Thanks to Luis & Marco from Nosara Civic Association for coming onto the Nosara Podcast for a high season 2026 update. We cover all kinds of topics in this episode from the court decision about park lands in Nosara, the Pelada evictions & other Nosara Gossip Machine stuff to the Nosara Corridor & all kinds of other positives & everything in between. It’s a super candid conversation & I appreciate them for coming on camera.
Nosara is a small, protective type of town & there are all kinds of opinions. I appreciate those who will come on camera and speak much more than the gossip minded or social media warriors who stir up controversy but are not solution oriented.
Craig and Tristan Cohen launching the first-ever NIFF today! They discuss their goal of building a film festival in Nosara that supports artists and brings world-class story telling to our community.
Tristan shares the goal to create a space where it’s not just about the movie and then leave. He says: “It’s more about the connection that the environment sparks. How to bring people together in a community full of art, but hasn’t quite matched into its fullest potential”.
In this episode, Rich sits down with Del Mar Academy founders Haley Macmillan-Ord and Jessica Sheffield to discuss updates with Del Mar Academy and their side of the story with opening and operating a school deep in the jungle.
Short version (14 minutes):
Full version (55 minutes):
Most people understand opening and operating any kind of school is not easy.
Opening a school deep in the jungle in a small town hours away from major civilization (via sometimes horrendous roads), zero supplies, very few students, plus so much more… Well that is even harder.
But this is exactly what the Del Mar Academy founders did back in 2007.
People new to Nosara might not be aware of what Nosara was like just a short decade or so ago… Nosara used to be a tiny little town with very challenging access, almost zero publicity, no private schools, very limited medical care, and overall was an extremely challenging place for expats to live if they had kids.
However, Nosara of today is becoming a popular, well-heeled tourist town mentioned by major publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Outside Magazine, CNN, FOX, and so many others… There are doctors, dentists, chiropractors, the supermarkets are improving, there is a wide variety of restaurants and there is a chance the main road will finally be paved.
But it was not always this way. Del Mar Academy helped bring Nosara to the forefront of options for families looking for a spot in Latin America which is a big factor why Nosara is filled with families and nature preserves instead of nightclubs and condo developments.
The success of Del Mar Academy is now helping other private schools to open and operate, plus Del Mar Academy helps the local public schools a great deal, as well as providing scholarships to local Tico’s. Now that Del Mar Academy is a foundation their goal is to drastically increase their funding so they can provide more scholarships and increase environmental awareness not in Nosara but throughout the world.
