subject: Papagayo Winds Particularly Fierce This Year [print this page] Summer in Cost Rica is fantasticSummer in Cost Rica is fantastic. Wind is really the sign it's arriving. After the stormy season of mud and typhoons, the skies clear up and the sun shines brightly. If you have spent some time in Guanacaste Vacations in Guanacaste during January to March, you'll know the Papagayo wind. This is a kind of wind that will howl for the days on end and gusting at rivals with the hurricane. The temperature of the sea drop and the whitecaps can be seen on the waves even for miles around. During summer in Central America, these winds from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico funnel thru the narrow breaks in the mountains of Cordillera and across the Nicaragua lakes.
Papagayo is located in the northwards part of the area of Guanacaste close to the Nicaraguan border and along the Pacific coast. With its stunning white sand bays, it's the lesser populated portion of Guanacaste. It's the home of the Guanacaste Real Estate, a perfect place if you'd like to get away from crowded people. The Papagayo wind shrieks over the Nicaragua lakes which pulls the dust over the Pacific Ocean. This is a jet of wind that pushes far out over the Papagayo Gulf on the coast of Pacific. When the Papagayo wind blows, the sea follows. The wind mixes with the standard surface waters with the chillier and nutrient-heavy water that are lies underneath the shallows close to the coast so providing nourishment to the diverse marine community from algal blooms to sailfish and marlin which an entire food chain depends. The temperature of the sea surface can drop up to ten degrees Centigrade in a single day when these wind jets blow over the outside of the sea.
At the beginning of January, Papagayo winds will start to blow from the east across the Lake Nicaragua into the Pacific Sea. This is the once a year event and can persist for about 4 months. What occurs is these winds push the surface water offshore and the water does not have enough oxygen to support the sailfish, thus forcing them to move to the south. The famous winds slow down the fishing in the northwestern Costa Rica. The Papagayo winds blowing in the north Guanacaste is the key signal that fishing to the south will get better. In the south, marlins are still making a robust show and sails have moved into the area in a better number. Inshore fishing down the south has been fair because some tuna surprises outside of the Golfo Dulce in forty to eighty pounds range and masses of bonito fish. The big tides caused to slow the reef fishing but there are jacks and mackerel that will keep the anglers busy. You can catch marlin or sailfish in southern and central Costa Rica whenever Papagayo wind is blowing. When the wind stops and the levels of oxygen return to its standard level, fish moves from southern Costa Rica to northern Nicaragua.
