Puntarenas

Puntarenas, which means "Sandy Point" in Spanish, is the capital and largest city in the province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica with a population of aproximately 100,000 in the city and and close towns.

Finca Di Pacifico Dos is located 15 minutes by car from the outskirts of Puntarenas or 25 minutes from Puntarenas port.The port, Caldera, is one of the main ports in the country and it is also a stopover for huge cruisliners which dock at the port weekly.

Ferries travel regularly from Puntarenas to the Nicoya Peninsula across the Gulf of Nicoya, a very pleasant 90 minute journey. Shifting sandbanks in the Gulf of Nicoya mean that navigation out of Puntarenas port is a job for expert Captains only wwith the route out changing daily.

First known as Villa Bruselas in colonial times, Puntarenas was discovered by Hernan Ponce De Leon in 1519. Despite the use of the Gulf of Nicoya as an entryway to Costa Rica's inland territory, the port of Puntarenas was not developed until 1840 when coffee production in the highlands reached exportable volumes.

In 1845 the Congress of the Republic declared Puntarenas a duty free port port (with the exception of Cognac and hard liquor).

With the railroad connection to the Central Valley, the Pacific port's activities continued to be a major part of the region's economy throughout the 20th century. The railroad is no longer in use but can be seen running through the centre of Puntarenas.

However, due to the aging and deterioration of the port facilities and the need to accommodate the much larger vessels of modern shipping fleets, a new port was constructed in the 1980s to the south of Puntarenas. The site chosen was Caldera, where ships had anchored during colonial times.