Environment, Site news | Leave a Comment
We’ve just found a weather service which is providing current weather conditions and forecasts for Puerto Viejo, Cahuita and Manzanillo! See the Weather Page.
Used to be the closest information we could get was for Limon which as we all know despite just being 75 minutes driving north, could have very different conditions.
No idea where AccuWeather is getting their information. The weather forecasts from Costa Rica’s Instituto Meteorólogical Nacional still show their closest forecasts are for Limon and Sixaola.
They even offer 15 day forecasts on their site although we know that the potential accuracy of a 15 day forecast for this area has to be rather limited with the quickly changing weather we have.
We’ve also updated the weather page to add more information about surfing conditions in the area. Check out surfing conditions.
Mar
7
Taxi Rates Now Available on the Transport Page
March 7, 2008 | Tags: Local Business News, Site news | Leave a Comment
Check out the taxi section on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Transport page — there’s a new feature there which is a list of point to point taxi rates from Puerto Viejo to just about anywhere! For example, Puerto Viejo to Rocking J’s 1,000 colones, Puerto Viejo to Cariblue in Cocles, 2000 colones or Puerto Viejo to Sixaola 20,000 colones.
Now these are the rates that the drivers belonging to the taxi collective are supposed to charge. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t confirm the price in advance (especially now that you’re armed with what the price should be). Nor is every driver in town a member of this collective. But there it is, put it to good use!
Feb
5
Puerto Viejo Satellite Visitors Through the Roof!
February 5, 2008 | Tags: Site news | 9 Comments
 Website traffic for Apr 07 through Jan 08. The red bars are unique visitors to the site, the blue line is pages viewed on the site. If you can’t read the graph, check the advertising information page for a larger version. |
Many local business owners have said January was one of their busiest months ever, with a whole new type of visitor discovering the South Caribbean. Well the Puerto Viejo Satellite and Talamanca News websites also had an amazing month too (perhaps we can take a little part of the credit for some of those visitors?) with 7,700 unique visitors coming to the website in the month of January!
And February is turning out to be a great month too. Yesterday was the best ever single day with 344 unique visitors to the site.
So if you know of a local business that’s not yet listed on the site, let them know that they’re missing out on a huge readership!
Dec
17
Now we’re a phone book too!
December 17, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
Announcing a new feature on Puerto Viejo Satellite - we’re now a local phone book too! Yep, there are sometimes when the internet isn’t the most efficient and a phone call is still called for. We’ve added phone numbers to our database and for all listings we were able to get them you’ll now see a little phone icon 
right below their name. Just click on over to the home/map page and open the listing you’re interested in, either by clicking its pin on the map or by clicking its name from the list to the left of and below the map.
Please let us know if you know the phone number for a listing for which we don’t show the number or if there are any corrections. And, as always, if your favorite places aren’t already listed on Puerto Viejo Satellite, it’s time to add them to the map - it just takes 5 minutes to input the info needed for the form.
Dec
13
Puerto Viejo Satellite and Talamanca News Readership hits new record!
December 13, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
 The Jacuzzi at the Totem Hotel Resort |
Yesterday was the busiest day ever on the sites, with 325 unique visitors* just in the one 24 hour period visiting the sites to read the news, get transport information, find businesses on the map, check out photo albums, video and blogs, book tours or chat in the forum. It tells you how much our community is growing and how much interest is out there as well as how the sites are growing rapidly.
Finding accomodations for their stay is one of the most important uses for visitors of the site, so we are happy to welcome a new listing to the site as one of Puerto Viejo’s Top Picks! Totem Hotel Resort and Restaurant. Check out their map listing and their website. Thanks for supporting the site and the work we do!
*This is not the same as hits which are an inflated and fairly meaningless statistic (we got 1000’s of hits yesterday) that some people will try and tell you about on their sites. Numbers audited by StatCounter.
Sep
7
Puerto Viejo featured in Conde Nast Traveler magazine
September 7, 2007 | Tags: Site news, Tourism | Leave a Comment
 Herschel Lewis  Cycling to Salsa Brava Photos by Christopher Wray-McCann, Condé Nast Traveler |
The prestigious Conde Nast Traveler magazine has featured Puerto Viejo as a destination in their September 2007 issue.
The article by Alison Humes is entitled The Coast of Utopia and covers the Caribbean coast of Central America from Belize down to Bocas del Toro in Panama. Puerto Viejo gets a lot of the attention — this is a huge boost for the community from what many would consider to be the world’s premier travel magazine and one which usually caters to the luxury market.
The local businesses recommended in the article were Banana Azul, Tree House Lodge, Aguas Claras, Shawandha Lodge, Samasati Nature Retreat, La Pecora Nera restaurant and Hershel Lewis’ Caribbean Surf School and Tours. Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge were also recommended.
In addition, the Puerto Viejo Satellite site itself was recommended as the place to do research on Puerto Viejo and it seems evident that this is where the author herself started her research.
Way to go Puerto Viejo! We’ve hit the big time.
If you can’t find the printed magazine, you can read the article online here.
Aug
25
Informacion de transporte ya esta disponsible en español
August 25, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
Yes, the Transport page is now available in Spanish! Our aim is to eventually provide a fully bilingual site but so far the map page and transport page are it. More will be coming soon.
Ver la pagina de información de transporte en español | See the transport page in Spanish
Thanks to Ángel Flores Olivares who did the initial translation. Apologies to all for those sections I had to do myself and butchered the Spanish in. Corrections/suggestions for clearer communication are most welcome.
Aug
13
New listings on the map
August 13, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
 Tropical Dreams Real Estate  Chimuri Beach Cottages  El Encanto Bed & Breakfast Inn |
We had five new listings added in the last 2 weeks to the map:
- Tropical Dreams Real Estate is is a real estate company specializing in properties throughout the Caribe Sur.
- Chimuri Beach Cottages are 3 Caribbean-style, fully equipped cottages right in front the beach in Playa Negra.
- Hotel Perla Negra is a hotel at Playa Negra.
- El Encanto Bed & Breakfast Inn is a small high-quality hotel in Cahuita.
- Selvin’s Restaurant and Cabinas is a restaurant serving fresh local food and basic cabinas at Punta Uva.
Still haven’t added your own favorite place to the map? What are you waiting for? You can add your own listing to the map at any time.
Jul
29
Two new map listings this week: Finca Chica and Maitri Realty
July 29, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
 One of the beautiful wooden houses at La Finca Chica |
We had two new listings added last week to the map:
- Finca Chica is a collection of four beautifully designed wooden houses at Cocles fully equipped with hi-speed internet, phone, satellite TV on a lush 2 1/2 acre property.
- Maitri Realty is a realtor operating out of an office at Kaya’s Place.
Still haven’t added your own favorite place to the map? What are you waiting for? You can add your own listing to the map at any time.
Jul
22
New on the map this week!
July 22, 2007 | Tags: Site news | Leave a Comment
 Yummy curry and rice at Chili Rojo  Bartender at El Dorado  View from the loft bedroom at La Casita de Cocles  Kids working with the computers at El Puente-The Bridge |
Listings keep coming in on the map. Last week saw five new points added:
- The town of Bribri is the administrative center for the region even if not particularly a tourist destination. It is however an authentic Caribbean-styled Tico town and locals and even tourists sometimes need the services that are provided there. Unfortunately, Google has not yet supplied detailed satellite images which cover this area so while you can tell the general distance between Puerto Viejo, Bribri and the Panama border at Sixaola.
- Chili Rojo is a restaurant serving Thai food in downtown Puerto Viejo
- El Dorado is a bar and restaurant in downtown Puerto Viejo.
Do you have opinions on these or other restaurants/bars in the area that you’d like to share with others? Add them to the Restaurant topic on the Forum.
- La Casita de Cocles is a vacation rental property at Playa Cocles.
- El Puente-The Bridge is a not-for-profit which has been operating in the area for some years helping isolated Bribri communities with educational and nourishment needs. You can read more about them on the Volunteer page or their website.
Still haven’t added your own favorite place to the map? What are you waiting for? You can add your own listing to the map at any time.
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