GOLFITO CANTON

The political and administrative division of Costa Rica is defined by provinces as follows : San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon. These provinces, at the same time are divided into cantons and districts.

In the administrative aspect, the province of Puntarenas has the following cantons : Puntarenas, Esparza, Buenos Aires, Montes de Oro, Osa, Aguirre, Golfito, Coto Brus, Parrita, Corredores and Garabito.

GOLFITO

This canton which number is VII of the province of Puntarenas was created by the Decree-law No. 532 in June 10th of 1949

Surface: 1.753.96 Square Kilometers

Its principal city name is Golfito

It is 341 kilometers far away from the San José city.

It has four districts which are the following : Golfito, Puerto Jiménez, Guaycará, Pavones or Villa Conte.

Golfito is not only a place where you can go and buy electrical appliances and devices, it is also a place to go fishing, or to visit the wonderful beaches like Zancudo. Pavones beach is an excellent surfer’s destination but that is not all Golfito has to offer. Golfito is also home to one of the biggest wild life reserve in Costa Rica the Corcovado National Park, which has been called “one of the most biologically intense places on earth” by National Geographic.

The principal county of the canton was named “Golfo Dulce” that means “Sweet Gulf” and also Santo Domingo, and in the year of 1949 when the canton was settled it took the name of “ Golfito “ because of its shape in the border of the beach that forms a small gulf in the inner part of the big Golfo Dulce.

Tourism in Golfito

This place is rich in different tourism options, between them we must mention the fishing due to the fact that there are zones near it where there have been registered excellent fishing records, not only in the size of the fish but also in the quantity of them (more information can be found in the activities section of this same web site), you can also dedicate your day to getting to know the greatly beautiful Zancudo Beach (I must say that I have had the opportunity of spending a vacation here and found it to be one of the best places because of all of its tourism options) and I must also talk about Pavones Beach (excellent for those who love surfing). You can also go to Puerto Jiménez (it is just an hour and a half away from Golfito if you go by boat) and while your there you can travel to the Corcovado National Park. Another place that is near Golfito is the Reserva Indigena (Native Reserve) Guaymie de Conte Brunca and the Reserva Nacional (National Reserve) de Fauna Silvestre Golfito. The information of all these places can be found on this web site, in the section of activities, Beaches and Protected Zones.

Map From Golfito Click Here

Transportation options to Golfito

Bus Schedule, Plane Schedule, Rent a Car services, Taxi.

Hotels

Click Here For Hotels in Golfito.

Economy

This canton has developed some commercial activities: one of them related with the Puerto Libre (Free Port), others with the commerce in the rest of Golfito where you can find stores, little supermarkets, hardware shops and other commercial stores. They also developed tourism activities to satisfy the demand of the visitors of the Puerto Libre since they have to stay for at least one night in the are, and that is why you find hotels, restaurants, fishing tours, boat tours, souvenirs, bars and other activities.

In this place, they also have a processing plant for palm oil which together with the production of rice, cocoa, corn, beans and the stock farming are the principal products of the canton.

Available Services in Golfito

Golfito has agencies of the Banco of Costa Rica, INS (National Insurance Institute), ICE (Costarican Institute of Electricity), A y A (Water Service Institute), there is also a Hospital that is located 1km. east of the Free Port.

In Golfito is settled all kind of commerce such as fuel stations, stores, hardware shops, home supplies stores, restaurants, hotels, cabins, supermarkets, bakeries and drugstores.

You can also find in Golfito services provided bu lawyers, topographers, doctors, dentist and fire department.

Golfito History and Background

During the Spanish time, Golfito was occupied by native Bruncas whose leader was the Cacique Giriara, who also dominated Turrucaca (55 kilometers away from the coast of the Golfo Dulce toward the inner side of the region) and there were also lands near the Cacique Osa whose authority was centered 45 kilometers away from the Punta Burica.

The region where the Golfito canton is located was discovered in 1519 by Juan de Castañeda and Hernán Ponce de León who traveled by sea from Punta Burica to the Gulf of Osa, known now as Golfo Dulce (or Sweet Gulf). In the year of 1522, Gil Gonzalez Dávila walked through this zone.

It was a new zone regarding colonization, because in the beginning it was visited from Panama by Chiriqui who settled little neighborhoods in the deep virgin forest in the border of the ocean while their inhabitants lived depending of what they could sow and also depended from the care of chickens and pigs, that way little by little and specially since 1874 the costarricans began the colonization of the zone. Its development is attached to the opening of the new Carretera Interamericana Sur (South Interamerican Highway) and also primarily to the plantation of bananas and the beginning of the banana company.

In 1930 there was a displacement of the banana activities located in the Atlantic Region. The banana companies decided to relocate to the South Pacific region due to the deterioration of the lands in the Atlantic, the sickness of the fruit and the problems of the daily work. In 1936 the banana plantation in the South Pacific and in Golfito was started, due to the lack of economical activities in the region this became the main source of revenue for almost all of the families that lived in this region.

The Banana Company began building separate neighborhoods where, in some of them, the inhabitants lived with a high level of life, trying to pretend and follow the American way of life, while in the “Civil Villages” other lived in a humble way attached to the Ticos way of living and they were surrounded by “Pulperías” (very little stores where you can find articles for the evryday life, cigarets, soap, toothpaste, etc.) and other small types of commerce.

Every time that the company settled monopolizing techiniques the workers had to adjust to these changes. For instance, the companies were the owners of most of the farms, they were also the ones who fixed the prices of the fruit, as well as the scheduals of the trains and ship, so the workers had little choice but to accomidate to the changes. Some new changes that happened between 1960 and 1975 made the labor decrease, which made the social propblems for people without employment go up in statistics.

After 1970, the deterioration of the land made the banana production decrease. This acumulated with the international demand of Social Guarantees by the employees and the strike of 1984 made the company lose interest in the zone. In the end the company decided to leave the are for good.

While it maybe true that the Banana Company meant a relatice economical expansion for the region, it was also limited to a certain amount of time (about 30 to 40 years), just as it happended in the Atlantic zone. When they left, there was no economical activity in the area.

Due to the fact that Golfito ws the operation center, and the problem of finding theuir zone suddenly without any work options, the social problem increased for the families of the working ingabitants (approximately 1700). This situation affected all of the inhabitants of this region, due to the fact that in that moment there were no alternatives for work for those people, and that also affected in a direct way the commerce because the people who were supposed to buy did not have the money to pay.

Due to these problems, in Golfito a process of incertitude began that found it's end when the Free Commercial Deposit began.

The Free Commercial Deposit of Golfito, also called Depósito Libre Comercial is unique in the country since it counts with facilities in custom broker activities and it is free of some taxes.

The creation of the Golfito Deposit was negotiated in 1986 by the Government of Costa Rica as a contingency plan after the Banana Company left.

The Deposit has 52 commercial departments, which are divided between 49 concessions, it also has two state banks and an office of the administrative institute denominated “ Junta de Desarrollo Regional de la Zona Sur” (Regional Development Board for the Southern Region), of the province of Puntarenas, (JUDESUR). If you wish more information of the Commercial Deposit of Golfito, please visit the web site “Shopping in Golfito” making Click in the Activities Section of this same site.

Golfito Geography

Golfito is located in the southeast region of Costa Rica, and it covers the Osa Peninsula, and from this it has an extension by the coast region of the Golfo Dulce ending in the border zone with Panamá.

Golfito is a zone with a large extension, and it is composed by a lot of low lands that are dedicated principally to the sowing of the banana, corn, and rice, but it also has geographic irregularities with primary and secondary forests where you can find the Wild Life Refuge of Golfito (El Refugio de Vida Silvestre de Golfito) If you want to have more information about this refuge please visit the section of protected areas.

Golfito Climate, Height and Temperature

In the region of the South Pacific there are two seasons well defined, where the dry season is much more brief that the one of that showed in the North Pacific and begins in the last days of December and ends about in the month of April. The rainiest month use to be October and the driest is February, even when in this zone it is not absolutely dry like it is in the North Pacific.

The average temperatures per year go between the 25 C and the 30 C in those places that are near to the coast, however, in the summer, the temperatures go up to the 35 C, while in the higher parts of the Cordillera de Talamanca they register even the 10 C.

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