Prostitution is actually common and practiced openly across Costa Rica, particularly in popular tourist destinations. Prostitution is legal but sex workers must be over 18 years old and have a health card that indicates how recently they had a medical check-up. The majority of the street prostitutes are minors or women with problems that deter them from working indoors at establishments that are friendly to “working girls” and even transvestites. These estranged shadows are those of prostitutes who signal their presence with the beat of their heels.Įvery night, up to 2,000 underage sex workers walk the streets of San Jose or cater to the sexual whims of wealthy clients behind the walls of opulent homes that have been converted to brothels in some of the city's finest neighbourhoods. There is another one along Paseo Colon, located just across the Hotel Ambassador.Īnyone walking at night in the "red light district" will see silhouettes of people trying to survive in the streets. It is hard to miss since it’s on the same street as Del Rey, about five blocks down.
There is an adult movie theatre located on Calle 9. A number of upscale hotels, bars, and casinos are catering to sex tourists with a 10:1 ratio of prostitutes to patrons. San Jose is actually the epicentre of prostitution and escort services in Costa Rica.
The city is rife with a menagerie of adult entertainment venues, from adult cinemas and erotic massage parlours to brothels and strip clubs. San Jose Adult Entertainment (Leave feedback) Most travel guides recommend that tourists buy their bus tickets in advance and try to be very cautious when heading to Zona Roja or the Coca Cola district.
The drivers are courteous and professional so don’t hesitate to ask for directions. Buses serve most major tourist attractions and they run on time. The rest of the city and pretty much Costa Rica in its entirety are safe for travel. Based on official figures, the majority of the crimes take place around the San Jose bus terminal. Assaults, robberies, indigence and street fights are common in Zona Roja, which has become a refuge for criminal elements who operate non-stop 24/7. At just about any time, whether day or night, you’ll find prostitutes, drug dealers, con artists, and other less than friendly folks. Zona Roja is a pretty nasty area where your chances of getting scammed or hurt are high. The Zona Roja is near the downtown area beginning a block north of the Mercado Central and in the area of Gringo Glutch where the Hotel Del Rey is located. Amazingly, the estimated 500 sex workers earn as much as $40,000 daily! Downtown San José sees about 400 sex tourists in a single day, with most providers charging $100 per hour. Smaller venues may have no more than five women at a time. On a single evening, you may find 200 sex workers inside the Hotel del Rey and 50 at Key Largo, just across the street.
They never concurrently occupy the same areas. Between Calles 3 and 15, and between Avenidas 1 and 11, a conurbation of ten bars and ten hotels exist, with about 500 independent sex workers. On Calle 8, women stand by doorways to offer oral sex for a couple thousand Colones, another couple more and you can have intercourse in a room, which is likely where the girl lives. On Calle 4 and 6, sex venues disguised as massage parlours dot the two blocks between Avenidas 5 and 9. The other hotels and bars merely function as satellites. The Hotel del Rey, with its colonnaded lodging and three internal bars, plays a key role as the facilitator for sex tourism. The sex tourists are mostly North American middle-class men who go for sex first and then splurge in casinos later. These are short-term hotels or rooming houses. It is an area where the majority of the “cuarterias” or “pensiones” are concentrated. Zona Roja or Red Zone is the generally recognized red-light district located north of downtown San Jose, between Avenidas 5 and 9 and Calles 2 and 10.
San Jose Red Light District (Leave feedback)