www.CostaRicaTicas.com

From Sunday's Inside Costa Rica:

"Eight companies have joined forces in a crusade to halt sexual tourism in Jacó, the Central Pacific tourist town that once was a small beach community.

The initiative begins with the efforts of the Jacó Best Western hotel which does not allow prostitutes from entering its premises.

The upscale hotel refuses entrance to ladies "working" the tourists and guests are advised that their companions will be turned away.

The Hotels Mar de Luz and Flamboyant, Cabinas Alice, El Hicaco and Barco de los Mariscos restaurants, Barrels Pizza, and Plankton Bar have adopted a similar policy.

In years past, Jacó was a favourite for surfers and for family vacations. The community was small, there wasn't much to do at night, but the attraction was the sun and sand and it's proximity to San José.

Over the last couple of years, a wave of tourists and investments have turned Jacó from the small beach community that always was to a thriving tourist centre.

The skyline of Jacó has changed with a number of high rise condominiums under construction or planned, one of which will tower 12 storeys. At least 10 such projects will be built.

With the increased number of visitors and investment in the area, the area has also seen an increase in drug trafficking and the sex trade.

A number of local bars allow prostitutes to apply their trade and have become a favourite hang out for both nationals and foreigners alike.

The sex trade as grown such that many ladies now travel from San José to Jacó regularly on weekends, saying that business is much better there.

Some 20 or so Costa Rican, Colombian, Nicaraguan and Dominican woman apply their trade on a regular basis. At one local bar, more than 100 prostitutes are available on any Friday night to fulfill any sexual desire or fantasy.

English here is not a problem. Most say that they have learned the "basics" to understand and negotiate with their clients, most of which are North Americans, who pay us$100 or more for their services.

Local businesses are up in arms at the situation and are pressuring local officials and the police to do something.

Jacó's mayor Luis Villalobos said that the initiative is gathering strength and is widely supported because it is seen as a means for Jacó to recover its feature as a family resort.

Osvaldo Alpízar, director of the Fuerza Pública, said that in addition to Jacó, Tamarindo, Quepos, La Fortuna y Limón have also been converted to centres of prostitution where the women are paid well, and have stepped up night patrol, especially in the areas where the most activity occurs.

In addition to the Fuerza Pública, the Policía de Migración (immigration police) have become very active in those areas, as many of the sex workers are undocumented."

I was in El Hicaco last week, and they weren't trying very hard to fight prostitution. My favorita black colombiana had on a slinky red dress, that I bought for her in Panama, cut in front to the waistline, exposing her ample silicone torso, and just covering her beautiful colombiana culo in back. In fact, 3 gringas came up to the table to tell her how good she looked. Let see now---old fat bald gringo with hot black colombiana--maybe she wasn't a puta, or just fooled the management. All in all, this news had to be coming with all the hi-rise big $$$ on the horizon, but with all things Costa Rican, I would take it with a grain of salt. El Hicaco had no problem taking my $130 for the lobster fest either.

I heard of this last year, that a group of hotel owners were pressuring ALL hotels to implement the no chica policy. Of course some hotels depend on this money and refuse. It will be interesting to see how this struggle for the tourist dollar-vs-sex tourist dollar will play out. Places like the Marriot obviously don't need or want our business but what about the local independent businesses? It seems that there is some BIG money flowing into Jaco from the P4P trade, for instance how many of us would EVER go there if it weren't for the action? Hardly any would be my guess, compared to the thousands of guys that visit Jaco and spend money there now, not to mention all the fishermen throwing cien notes around. And if I take a chica from SJO I might still be refused entry in a hotel or restaurant? I'd say screw that place in a heartbeat and travel elsewhere to spend my money. Maybe if the drug scene was cleaned up (which might be the biggest problem,) and the hooker scene not so obvious and out of sight of the family eco tourists they will find a happy medium and peacefully co-exist in Jaco.

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

I can see it all now, " Laplaya Jaco - Come For The Riptide ". Not to worry fellas, the hand that controls the snapper, rules the world.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

I guess VB's venture isn't well received then, but this is probably good news for his venture.

I do wish the visible prostitution and drug dealing on the streets would go away, from a business person's point of view. And mongers don't help things when they walk down the street hand in hand with obvious hookers. Just brings more attention to things. I don't think it will go away, but I welcome anyone getting it off the streets. As for the hotels, sort of the same thing. Guys aren't helping themselves by being loud and obnoxious with the girls at the hotels.

lmao

SD

3rd world-
Without directing my comments to you personally, and with all due respect to you as a current business owner, do you think Jaco would have experienced the "geometric growth" without the mongers, putas, and to a lesser degree the alternative substances? As I surmise, you and I discovered Jaco at the beginning of the new millenium. My friends coming down a few years before me talk of a dirt road to Jaco, and the main street was dirt/ gravel with a few cows occasionally, as well.
The town closed up at dark with no nite life. How do you think your current business would be doing now, if , it even existed, without the way things transpired? Could it have existed as a communication center in a sleepy fishing village with a smattering of surfers? My take on things here is that people, way smarter than us, deemed the location ideal for development--brilliant. Then came the developement, that I believe spearheaded progress in this fishing village, Los Suenos. Of course, Marriot was only confirmation of future potential, which brought in $$$, which was followed by the "hookers"( who have traditionally followed money), the other substances( which my guess is that a number of surfers were already partaking), and all the auxillary businesses associated with the influx of PEOPLE-hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, surf shops, fishing tours, supermarkets, real estate offices, and 8/10 computer communication centers. Maybe all of this would have happened with time and the internet without the "sex, drugs, and reggaeton", but as geometrically-I doubt it.
When the day comes that I cannot walk down the street holding hands/ kissing a woman, I will take my $30k/year that I spend in CR to Bangkok, or wherever. I, for one, do not mind that the flagrant drug sales/usuage be curtailed--but for god's sake, don't take away the putas. As, aforementioned posters have pointed out, how many of us on this board would have discovered/ or will return to Jaco without the chicas? This is, in fact, a board for mongers, unless I am misposting on WeloveCR, etc. Maybe the putas business can be turned into the way it is in the states now with lame strip bars/ rub& tug joints in particular zones, who knows. Perhaps, Jaco will be just fine without my spare change and others like me, maybe even better---but then we all have to make choices based on our needs. Once again, my guess is that an equillibrium can be reached between the chicas, developement, and your future business life.
Sorry for the rambling, I guess that I was happy, before, with just a small town filled with whores and liberal attitudes, and now elements in the developement of this town want to be changing everything-que sera, sera

Ah yes, another campain... to quote/paraphrase Stephen Colbert...

no matter what happens to (insert country name here), she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I don't want to see it go away all together, just want it to move off the streets. It sucks when my clients are approached from every side by girls and dealers. As for mongers contributing to Jaco, it only is a small amount of change coming in compared to the people that stay away because of Jaco's seedy reputation. Monger money just isn't as much as we think it is down here. What I mean by that is guys who come ONLY for the girls. Don't misunderstand me though, I don't want the girls to go away. If they get less tolerated in many places, this could only be a good thing for the new place, right VB?

Sounds like it's time for a good "union style" boycott of the businesses. The only thing a business or company understands is revenue. We need a hit list of businesses with a "don't shop here" heading. A monger or chica picket line will never happen but the dollar is mightier than the sword. Perhaps the LECHE LIST of preferred hotels and bars as well.

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Papa Azucar

I guess I'm supposed to chime in here about the virtues of "sex, drugs and rock and roll". Why is it that we are only talking about Jaco? I agree with TW that everyone would be better off if the drug scene wasn't so rampant in CR,but then again it's the same in the States. I'm not sure if it's a chicken and egg thing or not,but if the sex scene is curtailed in Jaco,you can be SURE the same will be in SJ. If you are offended (probably not the best description) by older guys walking back to their hotels and in hand with the young chicas in Jaco, that situation is 50 times more prevalent in SJ. Think in terms of Jaco without P4P being similar to Las Vegas without gambling. Would LV be the fastest growing city in the U.S. if they outlawed gambling. That will never happen,and neither will the P4P disappear. This is partially why my vision,along with my partners,is to create,in the new Jaco Laguna Beach Resort , a new self contained beachfront resort dedicated to the "gentlemen" who enjoy this lifestyle and would like to engage in it in a beautiful setting on the beach and 5 minutes taxi ride away from the hustle and bustle of the center of town. I look forward to our hotel,bar (with mucha chicas) and restaurant welcoming our condominium owners and general public to enjoy themselves without the fear of being mugged when you walk out the door www.yourcostaricacondo.com

I love to watch people in the airport when I am traveling. When you are boarding the pane for SJO, you can spot the surfers by their talk and dress, the posie sniffers by their dress and nieve smugness. The mongers, you can spot by their smile.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

Putas=mongers=$$$ Of course Jaco has grown and expanded because of the P4P trade. it has exposed the beach town to more people than would have come without that draw. I know for a fact that when my wingman and I stayed 4 days there we spent as much or more money in the general economy, in bars, resturants, Jungle tours, ATV rides, etc. as we did on the women. It will all find its proper place eventually, out of the streets and into the bars and casinos where it is expected.

I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, but I think a lot of you guys are just seeing this from the angle of the monger. I agree with TW, that probably for every monger such a policy would turn away there is already twice as many regular tourists being turned off now. You guys maybe just don't see it because you don't read what is being said on other boards. And CR gets over a million visitors a year. Despite our overwhelming presence in the Gulch, which other tourists have largely ceded to us, don't let that mislead you into thinking we are anything but a small percentage of the overall tourist dollars.

And I think VB's analysis/comparison is a little off. Las Vegas is in the middle of the desert miles from any other major city. Of course it would dry up if it weren't for gambling and of course it thrives only because of it. But don't K*D yourself, they've made great efforts in recent years to make LV more family-friendly. Jaco, OTOH, is not in the middle of the desert. It is the closest beach to the main airport in one of the hottest general tourism markets in the world. If that weren't enough it has some of the best fishing in the country a quality golf course, and the sort of valuable ocean-view properties that are being sought after by retiring baby boomers. So that is hardly the same thing as LV.

As for the "campaign" moving to SJ, that very well might be true, but tourists are already avoiding SJ for plenty of other reasons such as smog, traffic and crime so that mongering has to take its place in line.

This whole debate is somewhat moot. Money talks and bullshit walks. Businesses like the Marriott may be losing due to Jaco's seedy reputation but, as others have pointed out, other businesses are profiting. The latter aren't about to just roll over and it will be probably be some time before this movement gets anywhere if it ever does.

Personally, I believe in everyone's right to do whatever they want just as long in so doing they don't impinge on anyone else's rights at the same time. If the drugs are just a bunch of surfer's smoking weed and they aren't doing it next to families with Ch*ldren on the beach, then where's the harm? If the drugs are a bunch of local cokeheads who then resort to ripping off tourists to support their habits, well then that is something else. If old fat gringos want to consort with young chica hookers, then again where's really the harm in that. OTOH, if they unnecessarily parade what they're doing in front of gringa feminazi's or young families, well that's just asking for trouble and feeding into the arguments that those who favor this crackdown are using.

Maybe the solution is to establish a zona roja at one end of the beach (sort of like a gringo gulch for the beach), where anything goes and to reserve an area at the other end of the beach for families or those with more puritanical values and then just try to prevent spillover. Then maybe everyone would be happy. "Can't we all just get along?"