Medical Care in Costa Rica is Worth a Look See

You might have heard about it, or maybe not; but Costa Rica has great, new, modern hospitals and a health insurance system that is massively cheaper than the costs you'll face in the United States. CIMA is a private hospital that's just minutes from our Villa Real Eco Residential rental in Santa Ana, Costa Rica.

Now, it's a serious subject, and I'm no well healed, number cruncher sitting a big fancy Washington think tank, calculating and lamenting the rising health care and cost of living in Toledo vs. Miami. But I'll say this-- it's worth checking out the health care costs in Costa Rica if you are pricing your insurance and medical care for yourself or a family member, and trying to save on the cost of a deductibles and monthly payments that are beyond the pale.

You'll find that saving a lot of money for the same level of care is very doable in Costa Rica.

Here is the description of CIMA:

Consorcio Hospital Internacional, S.A de C.V. (CHI) was incorporated in 1992 with the vision of establishing, in Mexico as well as in Latin America, a premier private medical services provider. Consorcio Internacional Hospital is the Mexican affiliate of International Hospital Corporation, a company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. This consortium invests in, operates and markets hospitals, who work under the name of Centro Internacional de Medicina (CIMA).

In fact, a good chunk of visitors to Costa Rica are there on what's called "medical tourism", and it's not just folks hell bent for boob jobs, or Human Growth Hormone treatments. Nearly 25% of CIMA's patients are Gringos looking for standard care at affordable prices, like you and me. It includes retirees who want an affordable trips to doctors, dentists and pharmacies. It includes savvy tourists who paste on a medical check up, or trip to American trained nutritionists, or dermatologists, or dentists, onto their vacations in Costa Rica. It includes people who want root canals, or major dental work at deeply discounted rates.

What kind of savings can you expect?


For example, I had an ultrasound of a major organ for $60 dollars. In Chicago it would have been much much more. My doctor visits are $30 dollars. My doctor is American trained and teaches at an American Medical school. The wait is never more than 5 minutes for most anything, for anything from blood tests to other procedures. A friend of mine brought his father to San Jose for an operation on his prostate after checking into it in America and in Europe. His operation was a great success-- and he reports that the professionalism was fantastic and the cost savings were almost unbelievable.

And as for prevention, well, we all know it's worth a pound of cure, and a Costa Rican vacation with a "medical tour" pasted on is well worth the trip. Whether it's Diet and nutrition, dermatology, physical therapy, exercise programs, or active fitness type retreats, Costa Rica has it.

We are happy to offer referrals to the service providers in Costa Rica to clients and guests, or anyone looking for general information. Contact info@palmmgt.com for details.

Whitewater Rafting in Costa Rica in Class III-IV Rapids!

One of the best new tour offerings we've run across are the white water rafting day trips we've found to Pacuare Gorge in small groups.

So basically you stay in a 4 star setting in Villa Real eco Residential, you'll wake up to hike the nature trails and roads, swim the Olympic sized pool, play tennis, take golf lessons, have personal trainers help you set and reach goals working out, have yoga instructors help you stretch out, and nutritional counsel by doctors at CIMA help you to eat right. Then, you'll take day trips such as these outstanding whitewater raftfing tours in Level 3 and 4 rapids through surrounding rain forests.

Leaving from Santa Ana, you're tour guide takes care of everything on the way, from suiting up to lunch. Here's how the describe the one day tour, which costs 149 per person:

Early morning pick-up by your River Guide at your hotel in San Jose. There will be no more than one other stop en route to a deluxe Costa Rican breakfast on the way to the river. Upon arrival at the put-in, your professional guides will give an orientation and safety talk. You will then proceed down river on continuous Class III-IV rapids. This trip runs with a maximum of three rafts, compared to other groups that operate with as many as 25 rafts.

As you are swept down the Pacuare Gorge by the currents, soak in the natural beauty of the primary and secondary rainforests surrounding you. Water level permitting, a guide will lead you on a hike up one of the many creeks that spill into the Pacuare. Upon your return to the riverbank, you will find a gourmet lunch prepared by your guides turned white-gloved waiters.

Float and paddle downriver to the take-out in the Caribbean town of Siquirres where towels and a victory cocktail await. Drive back to your San Jose hotel (approx. two hours).

For details about incorporating this into your stay at Villa Real eco residential in Santa Ana, contact us at info@palmmgt.com

Hot Volcanic Springs at Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

One of the highlights of any Costa Rican tour are the hot springs near the volcano at Arenal.

Several resorts are organized to offer hot spring/spa services, and are well worth the $10 to 40 dollars they charge for clean towels and hot soaking pools and falls that you can soak in until your skin becomes like a prune.

We always recommend guests take a day or two to drive up to Arenal to see the volcano, see the butterfly/frog conservatory, hike the trails, and soak their bums in the thremal spas. Starting off in Santa Ana at Villa Real Eco Residential Community, where guest stay upon arrival, the drive is roughly 2 1/2 hours to Arenal.


Tabacon Grand Spa and Thermal Resort is designated one of the "Finest Hotels in the World", and offers day passes to their hot spring facilities, along with Spa services which are great, if you enjoy that sort of thing (not really my bag, so I tend to stick to the soaking bit, and the large heated pool, which has a built in bar next to the cold plunge pool). Tabacon is laid out well, it's clean, offers good food and great service.

Tabacon has made the media, in various Spa Magazines and publications. It reached the top of Spa Finder's mineral water division in 2007. The resort opened with 42 four star rooms in 1997 and has steadily expanded to with more than 100 rooms, 13 spa treatment rooms, and a wave pool.

It's also open late, so night soaking is encouraged!

Fitness Retreats in Costa Rica are Unmatched

Waking up at sunrise to 80 degree weather (any time of year), walking the hills of an Eco residential community to the Nature trails, returning to shower and a light breakfast before beginning yoga instruction, then moving on to an active day trip to a coffee plantation in the middle valley, or horseback riding, golf or tennis. Fresh Tilapia with Avicado for lunch; Nutritional counseling a CIMA, one of Latin America's best Private hospitals. Private surf lessons, 2 hour beach hikes on Costa Rica's Pacific shores from a private beach house setting. Endless sunrise and sunset hikes in beautiful places.

These are the signs that your in a Palmmgt Costa Rica fitness retreat program, complete with personal trainers, nutritionists, physicians, massage and spa attendants, and instructors for surfing, yoga, golf, tennis, horseback, martial arts, weight training, cooking, and more. Fitness retreats featuring active, so called "multi sport" vacations are all the rage now. Like Lizano, the green sauce everyone puts on Gallo Pinto each morning in Costa Rica, we're adding our own twist. Call our Gut Buster Team for details!

Exclusive Villa Real Rental Eco Residential Rental, Santa Ana, Costa Rica

Exclusive Villa Real Eco Residential Community Rental, Santa Ana, Costa Rica - $4,500 per month Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 Parking Spaces: 4 Year Built: 1996 Subdivision: Villa Real Lot Size: 6000 Garage Size: 2 School District: Private Square Footage: 3400 Agent Name: Luke Aaron Rent: $4,500 per month Available Date: Fri May 15, 2009 Deposit: 13500 Minimum Lease: 6 months View More Photos Sanjoserentals.probets.us Range/Oven Full Refrigerator Washer/Dryer Dishwasher Microwave Satellite Hardwood Floors Wet Bar Security System Kitchen Island Vaulted Ceilings Attic Fenced Yard Swimming Pool Hot Tub Grass Lawn Basketball Net Secluded setting Tool Shed Club house Tennis Courts Nature Trails Modern, beautiful 4 bedroom, 5 bathroom villa surrounded by nature in Villa Real Eco Residential, Santa Ana, Costa Rica. Villa Real is one of San Jose's most exclusive private, secluded, secure and gated communities. Business class rental, ideal for "working vacations", business gatherings, and fund raisers. Has been used by VIP requiring additional 24/7 security. Includes 2 Megabyte, Broadband connection, Polycomm phones (Free calling to North America and Europe), a WiFi network, Flat Panel Television (42 inch), Home Theater System, Olympic sized pool, tennis courts, hiking trails. Ten mintues from International airport; 15 minutes from Downtown and Escarzu, Multi plaza mall. Maid service included. Catering optional. Four bedrooms, 5 bathrooms. Call for detail: 866.315.0984 Weekly and monthly rates.For Details, Visit: http://www.sanjoserentals.probets.org Luke Aaron 7036215962 Powered by vFlyer.com Equal Housing Opportunity VFLYER ID: 2484802

All information in this site is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and is subject to change

Widgets of Distinction

For whatever reason, I've been working on widget that will allow Palmmgt to syndicate all our vital, life saving data across the Internet via all the other Internauts out there. Actually, I know the reason-- after listening to a Hooman at U of Maryland on the subject I thought I'd look into it. He was right-- it's as geeky as it gets. There's enough coding, scripting-- JAVA, XML, Flash, RSS, html to make you want to reach for a regulated beverage and search the phrase "booty dance" on Youtube.

It might make you feel impulsive and gun crazy, fueling fantasies of protracted crime sprees, kriss crossing the nation from one bank job to the next, hard drinking, hard driving, hard talking and hard to imagine ways to forget all the widgets, midgets and eyeballs that fidget on this Internet. Of course, I entertain these ideas fully know that bank robbing just isn't done the usual way these days. Adventure, grace and brass balls have all been teased out, like genetic modifications in mice, deep inside some University lab, fully funded by public and anonymous private sources for the patient right. Ounce for ounce, Bernie Madoff, makes Willie Sutton look like a door man, to say nothing of the paradoxical journey of Patty Hearst. No, like most others, it's a nasty business these days, which somehow makes coding Widgets seem more tolerable.

In spite of the turtle's pace of change to the value proposition of all this XHTML, maybe the devil you know, hiding in your widget code is better than the devil that could be lurking just outside your door, waiting for you, like Tonya and the Symbionese Liberation Army to stomp you in your nuts or your gurl, as they flip through your wallet for something of value. That's a leatherback sea turtle at Playa Grande, Costa Rica by the way. They have been around since the sun itself, without usernames or passwords. We urge all visitors to Playa Grande to watch out for and stay away from Turtles eggs, stay off the beach at night, and to come learn about Playa Grande as a sea turtle nesting ground.

Speaking of "Gun Crazy", David Graf and Lauren Becker's six bank robbery crime spree came to an end today according to the news on Long Island. The loving couple stole up to $10,000 dollars to pay for heroin. I know-- romantic, right?

Speaking of something of value, it's not easy to decide what to put into the widget, or if it's even worth 4 minutes it takes to plan it. I don't know, I'm not Bill Gate's limo driver giving dictation into my Zune, like Grand Funk Railroad on an 8 Track. This stuff is like pasta, or something more smelly: you chuck it on the wall and find out later what sticks and what just stinks.

Palm Tours to Focus on Singles Travel 2 Costa Rica

Palmmgt.com is considering and kicking around the idea of hosting "singles tours" to Costa Rica's Pacific shores, which will include beach front rentals and a wide variety of activities, including surfing lessons, golf, horseback riding, volcano tours, hot springs, night clubs, spa days, wildlife tours, sport fishing, hiking, biking, sailing, ATVs, casino gaming, and even bird watching (believe it or not, it's one of the most popular reasons people come to visit Cost Rica, the most biologically diverse place on earth). Yeah, there's plenty to do for folks who are not paired off, but sitting on a few weeks of vacation time to use up.


So the challenge is to reach singles with the offer-- Singles Tours to Costa Rica, without forking over thousands of dollars to click ad companies, so 1000's of "employees" sitting in some Estonian internet bang can sit there and click our links until their fingers fall off and we cleaned out. I can't knock their business model, it's just that we don't really get what we pay for-- reaching all those singles, recently dumped by their significant others and looking for somewhere to vacation that is not some thinly veiled booty tour to some walled in resort in the Caribbean that is geared up to get them to buy too many drinks. The average cruise is priced that way-- they give away the space with the expectation that the guest will drink $100's of dollars worth of hooch in order to break even. Hile there are plenty of places to drink like a new parolee and party like a rock star (the old school, Keith Richards, wake up in your own barf kind).

Boozed based blotto tours are really not Palmmgt's focus but some people do come to the Tamarindo area for the wild club-night life (with its active drug culture); so while we can offer those "Blotto tours", we are really looking to reach people, single or not, who want activities based tours-- whether it's health and fitness based, "multi sport" based vacations, which amount to an exercise boot camp situation, or nature tours to volcanos, rain forests, hot springs, horseback riding, PGA golf or sport fishing.


Tear ass, horseback rides on the beach aside, to that end, we are having some experimental landing pages built out and set up, which are pretty funny-- see,

• http://tiny.cc/CostaRica

For some reason, there's been a rush of wedding requests on Playa Grande. Seems like beach weddings are becoming more popular.