Jaco Hotels | DoceLunas Events and News from Jaco Costa Rica Hotels

Jaco Hotels - Halloween Concert

2010-09-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Halloween is a great time to visit Jaco Costa Rica and its a good time to get deals on Jaco hotels. If you are coming this Halloween, you won't find a discount at DoceLunas, but you will find a pair of free tickets to our annual Halloween Costume Party Dance Concert featuring live music from Midnite Spaghetti. They put on a great show that will keep you dancing for hours. If you are interested in booking at DoceLunas for the show, you can got to our reservations page or you can click http://www.docelunas.com/jaco-hotels.html for a list of Jaco hotels.

Abe Pollan Food Rules

2010-03-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.kirstenhubbard.com/ has a nice blog post about Michael Pollan's new book about eating right for your health, for your neighbors, and for your planet. Food Rules is only $5. Check it out. Enjoy a delicious meal while making yourself healthier and saving the planet.

Hermosa Tulin Refuge has a new Administrator

2010-03-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Your intrepid Jaco hotel blogger loaded his surf kayak onto his bicycle trailer and hauled out to the south end of Hermosa beach where you will find the Tulin Refuge. The road gets sandy at the end. Its fine in a car, but a bike with a heavy trailer is a trick. You gots to gear down and spin.

But I digress. When I arrived at the Tulin Turtle Refuge, I discovered our local sea turtle hot spot has a new Jefe. If you are in the area, please join me in welcoming Don Belfort Cubillo, the new administrator of Refugio Tulin-Punta Mala. Don Belfort is clearly going to run a tight ship and has already made some much needed improvements to the volunteer facilities at the refuge.

Don Belfort has made arrangements with Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce so that they can receive any donations people want to make to refuge. The volunteer accomodations out there are pretty rough. With nicer facilities, we would get more volunteers here over time, and those adorable and helpless little turltes need all the help they can get.

More information will be coming soon, so please stay tuned to the Jaco hotel blog.

Jaco Hotel Weather

2010-02-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Our favorite Jaco hotel posted some more new pages a couple days ago but there were some errors with the links. Perhaps the most useful new page is and Jaco Costa Rica weather and climate, with temperature, rainfall, and links to current local weather forecast for Jaco Costa Rica.

Here is some more info on the new Jaco hotel blog page. The new posts cover our efforts to preserve the jungle canopy while protecting our roof tops, the virtues of coconut water, and how you can get a free vacation to Costa Rica by getting your root canal done in Jaco.

We have also added new pages on Jaco hotel reviews and Jaco nightlife.We hope you enjoy the new information. Please go the site and email us or leave a comment here and tell us what you would like to hear more about. Tours, activities and attractions near our Jaco hotel? Restaurants? More specific information on nightlife? Culture? Basic Spanish lessons for your visit to Jaco Costa Rica? Let us know what we can do to help you, and our Jaco staff will do our best to get a a head start on making your Costa Rica vacation the best ever!

Jaco hotels list and map

2010-02-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Jaco hotels are easy to find on the interent, with lots of Jaco hotels on tripadvisor and other list of Jaco hotels. But its hard to find a list of links to Jaco hotels and I have not been able find a map of Jaco hotels, so we decided to create our own Jaco hotels list and our own Jaco hotels map.

I dont think any of our competition has posted links to our site or maps showing where all the other hotels in town are. Perhaps it is because they are concerned that if people find out about the finest of Jaco hotels, DoceLunas, they won't be as interested in coming to their hotel. We are not so concerned.

We know you are going to look at all the other hotels anyway, whether they are hard to find or not, so we thought we would make it easy for you. Enjoy a sample our hospitality!

In addition to these two new pages on Jaco hotels, we can also recommend this link to a book on planning a trip to Jaco Costa Rica.

Thanks, and good searching for Jaco hotels. We are confident that in the end you will choose the best Jaco hotel for you.

Playa Jaco Costa Rica

2010-02-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

Our Jaco hotel has posted a new page on Playa Jaco Costa Rica. The page is in development. We already have a page on Jaco Costa Rica that covers restaurants, nightlife, surfing and parks in the area as well as general information like Jaco population and travel time to various nearby attractions. The new page will be more focused on Playa Jaco - that is Jaco Beach - the beach itself as opposed to the general area. Its in development but we already have quite a bit of content up. Please check out our new page and let us know what else we can tell you about Playa Jaco Costa Rica.

Food Science at Jaco Hotel

2010-02-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

The team at the Jaco hotel were talking about google searches and why some two word combinations would be searched more frequently in one order than another. We agreed that there would be examples of two word pairs where the two possible orderings of the words implied very different intents by the searcher. But we could not think of an example.

The Jaco hotel blogger feels compelled to warn you, there is rambling ahead.

Just now though I was thinking about the movie informant, and how they didn't dwell on the fact that a big part of the food chain occurs with poorly understood bacteria in a giant vat converting corn mush into isolated lysine and byproducts. I am thankful I live in Costa Rica and eat frequently at my favorite Jaco hotel restaurant, Eclipse at DoceLunas where they do not have products with isolated lysine created by mysterious bacteria.

Anyway, food science - hmm. Well food science should be, and increasingly is, a criticial look at our production and consumption choices and how they influence not only our health and our economy, but our society. As near as I can tell, food science as studied and practiced today is mostly an amazing reductive processing of two or three crops into everything else. Truly amazing feats of science in the name of feeding the world, once called the "green revolution" should, in this bloggers opinion, while they are to be lauded for their intent and rigor, should be examined with a critical eye.

"Science food," to get back to the hypothetical google search, should not be the end result of "food science." Socially, environmentally, economically sustainable healthy food production and consumpton should be the goal of "food science."

Perhaps there is some way to resolve high yield farming with healthy varied diets, localized production and consumption, and small enterprise stewardship of our environmental resources. Should we really trust agribusiness with the future?

But to get back to my favorite hotel in Jaco, we don't have science food. Ninety percent of what we serve comes from within 100 miles of hour hotel in Jaco and much of our produce and meat is produced by small family farms. Our fish come from the bountiful ocean just a mile to the west of the hotel and a lot of our fruit comes from the five acres of jungle gardens and fruit trees on the property.

So you can't get a brightly colored slurpy like you could at a 7-11, but you can get a delicious guanabana smoothy with a secret flower ingredient or my favorite, a papaya banana smoothy. I am getting hungry! Off to my favorite Jaco hotel, DoceLunas.

Jaco Hotel coconut water

2010-02-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Augua de pipa, the water inside young coconuts, is one of my favorite treats. At Jaco hotel DoceLunas, young coconuts are harvested on the premises and cut to make our coconut water. I live nearby in another neighborhood near the mountains and the south end of the beach. My apartment is on the route of Orlando the pipero. When he was younger he climbed trees to harvest the coconuts and cut them open. Now he hires kids to climb the trees for him and he rides around on his bicycle with a cooler full of refreshing and delicious agua de pipa.

Young coconut water, or coconut milk, is a truly refreshing drink on a hot day. Augua de pipa, as it is called here, is an isotonic beverage. It has a very similar balance of electrolytes to a healthy human body. Young coconut water is natures gatorade. But unlike gatorade, it is not very glycemic, has less calories than other fruit juices by about half, and is not colored with dyes to resemble nothing found in nature. I will take pipa water any day. Ask for it at our Jaco hotel and we will harvest you some from our jungle gardens.

Check out our new Jaco hotel blog at www.docelunas.com/jaco-hotel-blog.html

Jaco Costa Rica Yoga Retreat

2010-02-14T11:50:00.001-08:00

Our Jaco Hotel offers a Costa Rica Yoga Retreat. You can find out more by clicking on the preceding link. Costa Rica Yoga retreats can be customized to fit your interests and schedule. Discounts are available for groups. Our Costa Rica Yoga retreat coordinator can take care of all your tours and activities and help you select from the abundant options near our Jaco hotel.

Jaco hotel onsite blog

2010-02-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Jaco hotel blog will increasingly will be posting our information on Jaco Costa Rica, our Jaco hotel, and tips for choosing among Jaco Hotels, on our onsite blog which you can see at our Jaco Hotel Blog.

Currently there is a new article about the new highway and another about our tree trimming efforts and the safety procedures and equipment skills our intrepid crew learned before climbing 60 feet into the towering trees and removing limbs above the buildings. We are happy to say all the trees have survived the surgeries and are, as green things do in Costa Rica, thriving.

Pura Vida !
Til next time, thanks for reading.
Jaco Hotel DoceLunas, the finest of Jaco Hotels

Jaco Hotels new pages

2010-02-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

The Jaco hotels website has a bunch of new pages. There are several Jaco Costa Rica maps each of which shows the Jaco hotels location and several new activities pages.

For Jaco hotel maps, we have

www.docelunas.com/jaco-map.html
a map showing surf breaks near jaco hotels

www.docelunas.com/jaco-costa-rica-map.html
a map showing national parks near jaco hotels

www.docelunas.com/jaco-map-restaurants.html
a map showing restaurants near jaco hotels

www.docelunas.com/jaco-map-highway.html
a map showing the new highway from san jose to jaco hotels

all the maps are fully interactive. you can pan and zoom in and out and click on icons to find out more details about the area.

please enjoy our Jaco hotels maps.

Jaco Bay passes water quality standards

2010-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

Jaco Bay has just passed recreation contact water quality standards. I have been swimming and surfing here for years, and it was never as bad as San Diego or Washington D.C., but now it meets Costa Rica water quality standards that are 90% as stringent as U.S. standards. Two reasons to say "hooray!" in one day. If you don't count Pura Vida, toucans, scarlet macaws, kinkajou, anteaters, coatimundi, terrific surf, awesome mountain biking with spectacular views, great tasty fresh healty food, and the best hotel in Jaco, Jaco hotel DoceLunas, in which case that is - what - lucky thirteen reasons to say "Hooray!" if you are in Jaco or planning to come to Jaco.

For more information on the water quality, please see our onsite blog at www.docelunas.com/jaco-hotel-blog.html.

Highway to Jaco Completed

2010-01-30T10:46:00.000-08:00

Jaco Hotel blog is very pleased to announce the new highway from San Jose to Caldera has finally been completed as of 1/28/2010. This part of the trip used to go through some pretty twisty and steep mountain roads. Once you get to Caldera, the coastal highway has always been an excellent road, but the new route around the mountains is a huge improvement. The trip from the airport near San Jose to Jaco used to take between an hour and fifteen minutes and two hours. Drivers report the trip now takes less than an hour and half and can sometimes be completed in less than an hour, depending on traffic. If you are not in a hurry, you may wish to take the old route since its slightly more scenic, and with almost all the truck traffic moving to the new highway, it will quicker and safer too. Hooray! One more reason to visit Jaco hotel DoceLunas, your base for expoloring the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

Jaco Hotel updates

2010-01-28T21:52:00.001-08:00

The picture above shows what I think of as "the crocodile stall" - because you can often see a croc just 30 feet away sunning itself on a sandy spot on the other side of the estuary while you are shopping at the weekly farmer's market in Jaco. It's just a mile from the hotel. But I digress, don't I?

We have some new and informative links on the website today. You can check them out at our Costa Rica page, our Home page, and our Jaco page.

There is general information on Costa Rica from several U.S. government and university sites and links to the U.S. and Costa Rica embassies among other things. One of the U.S. government links is to the C.I.A. world factbook. C.I.A. - not just for spying! Also great for travel information. Who'da thunk it?

Jaco Farmers Market

2010-01-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

Every friday the Jaco Hotel Blog stops by the farmers market. Restaurant DoceLunas has its own local purveyors of fruits and vegetables who deliver to the hotel, so the hotel doesn's shop at the market, but its employees do. The market is pretty comparable to the grocery store in prices, but the produce is fresher and more locally sourced. While its not cheaper than the grocery store, its pretty cheap. A lot of fruits and veg are less than $1 a pound. In the photo you can see my haul of tiny potatoes (which were quite well washed) giant carrot, garlic, ginger, and broccoli only cost about $4.

Perhasp the best part about the farmers market: its located on an estuary and there is a sandy spot on the other side of it where a small crocodile can often be seen sunning. I have to get a picture of him for youse. Meanwhile, let me know if there is anything you would like me talk about in the blog here and I will do it. You can reach me at chrisc at docelunas.com.

Check out more information on the farmers market and more pictures at our onsite blog, www.docelunas.com/jaco-hotel-blog.html.

Til next, adios from the finest of Jaco Hotels, Jaco Hotel DoceLunas.

Jaco Hotel internal blog

2010-01-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

Jaco Hotel Docelunas now has an internal blog on the website.
Check it out at www.docelunas.com/jaco-hotel-blog.html

Jaco Map

2010-01-25T05:58:00.000-08:00

The finest Jaco hotel has just published a new interactive map of Jaco and the surrounding area. You can even zoom out to map the route from San Jose to Jaco or Jaco to Manuel Antonio. The map shows surf breaks and parks also. You can see it at www.docelunas.com/jaco-map.html.

That's all now from Jaco Hotel DoceLunas, the finest of Jaco hotels.

Jaco Ceviche from Bertil

2010-01-22T21:50:00.001-08:00

Today's culinary adventure- Ceviche! This healthy and refreshing snack made of raw white fish marinated in lime with finely chopped onions and sweet peppers is made from catch of the day seafood at the tiny Pescaderia Bertil, 3/4 of a mile from Jaco hotel DoceLunas.

As you can see in the photo, a small mixed ceviche (4 to 5 ounces of fish and shrimp) is only 1,700 colones, or three dollars U.S. Viva Bertil ! This stuff is good ! You can also get super fresh fish here for about $5 a pound.

Jaco Soda Rustico Photos

2010-01-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

Jaco Hotel blog is pleased to present some photos of a soda rustico.
Soda La Marea Alta (the high tide) is about 3/4 of mile from Jaco Hotel Docelunas, almost at the beach. It is open 24 hours, and the do a high volume of business, so the food is always fresh. You can see a photo of the menu below. The exchange rate for colones to dollars is about 580, so these menu items range from $3 for a chicken, beef, pork, or fish casado (small dinner plate with sides of beans and rice, small veg, small salad) to $7 if you want double size fish portion or $8 for a tenderloin steak. Breakfast at this place is about $3 also. Tomorrow I will see if I can get a photo of an actual entree.

This is about 3/4 of a mile from the hotel.

Right beside it that white building is pescaderia bertil

who we will be visiting with later.

Jaco Restaurants: Soda Rustico

2010-01-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Today the Jaco Hotel blog is going out to take some photos of Jaco's "typical restaurant" or "soda" as we say in Costa Rican spanish.

Maybe we can even find out why they are called sodas.

What is a soda like? Well, cheap. That's what is most salient if you are from north america. Soda restaurants in Jaco charge $3-$4 for a meal called a casado. A casado - literally "married" plate includes your choice of chicken, beef, pork, or fish, in a 3 or 4 oz portion usally along with beans and rice, plantains, some veg and a tiny salad. Usually modern soda menus are tarted up a little with essentially larger portions of the casdao and a speciality plate or two and maybe ceviche. If they have ceviche, its probably pretty good if you are at the beach. Bar la Guaria (you will pass it on the way to Jaco - its in San Ramon) is not a soda, but it has traditional bocas, and their ceviche is great despite their distance from the ocean.

The food itself is fresh and fairly heathly. And delicious? Well, maybe. If you think bland and just a little overcooked is delicious then you will be in heaven. If not, try the national sauce - lizano - aka english brown sauce. This is a medley of vegetable and mild spices reduced to a slightly thinner than catchup mildly flavored sauce. They usually also have some wierd tabasco sauce - wierd because of some thickener and coloring that makes it look like its from outerspace, and community hot pickle jars of cabbage and peppers on every table.

So no, I am not giving a ringing endorsment to soda food overall, but its filling and healthy and cheap and i would take it over american fast food any day for sure!

And here's the thing: soda food does have two excellent elements. One is native to Costa Rica: Gallo Pinto.

In my next post I will give you a compelling reason to visit a soda when you come to stay at our four star hotel in Jaco. The money you save paying three star prices for a four star will save you a lot of soda food !!

til next time
the Jaco Hotel Blogger

Palmares Festival

2010-01-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Jaco Hotel's owner headed up to the Palmares Festival today. Every town in Costa Rica has an annual festival. (Jaco's is in early December.) The festivals typically involve a gran tope (horse parade), a rodeo, and some midway games and carnival rides. Palmares is on a different scale than most. Fifty thousand people a day desecend on the tiny town of Palmares during the week long fair. The beer company sets up huge portable buildings housing 2,000 or more people for live entertainment. And people drink beer. In fact, Palmares is in the top three events in the world for total alcohol consumption at an event. Octoberfest and Calgary stampede are the other two. Tomorrow I hope we will have some eyewitness reports of the festivities.

Jaco Hotel Jungle Gardens

2010-01-19T21:51:00.000-08:00

Our Hotel in Jaco has five acres of jungle gardens.

Its pretty spectacular!

Jaco Costa Rica beach photo

2010-01-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of sunset on Jaco Beach in Jaco Costa Rica.

You can see herradura Island off in the distance.

Jaco Hotel DoceLunas is one mile from this spot on the beach.

Jaco old and new

2010-01-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

Jaco hotel loves the mix of old and new in Jaco Costa Rica. As you have seen in our earlier posts, the town still turns out for the annual tope horse parade. Travelers and expatriate residents both seem to appreciate that while big box stores have arrived in Jaco, Maxi Bodega and Auto Mercado, you can still shop at several traditional tico grocercy stores with lower prices, such as Fruitastica, although despite the name of the tico store, for fruit you would want to go to the thriving weekly fresh produce market or the tiny store in the side of the municipal palace. There is an excellent fish monger, Pescaderia Bertil which has a great ceviche. Oddly, the butcher is a new development, for the Argentinians.

I have been dwelling on commerce here, but you also see the mix of old and new with all the open fields with the distinctive Costa Rica brahma cattle grazing and people using push carts and bikes to haul loads long distances and the prevalence of free range home style poultry. So you get fresh cruelty free eggs. But back to the restaurants -

For restaurants, Jaco offers several gourmet restaurants, including the elegant al fresco Eclipse at Jaco hotel Docelunas and Lemon Zest and five others on the main drag. Moderate priced american oriented fare is common. There are lots of restaurants that seem tico but that are moderately priced and full of tourists. These are generally not as good as the restaurants that are moderately priced and full of ticos! They tend to be less centrally located, a little further away from Bohio. El Estero on the north side of town is one of the best.

And then perhaps many people's favorite part of old Costa Rica, the soda rustico. We'll be getting a little more in depth in weeks to come, but here's the basic story: a "soad rustico" is a typical Costa Rican restaurant. Traditionally, rusticos have served "casados." That's a typical meal plate with beans and rice, small salad, small vegetable serving, and 3 to 4 ounces of beef, pork, chicken, or fish. Fish ! You will be within a mile of the ocean. Get the fish. Anyway, casados cost about $4 and they are healthy and delicious, if you think fresh and bland is delicious. Most places the portions are a little smaller than North Americans are used to, but a couple, including Soda Garabito and Soda Rustico, they are enormous.

That's all for now from the Jaco hotel. Check back

Mountain Bike Haiku from Jaco Hotel

2010-01-14T23:06:00.001-08:00

From the Jaco Hotel, My response to
what's the best Costa Rica mountain bike haiku
you can come up with was:

Costa Rica fits
oddly with a mountain bike
inside this haiku

but that was not good,
not enough to suit this blog
so I'll try once more here:

it is a process
very slow, costlier still
vale la pena !

stopped no sound is made
gaze now at the view: the sea
butterfly, that big !

is using an awesome photo of a blue morpho
butterfly in your haiku cheating?
This blogger from the finest Jaco hotel does not think so.

Mountain Bike Jaco Hotel

2010-01-14T16:09:00.001-08:00

Well here at the Jaco Hotel, I am pretty stoked on the local mountain biking. It takes a little getting used to, being accustomed to eastern U.S. rollers. These are monster grinds, 1,000 feet up at grades that would be illegal in the U.S. and are cruel anywhere else. Le cuesta mucho, they say, and believe me its true - they cost !
But what a reward! Get up top (actually this is only half way up! 500 feet or so) and you will see views of Jaco Costa Rica like this:

Let's see who can make a Jaco Costa Rica Mountain Bike

haiku for our Jaco Hotel.

Jaco Hotel - you wanna go where everybody knows your name

2010-01-14T09:37:00.001-08:00

At Jaco Hotel DoceLunas, "estamos para sevirle!"

meaning: We are to serve you.

Notice in English: we are here to serve you. Implying our condition,
being to serve you, is dependant on our location, ie at work.

In Spanish, as in life, we at DoceLunas are not here to serve you,
we simply are to serve you. Hospitality is not a temporary function
we perform at work, its who we are to our core,
and our reviews prove it.

For example: the owner often walks to town with our guests during his free time.

Here is a guest account of what it feels like to be welcomed
into a community and enjoy the hospitality of staff and owner
for whom hospitality is not a job, its a way of life.

"Walking around the town was amazing as everyone knew the owner
and would shout Ola as we passed. By the end of our week there,
many of the towns people recognized us as well and would
call us by name.

We travel a lot and this was the fasted we have ever been welcomed into a
community. Most hi-end resorts have staff who will remember one's
name, but a town too!

It was an Amazing experience."

-zhcadonna on tripadvisor

Tripadvisor reviews of Jaco Hotel

2010-01-14T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some excerpts from our 20 or so excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. more than 4 out of 5 reviews are excellent and we have an average rating of 4.5 out of 5.

FIND YOUR BLISS AT OUR JACO HOTEL

We have been in a constant state of bliss since our return and our visit to Doce Lunas will forever be frozen in time. There are still residuals of happiness radiating within us even as we return to the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.

--zchadonna

ENJOY FOUR STAR HOTEL EXCELLENCE AT HALF THE PRICE

It's a 5 star resort at half the price!!
--Brad Mendelsohn
[we are a four star resort, but we will take the compliment.]

They don't cut any corners to bring quality --redskinfan_10

The facilities are first rate for any part of the world but somewhat shocking in...Jaco. --mattydevans (jaco)

I've stayed in several hotels around the world, and Doce Lunas is definitely among the top 5, not in price but in quality.

--karlito costa rica

Both of us travel extensively for our jobs and the hospitality provided to us within the first thirty minutes of our arrival had already exceeded a lifespan of hotel hospitality for the two of us combined.
--zchadonna

Es el mejor hotel de playa jaco.
--scorpio blue san jose, cr

Docelunas is the center of the universe!
--tripadvisor review

Well, that's all now from the finest of Jaco Hotels, Docelunas.

Baby sea turtles near Jaco Hotel

2010-01-13T22:42:00.000-08:00

Check out these baby sea turtles in Tulin, 20 minutes
from the nicest hotel in Jaco, DoceLunas.

Check out the rest of this blog for more information and
photos and maps of Jaco Costa Rica

Jaco Costa Rica surf spots on Hermosa Beach

2010-01-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

Jaco Costa Rica is just ten minutes from Hermosa Beach where the ISA held the 2009 world games of surf. It has a lot of great classic Costa Rica surf spots - fast hollow and heavy beach break - stretching three miles from Terraza to Tulin. This overhead view, taken 1,000 feet above on one of my favorite local Jaco mountain bike rides, is labeled to show some of the various named breaks on Hermosa Beach near Jaco Costa Rica.

Jaco Hotel Surf Photo

2010-01-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hey Look ! I caught a wave...with my face.

DoceLunas is my favorite Jaco Hotel.

Jaco Hotel welcomes gente oro y plata (MT)

2010-01-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Jaco hotel knows a little spanish, so we can tell you "gente" means people. And "oro y plata" means silver and gold. Oro y plata is the motto of one of the most beautiful states in the union, Montana, and we are saying howdy from Jaco Costa Rica to our friends and future guests in Montana. Now maybe I should't put off topic pictures in here, but how else are y'all going to be able to respond when I say "please comment on Jaco hotels photo and let us know where you think this photo was taken. Is it close to our Jaco hotel or any of the other hotels in Jaco?"

Jaco hotel, Jaco Costa Rica, what do you want to know?

2010-01-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Jaco hotel, Jaco hotels, and Jaco Costa Rica - that's what this blog is about.

This blog is not for me - its for you !

So what can I tell you about Jaco Costa Rica. Let me know and I will blog about whatever aspect of Jaco Costa Rica interest you.

Please comment to let me know.

Glowing review of Jaco Hotel

2010-01-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

If you take a look at TripAdvisor, you will see that just about everybody loves DoceLunas. You can even look at Tripadvisor reviews from other hotels where they tell you to go to DoceLunas instead. (Search for DoceLunas on tripadvisor and you will see one of the results is from our "competition". Hah. As if we have some. A rather cocky editorial perspective but come see for yourself. There is no finer hotel in Jaco. We are hands down the best. We are number three on trip advisor, but the number one hotel is $60 a night. It is a great $60 a night hotel. It is not a great $150 a night hotel. So despite our number three ranking, I throw humility out the window and proudly declare us number one.

And our Jaco hotel patrons agree. For instance - this glowing review from Trip Advisor, who gave us an excellent ranking:

"I just wanted to drop you all a quick note to let you know how strongly I recommend the Doce Lunas resort in Jaco, Costa Rica. My friend and I stayed there for a week in the fall of 2009 and can't wait to get back.Staying by the most beautiful surf and exotic natural jungle flavor that all of Costa Rica has to offer was wonderful all in itself, but it is was Doce Lunas that really allowed me to appreciate it.Doce Lunas has the ease and comfort that let's you soak in all this rich local flavor in extremely comfortable surroundings. The perfect base camp for daily outings.The staff was marvelous. Their great hospitality went well beyond the best concierge service I have ever experienced before or could ever conceive of. Offering advice and help that was so great and creative that this trip exceeded any normal tourist experience and felt like much more like an adventure of a life time, all the while deep in safe and comfortable first class accommodations.I highly recommend their thatched roof open air bar and restaurant, it was small, quaint, and delicious. The food was simple local fare that was exceptionally well prepared and very healthy. Also start your day off with the best hot stone massage before you take a plunge in the cool clean pool. The rooms were very large and would meet almost anyone's standards.Thank you Chris and the rest of Doce Luna's team."

Jaco Hotels 10 oddest guest requests.

2010-01-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

Jaco Hotels notices Gadling colllected 10 oddest guests requests. We didnt get these requests at our Jaco hotel, but we believe any client request is by definition reasonable - as long as it is what they truly want. So here is what we would say if you were to ask.

Can you turn down the ocean?

The ocean is already down. Down the road one mile. We can turn down your 600 thread count sheets and fluff up your down pillows.

Can I get a New York cheesecake? From New York?
Yes you can. The easiest way would be to fly there and we can help you with that. Or we can ask our expert provisioner how many days that will take to arrive and what the fee will be and you can decide if you have time and money for New York cheesecake in Jaco. Do not try to take it through airport security in your carry on. Its a gel.

My dog needs her own room.
Well of course she does. Would she like a drivers' room or an owners suite? Will she be wanting biscuits in the minibar? Just sign here for the deposit...

Can I have a bonfire on the terrace?
Yes of course. But we must get you a brazier to have it in first along with an nearby attendant armed with an extinguisher for your safety and we will let you know the fee.

Can you cut holes in my sheets?
Sure, but dont you think it would be more fun to burn holes in them? Our Jaco hotel sheet price depends on whether you want the 600 thread count, the organic chinese silkworm sheets, or the regular sheets.

How much for the bed?
To sleep on for a night, $150 to $195. Our "take-out" Jaco Hotel beds are $1,200. Or we can get you a custom bed from the same woodworker which might be more convenient for everyone, but if you are feeling impetuous, we will find a way to accommodate your urge.

Can I leave the door open?
Yes you can, but the anteaters could come in. Despite being in the jungle there are as many bugs as you would expect because of all the brids, but at night the light will attract bugs so you should probably close the door or turn off the light. We have three guards on the fenced in grounds so you should be safe at night.

Can you draw me a milk bath?
Yes. Do you have a pen and paper, or would you like me to go to the store for milk? Have you tried our springwater? Its very nice for bathing.

Can you cut the feet of my bed?
Yes. Where is your bed? Does it look like one of ours?

Can I bury my dog in your garden?
Your dog would be the only dog buried there, so your dog might be lonely, but this is probably the only one of the many Jaco Hotels that will let you bury your dog here.

Come to Jaco and stay at Jaco Hotel DoceLunas for the excellent service quality.

Jaco Hotels Costa Rica - service improvements

2010-01-09T21:05:00.001-08:00

Jaco hotel DoceLunas, one of two four star hotels in Jaco, wants to offer the best hotel service possible. DoceLunas has all the normal amenities expected of a four star hotel. DoceLunas is the most affordable of four star Jaco hotels and has five acres of landscaped gardens. The grounds of this Jaco hotel are ringed by towering trees over 50 feet high. Throughout the grounds additional original growth trees have been preserved. So this Jaco hotel offers all the amenities kinkajou and arboreal anteaters are looking for and all the ones humans convetionally expect. But what else can we do for you at DoceLunas to stand out among Jaco Hotels in our commitment to customer service? Is there some aspect of service that could make your stay more special? Please let us know how we can improve your experience. As we say in "Costa Rica, estamos para servirle." Which means, we are here to serve you. Come join us at DoceLunas, the finest of Jaco hotels.

Translating Hoteles Jaco

2010-01-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hoteles Jaco is spanish for Jaco Hotels. You can easily translate Hoteles Jaco or any other phrase you like with the yahoo babelfish tool. To use babelfish to translate the phrase Hoteles Jaco, go to the babelfish website - http://babelfish.yahoo.com/. In the translate window, type in Hoteles Jaco. In the translate from to select from Spanish to English. Now hit the translate button and babelfish will return the correct translation of Hoteles Jaco - Jaco Hotels. You can translate any text you want. Just paste it into the window where you typed hoteles Jaco.

Costa Rica wedding sunset

2010-01-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

When you celebrate your Costa Rica wedding you could be looking at a sunset like this, photographed on south Jaco beach a mile from DoceLunas, the finest of Jaco hotels.

For more information on weddings in Costa Rica, view the Jaco hotels sister blog www.weddingscostarica.blogspot.com.

Enjoy a Costa Rica wedding on the beach.

Costa Rica Hotels Wedding legal requirements

2010-01-07T19:01:00.001-08:00

Check out this article on our sister blog - it lists some of the legal requirements for a Costa Rica wedding. http://weddingcostarica.blogspot.com/2010/01/costa-rica-wedding-legal-requirements.html

If you want to have a wedding at one of the lovely hotels in Jaco Costa Rica, we recommend hotel DoceLunas.

Costa Rica Wedding | Jaco hotels

2010-01-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Check out the new Costa Rica wedding post from hotels in Jaco http://www.weddingcostarica.blogspot.com/ It talks about how the New Economics foundation ranked Costa Rica the third happiest country in the world. If you decide to get married in Costa Rica, DoceLunas is a great place to celebrate your Costa Rica wedding. check out http://www.docelunas.com/wedding.html

Old Jaco Map New Jaco Map

2010-01-06T12:01:00.001-08:00

Here is a new Jaco map of mountain bike trails. click terrain to view contours on this Jaco map. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.00047c84336326a4f166e&z=15

Jaco map of surf beaches and parks near Jaco hotels http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?
ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.000479fe63c624a988701&ll=9.649492,-84.465637&spn=0.64985,0.975037&z=10

Jaco map of hotels and Jaco beach surf breaks map http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.000479fd9853f0231af3f&z=15

Jaco map overhead Docelunas click on sattelite to show the jungle around and in the hotel on this Jaco map. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.000479ffb3149ede4107d&z=18

Surrounded by jungle at the base of a mountain 3 minutes from Jaco beach DoceLunas is a great place for a vacation or Costa Rica yoga retreat. Enjoy our Jaco map.

Costa Rica Jaco Hotels the Tope tradition

2010-01-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

Well since our blog on Jaco Costa Rica hotels is the number one search result for Tope Costa Rica, we'd better explain what a Tope is. Tope, I am told, literally means "top". A tope in Costa Rica is pat of the town festival tradition. Every town has an annual festival featuring some rodeo events, running away from bulls, and, in modern times, mechanical fair rides and midway games. The highlight of the festival, hence the "top" or "tope" of Jaco's annual festival is a horse parade called a Tope. Horses are trained to high step in the Spanish tradition with check reins similar to those used with the Lipazaner stallions. Some horses are adorned with beaded headgear, although today in Jaco you are more likely to see participants in this traditional favorite local activity struggling to balance the competing needs of cell phone holstering and beer holding with navigation down the streets past the hotels in Jaco Costa Rica.

Jaco Hotels Surf shot one mile from Jaco Hotels DoceLunas

2010-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

Near Jaco Hotels - Mr Dukes catches a wave in front of Calle Hidalgo

will be included on Jaco Hotels website - www.docelunas.com

Jaco Hotels

2010-01-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Jaco hotels - www.docelunas.com has new content on hotels in Jaco Costa Rica. Check out the revised home page from the most elegant of Jaco Hotels - DoceLunas affordable four star hotel in Jaco.

Tope horse parade near hotels in Jaco Costa Rica

2010-01-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of a horse high stepping in the annual Tope, or horse parade, near the Jaco Hotels in december, 20009. There are some photos below also.

Hotels in Jaco - free drink

2010-01-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

Of all the Jaco Hotels, DoceLunas is our favorite. Comment here with a brief history of the Canton of Garabito and win a free drink from your favorite of Jaco hotels in Costa Rica.

Nice waves last night near hotel in Jaco, Small tonight

2010-01-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

The waves down the road from DoceLunas, my favorite of the Jaco hotels, were good last night. Today we have a very full high tide - 10ft, at 4:48 or so, providing a sunset surf window. The primary swell is less than 2 ft out of the southwest, so it looks like a longboard session on shin high waves.

Surf Breaks North of Jaco Hotels

2010-01-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

While there are more breaks to the south of Jaco Hotels, there are a few to north as well.

The first is Herradura Island. About 15 minutes north of Jaco you will find Herradura bay. At the south end of the bay between the beach and the island you can find long waves but you need a really big swell out of the south - 6 feet or more of buoy height.

Next to the north is Playa Escondido. You will need to charter a boat from Herradura to get to this reef break in front of a beach that is only accessible by private land. Respect the locals, top surfers who have paid for the privelege of living in front of this remote spot.
Further to the North you will find Coralillos, which some consider a secret spot, so I will leave it at that.

About 40 minutes to the north you will come to Puerto Caldera. Waves break off the jetty on big south swells.

An hour to the north you arrive at Boca Baranca, the mouth of the Baranca river. The water is dirty and there can be crocodiles, but on a big south swell (5 feet minimum buoy height ) this break produces epic lefts - like 100 meters long! Its easiest to swim out on the north side of the river. There is some guarded parking there. Its worth it.

So there you have a quick rundown of the surf breaks near the hotels in Jaco.

Surfing South of Jaco hotels

2010-01-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick rundown of the closest surf breaks to the hotels in Jaco.
today i will start to the south -
Right here - 1 mile from hotel DoceLunas Jaco - smaller waves sheltered by the arms of Jaco bay. best wind shelter - the south end near hotel DoceLunas. best shape, a little further north - the street after Bruja bar.
10 minutes Hermosa - heavy, barrelling, three miles of wide open beach with varying slope to catch all swells and magnify them into the ride of your life
20 minutes from the hotel - Oesterillos Oeste - big slow waves, good for longboards, inside and outside breaks
30 minutes from Jaco Oesterillos Centro and Este- similar to hermosa but not as heavy
40 minutes from the hotel- Bejuco - generally gets the biggest waves on a given swell
go here when everything else is flat. surfs on a low to mid tide. major rip. big paddle out. bigger paddle back in. expert swimming skills required.

So there are the 6 major breaks in the area to the south of Jaco.
click http://www.docelunas.com/surfing.html
for more information on surfing Hermosa beach near our Jaco hotels in Costa Rica

Hotel in Jaco Costa Rica Map of Surf Breaks and Parks near Jaco Hotels

2010-01-01T13:52:00.001-08:00

This map shows surf breaks and national parks near the hotels in Jaco Costas Rica. Elsewhere in this blog you will find details about the various breaks.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.000479fe63c624a988701&ll=9.649492,-84.465637&spn=0.611942,1.231842&z=10

Happy New Year. no party here.

2009-12-31T09:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year ! I am sorry to report our DJ slipped on a icy spot in DC and will not be attending so we have decided to cancel our party. Maybe we will see you on the town. Happy New Year !

Leaving the Jaco Hotel

2009-12-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am heading back to Montana for a few freezing days. I will miss our lovely hotel in Jaco. It may take me a few days to respond to comments. Our interent is not so fast out there in the docks of boon.

2009-12-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Just 15 minutes from DoceLunas hotel in Jaco, or half hour by bicycle, you will find the Tulin Wildlife refuge. November through January, sea turtle egg clutches hatch and volunteers and sometimes lucky bystanders pluck them from the wriggling mass in the bucket and line them up for the race to the sea. Check out this video of the adorable baby turtles!

Finest of Jaco Hotels on Fodors

2009-12-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Jaco Hotels, Fodors has nice coverage of DoceLunas at this page: click http://www.fodors.com/world/mexico-and-central-america/costa-rica/review-181249.html for the finest of Jaco hotels.

From Hotel in Jaco - photos of the Tope

2009-12-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

Near Jaco Hotel DoceLunas you can see the annual Tope of Jaco - a horse parade in which the horses do fancy spanish stepping all the way through town (and from bar to bar).
Here are a couple photos. Don't forget our New Years party. Avoid the crowds downtown and enjoy our fireworks.

New Years Party

2009-12-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

We will be hosting a New Years Eve Party at our lovely hotel in Jaco Costa Rica on December 31st with a massive fireworks displace and a fun DJ.

Jaco Costa Rica hotel map surf breaks and national parks near hotels in Jaco

2009-12-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115324877698538632506.000479fe63c624a988701&ll=9.649492,-84.465637&spn=0.611942,1.231842&z=10

Scavenger Hunt? Rock trivia Contest?

2009-12-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

We are considering hosting a bar-hopping, clue-solving scavenger hunt or possibly a rock trivia contest with a $5 entry fee and a prize of two VIP Metallica tickets.

Who wants to join us? Any suggestions about the two possible events? Any other event suggestions? Let's make something fun together !

Estamos para sevirle !

A good realtor

2009-12-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Remax agent Piper Renner whose blog is listed below is a good source of information on real estate in Jaco Costa Rica. If you are coming to look at real estate, consider working with Remax. Not only do they have comprehensive listings, they have an excellent relationship with the finest hotel in Jaco Costa Rica, DoceLunas. Ride with remax and get a discounts. You can see their site at http://www.jacobeachinfo.com/ .

2009-12-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

We just discovered a new Blog that we like - www.plivefromcostarica.blogspot.com
Check it out. There is some pre tope coverage and there will soon be tope photos and a graphic article on the myriad fashions of Jaco with plenty of do's and perhaps even more dont's. Mr Blackwell will roll in his grave. If you read up, you will find yourself invited to a tope tailgate party with a charming hostess and sangria.

2009-10-18T05:36:00.001-07:00

For a chance to win free tickets for our Haloween Concert Oct 30, please make a comment below by clicking on the comment box.

2009-10-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

Para un chance de ganar boletos para concierto Halloween gratis, haz click en "comment" y haz un commentario para recibir un chance de ganar boletos en nuestra rifa.

DoceLunas Halloween Oct 30th with Midnight Spaghetti

2009-10-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

ENGLISH BELOW

El grupo "funk" de los E.U. " Midnight Spaghetti" www.midnightspaghetti.com- una banda muy bailable con una sección grande del trompetas va tocar el fiesta anual de Halloween en DoceLunas, viernes 30 de octubre.

Usted puede tener un chance de ganar boletos en rifa si hace un "comment" = commentario abajo para entrar en la rifa del boleto. Haz click en en button commentario y escribe su nombre para tener un chance en la rifa. Vamos a notar quien gana aqui en el "blog."

Para el partido, las puertas se abren en 10 P.M. Cobramos 10,000 colones y esta monto incluye comida gratis desde 10 a 11 y otra vez desde 1 a 2.

Tambien, presentamos un "haunted house" = "casa de fantasmas" gratis para los ninos desde 6 pm hasta 9 pm.

Y por fin, tenemos un concurso de disfrazes de Halloween con premios de mas que $700 en effectivo y premios. Entonces, que lleva su mejor disfraz para ganar!

American Funk Masters "Midinight Spaghetti" - an extremely danceable band with a big horn section will be laying down their irresistible groove at DoceLunas annual Halloween Party, Friday October 30th. You can win tickets by commenting below to enter in the ticket raffle, so please leave a comment here.

For the party, the gates open at 10 pm, 10k colones to enter includes free buffet from 10 to 11 and again at 1 to 2. Dress to impress in your halloween best and maybe you will even take home some part of OVER SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS IN CASH AND PRIZES from our costume contest!

There is a also free haunted house for kids from 6 pm to 9 pm that all the kids will be talking about, so dont let your kid miss out.

2009-09-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Alpha Blondy came and played for us at DoceLunas last May. The band had a little difficuly with their other Costa Rica shows and were glad to be relaxing in the tranquil gardens of DoceLunas. Here you can see the white tent for the soundboard above the pool chairs but the huge international stage and lighting rack is almost completely hidden by the fire tree, just a little spot of blue showing through.

Lit up at night by all the smiling faces of the fans, there's no other venue that can offer the ambience of DoceLunas spectacular central garden. We are looking foward to putting on some great shows in the dry season coming up.

First Post

2009-09-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Welcome to DoceLunas new blog. We hope you enjoy this source of information for events in the Jaco area.

DoceLunas is looking forward to hosting Midnite Spaghetti for Halloween this year. So far we havent signed a contract, so its not a done deal just yet, but we are planning to present these eight completely smokin funk jam masters who have been known to throw down 12 hour sets. They played for us last halloween and the crowd had a great time dancing with these extreme costumed funsters and their party style performance.

More information on area happenings will be coming soon.

As will lots and lots of baby turtles. Thousands of baby turtles.

Know of a good event coming up? Please post a comment!