Costa Rica: the Next Superyacht Haven

With its incredible biodiversity, beautiful national parks and tropical coastline stretching 800 miles, Costa Rica is an ideal destination for yachting, but for years it’s been bypassed for neighbouring shores due to its restrictive marina laws. However that’s all about to change as this spring, Costa Rica passed a major milestone agreeing to open up the country to international superyacht operations for the first time. The reform will make entry easier and more flexible and enable luxury vessels over 24m (79ft) to charter legally and remain in Costa Rica for up to one year – in some cases, two years – at a time.

The bill, which was approved following a unanimous vote at the Costa Rica Legislative Assembly (Congress), is expected to be finalised and put into operation by September 2021, to the delight of the global superyacht industry. The landmark ruling follows longstanding lobbying by the Costa Rica Marina Association, supported by an advisory board from Fraser Yachts, one of the world’s leading full-service yachting companies.

“Costa Rica is a wonderful, beautiful country but it’s very slow to change,” says Jeff Duchesneau, President of Marina Pez Vela and board member of the Costa Rica Marina Association. “It took a while to get here and I think the pandemic helped. We have the Spanish phrase, ‘no hay mal que por bien no venga’, which simply translates to ‘there’s nothing bad that ever happens that doesn’t bring something good with it.’ I think we’re going to look back at the pandemic and realise it was one of those moments that helped to transform Costa Rica’s marine industry. It forced the country to reflect on what we need to do to grow a new segment of tourism, and we had the opportunity to do that with the new marina law.”

The reformed law has three primary benefits. The first affects private owners. Previously, owners were only able to sail yachts into Costa Rica for 90 days before needing to leave for another 90 days, which was inconvenient, particularly for people visiting for the fishing or tournament seasons, both of which are five months long. “The law now gives you temporary import status, six months from the time you get here, which doubles the time. It’s then renewable up to three times, up to two years,” Duchesneau says.

The law also opens up the country to luxury chartering. “Before the law, if you didn’t have a Costa Rica flag on your boat, you couldn’t do any type of lucrative activity in Costa Rica, including chartering,” Duchesneau says. Now people can get a charter license for one year for yachts of 24m and above. The only stipulation is the vessel cannot be used for fishing as to not disrupt the local fishing industry.

Another part of the law relates to marinas. Previously marina managers only had a 35-year concession. Now they have a 40-year extension – the renewal periods were also increased from 15 to 20 years. This gives owners and investors more incentive to further develop the marinas, which in turn attracts more yachts.

Duchesneau predicts that the reform will have huge economic benefits for the country. “When these guests - who are spending from $250,000 to $1m a week chartering a yacht - come to Costa Rica, they’re eating at the best restaurants, visiting the spas, buying provisions, hiring help – they have a big impact on the community,” he says. “And it’s not just about the owners or guests. When the yacht’s in town, the crew will be heading out into town, booking the canopy tours and doing expeditions. Everyone benefits.”

While the law is being finalised, the next important step is getting charter yachts – and charter guests – to Costa Rica, which is easier said than done. “It’s a chicken and egg situation because for the first year or so, you don’t know how much demand there will be,” says Mark Duncan, director of marketing and business development at Fraser Yachts. “This happens every time a new area opens up. It happened with Croatia, Montenegro and Greece within the last 10 years.”