Tamarindo and Sámara, Costa Rica, recognized Tsunami Ready

On February 8th, 2021, Tamarindo and Sámara were recognized as Tsunami Ready by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. They joined Ostional and El Coco as Tsunami Ready communities in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Their main activities are tourism activities in connection with nature.

Tamarindo is subject to tsunami hazard and at the same time is a high spot of national and international tourism. That is why the touristic sector, grouped at the Integral Development Association (Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Tamarindo, ADI-Tamarindo), took a very active role during the process of Tsunami Ready recognition. They organized their staff, lead the evacuation plan development, put the evacuation route signs, created a English/Spanish video for tourists and organized the tsunami exercise. Tamarindo performed an online tabletop due to pandemics, on September 2020

In Sámara, all neighborhoods participated, created their own warning dissemination system, and supported the deployment of the tsunami evacuation signs donated by the International Migration Organization (IMO). Sámara Elementary School performed a tsunami evacuation drill as part of the National Earthquake Drill in 2019.