Jacó Local Customs

Ceviche is dearly loved in Costa Rica. It's tasty...made with lime , fish , and celantro. You can get it in almost every restaurant. I found a nice fruit variety made with mango. I loved it as well!! On the way to Jaco our shuttle driver stopped so we could sample it.

Nobody loves ice cream as much as Costa Ricans and its no wonder...it is so good!!. There are a couple of place in Jaco and they carry lots of flavours . It's great on a hot evening to sit outside with the locals and sample a couple of types!!

WE got to really love these little friendly ginger dogs. You have to be careful not to pay too much attention to them or they'll adopt you. Everyone looks after them though so you don't have to worry about leaving them. It might break your heart to leave them though.

Normal tipping ( 8 or 9 %)is also on your tab but if the service is better than normal please tip like you would in an US city. Tips are divided up between all servers. This is what they live off. I know because my son has a restaurant and I worked the books. Please give the servers extra if they do a good job, and I know they will. If not say good-bye and thanks for the service. They understand what customer satisfaction means-more money for them!!

The people here are calm, quiet and gentle. Their stature, on average, is smaller and so are the incomes. There are very few women with shorter hair styles. They are very polite and do not like to stare. If you hear a local person say "desculpe" which means sorry, you should tell them "no problem" because that is what they would say for you.

Get to know what the locals pay because there are different rates that taxis like to charge for service. I had one taxi charge 1 million colones for a 10 minute taxi ride to playa hermosa and another one charged 1,000. A difference of $10. If you are charged in American prices, then negotiate hard. In the stores you can bargain down 10% easily. Ask if service is included in the prices at restaurants if it is not stated on the menu. This is not typical for locals, only at places frequented by tourists.

Soccer is the biggest sport in Costa Rica. If you see an open field, look around and I'm sure you will see a couple of soccer goals.

One way to make friends with the local Tica's is to wear a soccer jersey from any country.