Manzanillo, in the Southern Caribbean, days ago became the last accessible beach for people with disabilities, reduced mobility and older adults. This is thanks to the efforts of Grupo Monge in collaboration with the Costa Rican Accessible Tourism Network and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and the Donatapa social-environmental responsibility project.
Now, this beautiful beach has 33 meters of retractable walkways that were built with 100% recycled plastic wood from tapas collected in Monge stores throughout the country.
The Manzanillo Comprehensive Development Association will assume the administration of the accessible beach, which will operate from Friday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Other beaches:
Just like Manzanillo, they are also accessible beaches:
Espadilla in Manuel Antonio (2021)
Puntarenas (2022, in two different points).
The plan is to achieve three more accessible beaches in the Pacific so far in 2024.
In the last three years, more than nine tons of plastic lids have been collected, which has allowed the installation of 165 meters of walkways and three amphibious chairs to materialize.
A dual purpose
“Monge’s Green Good Actions have a dual purpose: on the one hand, to reduce environmental pollution and, on the other, to generate a social impact, both on the people who benefit from the devices and on local businesses that benefit from inclusive tourism.
“Seeing the expression of an older adult or a person with a disability when entering the sea for the first time or after many years without doing so is something that is priceless.
“That is why we urge people, businesses and organizations to continue bringing their plastic lids to any of the 180 Monge stores throughout the country,” said Carlos Fernández, director of the Monge Good Actions program.
Facts about the walkways and amphibious chairs:
The walkways are modular in nature and allow any surface to be covered.
Each implement has high resistance and long service life.
Each cloth weighs 74 kilos and is 1.5 x 3 meters for a total of 11 that make up 33 meters.
The amphibious chair supports a capacity of up to 90 kg.
In addition, it comes with stainless steel screws, special tarps for brackish waters, does not absorb moisture, weighs 26 kilos and is also made of recycled plastic.
It is a national design created by the Costa Rican Accessible Tourism Network.
To build this walkway and the amphibious chair, 1,000 kilos of plastic covers were needed and the process cost $6,300.
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