This week in Costa Rica, scientists put a strange new deep-sea fish on the map, the country absorbed the aftershocks of its largest-ever drug bust, the dollar finally stopped sliding, and Costa Rica kept showing up on every list of where North Americans want to move. Here's what actually matters if you live in, invest in, or travel to Costa Rica.

FA team of Costa Rican and Brazilian researchers has identified a brand-new species of deep-sea fish living off Costa Rica's Pacific coast — a long-nosed chimaera, or "ghost shark," now named Rhinochimaera costaricana. Led by a UCR biology student and built on specimens collected over two decades, the find is a rare new vertebrate discovery and another reminder of how little we know about the deep water beyond the continental shelf.

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Some 1,500 agents carried out roughly 97 raids across Limón province, with Cahuita at the center, dismantling a trafficking network the OIJ calls the biggest takedown in the country's history. If you're traveling to or living on the south Caribbean coast, here's a level-headed read on what changes, what doesn't, and the sensible precautions that still apply.

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After months of a strengthening colón eating into anyone's dollar income, several of Costa Rica's most-watched economists now say the market looks like it's settling. The dollar has shed close to 9% since January but has held near ₡454 for weeks — a shift from "is it low?" to "has it bottomed out?"

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A Condé Nast Traveler report built on Henley & Partners data places Costa Rica among the 16 leading destinations worldwide for people relocating in 2026, alongside Portugal, Italy and Greece. American demand for residency abroad nearly doubled in a year — and roughly 120,000 U.S. citizens already call Costa Rica home.

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It is still hard to believe that, even with the gift of an expanded 48-team field, I am watching only the second World Cup since 1998 without the presence of La Sele, the Costa Rica national team. In a year when Costa Rica did not have to play Mexico, the U.S. or Canada, they still managed to finish behind Haiti.

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Long lines formed at the departure immigration area of the San Jose Airport after a heavy midday wave of flights pushed thousands of passengers through Costa Rica’s main airport at the same time. Large groups of foreign travelers waited to complete exit immigration controls at the Alajuela terminal. Costa Rica’s Immigration Administration said the congestion was caused by an unusual concentration of flights around midday, not by a system failure.

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What does "middle class" actually buy you in each country? In this personal essay, longtime expat Don Mateo dog-sits for his daughter's family in the States — robot vacuum, VW Atlas in the driveway, AC set to a crisp 72°F — and measures it against his simpler pura vida life back home, where a broom, a dustpan and a 12-kilo zaguate get the job done. A warm, honest look at what comfort means on each side of the border.

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Garabito Mayor Francisco González floated concentrating sex work, nightlife and eventually regulated drug use in a 70-hectare "permissive area" outside Jacó's center — and touched off a nationwide fight. Lawmakers, the Attorney General, the National Tourism Chamber and the Ombudsman all pushed back hard, turning a local zoning idea into a wider debate over Costa Rica's sex-tourism reputation and the limits of what a municipality can actually do under national law.

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