Local News for Playa Potrero, Surfside and Flamingo

Costa Rican authorities on Thursday seized a boat carrying 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cocaine and arrested five suspected traffickers, the government said.

They moved on the vessel, 81 kilometers (50 miles) from Golfito on the southern Pacific coast, after a tipoff from US authorities who carried out a joint patrol with the Central American nation.

Two Colombians, an Ecuadoran, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican were detained.

The Public Safety Ministry said authorities found the drugs in individual packets of about one kilogram each.

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and the main supplier to the United States market.

Minister of Public Safety Michael Soto said the Pacific Ocean region is “very much used to move drugs from the South.”

In another misguided attempt to promote tourism, a proposal has been made to install a cable car to the top of Chirripo, in the middle of a National Park (Parque Nacional Chirripó or PNCh) that some would argue is the most important nature reserve in the country.

President Luis Guillermo Solís ordered a group of his ministers and officials to draft, within 30 days, a comprehensive plan to improve protection for cyclists.

Solís announced the order on Monday during an event in San José where he officially inaugurated the new school year.

The president asked ministers of Public Education, Transport and Public Works (MOPT), Culture and Youth, Sports as well as the Executive President of the National Insurance Institute to form a special group to draft the plan.

The strategy should also take into consideration opinions from the Roadway Safety Council, and from urban cyclists groups, motorists groups, private sector leaders and other citizen groups.

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World Surf League (WSL) North America is pleased to announce the return of the Essential Costa Rica Surf Pro Men's and Women's Qualifying Series (QS) 1,500-level event to be held at one of Central America's prime surf cities of Jaco, October 4 - 7.

A proposal is being considered that would create a dry canal linking the Caribbean with the Pacific.