Dominical, Costa Rica

The popular surfing town of DOMINICAL may represent the face of things to come along this stretch of the Pacific coast. Previously a secluded fishing village, it has, since the paving of the coastal road and the laying down of electricity and phone lines, begun to expand dramatically. A glut of new hotels, shops and restaurants have opened in town, while the coastal areas to the south, still largely made up of unspoilt stretches of beach and rainforest, are rapidly being bought up by hungry property developers and hotel chains. . Should the proposed paving of the Quepos– Dominical road go ahead as planned in the next few years, then the arrival of full-scale mass tourism, and all its attendant environmental problems, is surely only a matter of time.