Costa Rica

I recently went down to Costa Rica for vacation and wanted to share my experience in case anyone was wondering about doing the same...

First of all, like Mexico prostitution is legal there but there are a few key differences compared to TJ. The women are all independents because brothels are illegal, so there is no management taking a cut or requiring a quota for fichas. You always negotiate directly with the girl. The way the sex trade gets around the brothel law is interesting:

1. Strip clubs do exist there, and AFAIK you can get FS like the Mexican clubs. I didn't check any of them out because I'd heard that they were pretty lame and/or closed because of Covid. Another knock against them is that if you're just looking to bust a nut, there are numerous other venues where you can do it a lot more cheaply.

2. Brothels do exist, after a fashion. They are known as pensiones there and the way they work is the girls basically rent a room at what is "officially" a boarding house and the house management plays no part in your negotiations with the girls. Prices are relatively cheap compared to TJ as the expectation is you're getting an hour session rather than the 30 minute standard in the Zona Norte. Pensiones will typically have around a dozen girls available so your choices can be quite limited.

3. Massage parlors are all over the place. Again, I didn't partake but my understanding is that the setup is similar to the pensiones if you're looking for a tug with your rub.

4. A few hotels are where Costa Rica seems to have got its rep as a mongering destination. In San Jose, there are a few that are well-known for being "girl friendly" like Sprotsmens Lodge, Hotel Taormina and Hotel Del Rey, and one more in Jaco (Hotel Cocal). The way they work is to allow the girls to hang out in their respective bars, so you meet them in an ostensibly social setting and anything that happens afterwards is an independent transaction that the hotel is not involved in. The hotel will, however, charge you a small fee to take an additional "guest" upstairs (Sportsmens Lodge is an exception to this rule), usually around US$20.

Aside: I tried submitting new location entries for Sportsmens Lodge, Taormina and Cocal but nothing happened... For the type of establishment I chose "Bar" because that's basically accurate. These are pickup bars where you know you're scoring later. Don't know if Founder is reading this but if so, please provide guidance and I'll do a review for each to fill in more details.

So what was Costa Rica mongeering like? I have to say that my feelings were mixed. Girl quality overall was definitely lower than what I've encountered in TJ over the years, but the expectation of an hours' time minimum with the girl is a big plus IMO. In terms of prices, the going rate in San Jose is roughly equal to TJ (US$100 is usually the starting point for negotiations), and Jaco is significantly higher (US$150+) but the girls are generally much cuter/younger. YMMV, but GPS abounds in Jaco due to its notoriety as a bachelor party destination. There are guys willing to pay the inflated asking price compared to San Jose. I never went past $120 myself, and that was for a girl that I really clicked with.

Another aside: Try to think before sharing your phone number with the girls there, because the more experienced ones will hit you up for money after. Even the girl I really clicked with tried asking me for $60 for her sick puppy after I got back home.

Finally, what was Costa Rica itself like? I was kinda disappointed. The natural beauty will take your breath away, but the rest of it is pretty forgettable. Costa Rica is like the suburbs of Latin America in a real sense. There isn't much of an indigenous cuisine for starters. Plenty of American chains but I don't travel for hours on a jet just to eat at a Pizza Hut. The people are friendly and open, but almost everyone's got a side hustle that's a little more in-your-face compared with other places. Outside of the whole eco-tourism thing, I didn't find a lot of richness to the local culture (happy to be proved wrong on this). I don't think I'll go back, not as a first choice anyway. I'd rather go back to Mexico because it has the same the natural beauty plus kick-ass cuisine and a rich cultural experience. And it's a lot cheaper overall. :-)