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Playas del Coco, Marina Project Marches On

The plan to build a marina in Playas del Coco is moving forward little by little, thanks to the joint efforts of different collaborators seeking to give this coastal community another tool for its development.
According to Rafael Villegas, president of the Marina del Coco Development Association (ASODEMAC)- main promoter of the endeavor- the group is obtaining the last permits needed from  the National Environmental Technical  Secretariat (SETENA), after  which  it will ask the municipality of Carrillo to provide the land where the marina will be  built.
The marina plan was presented five years ago by ASODEMAC- a group of business people, professionals and fishermen from Playas del Coco, who proposed the project as a way to stimulate tourism and commerce in the area, as well as community development through employment generation.
The 15- hectare, 280-boat marina would be located in what is known as Playita Blanca, near Punta Centinela, on the southeast corner of the Bay of coco. It would receive recreational and sport-fishing boats and yachts. According to ASODEMAC, cost of the project would be approximately $20 million.
“ASODEMAC is going to be the concessionaire of the project and will also manage it, in addition to supervising its construction. We will look for financing through the private sector and foreign investors to be able to carry out this project”, Villegas explained.
The group has had the support of the Municipality of Carrillo and the Inter-institutional Commission for Marinas and Tourist Docks (CIMAT), which is part of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ITC).
Benefits of the project included infrastructure, attraction of investment and tourism, and creation of jobs for people of the region.
According to ASODEMAC’s Edwin Solano, the marina would create some 1,500 direct jobs, while 600 others would be generated indirectly through businesses and hotels around the marina and other services needed by the project. That’s why the group is trying to set up an agreement, food handling, boat maintenance and others.
“We expect there will jobs available in sailing-realted services such as maintenance, services, cleaning, security, in addition to jobs, created through stores, meeting centers and others. Considering that there are no marinas in operation in the region, this project will facilitate the arrival of international, boats to Coco”, Solano said.
In addition to Marina del coco, ASODEMAC is supporting the municipal pier project proposed by the Municipality of Carrillo, and which seeks to b a multipurpose docking area with capacity to receive commercial-and sport-fishing ship, cruise ships and tourist yachts, among others. The local government has been supported by CIMAT in regards to this project.
“These two projects are independent, but the municipality is also promoting Coco’s development and we, as neighbors, are helping with this work”, Solano said.
Other Guanacaste marina projects are currently being planned, including Marina Papagayo and the Playa Flamingo marina, in Santa Cruz.