Starting on December 1st, Nosara’s beaches will have watchtowers so that local surfers can work as lifeguards during the months with the most visitors.
Marcos Ávila, president of the Nosara Association of Integral Development (in Spanish, ADIN) and council member, confirmed as much during a session of the Nicoya Municipal Council this Monday, April 17th.
According to Ávila, three towers will be built: two in Playa Guiones and one in Playa Pelada.
Each tower will cost nearly one million colones and will be financed by Hotel Lagarta Lodge, Constructora LHC, MSM Constructora, and Servicios de Nosara Ltda.
“The idea for the project is to create agreements with surf schools so that surfers can watch the coast from the towers during the months with the most tourism,” said Ávila.
This measure was taken after there were several drownings at these beaches, including a 53-year-old Panamanian man, a 55-year-old woman, and an American who lived in the area.
Council president Karen Melissa Arrieta asked council members to prioritize the beaches in the canton that need the towers the most so they can find a way to include them in the budget.
Scolding Minae
During the session, Nicoyan council members also agreed to ask the Minae to take more control of the public area of the beaches that comprise the Ostional Wildlife Refuge (Guiones, Pelada, and Ostinonal).
“It’s incredible to see the amount of cars parked on the sand, just about in the water at Playa Pelada,” said Arrieta.
The public area of these beaches (the first 50 meters from the high tide mark) are not administered by the Municipality of Nicoya; because they are part of the refuge, they correpsond to Minae.
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