Costa Rica

[mjd]

I haven't seen any posts on Costa Rica for a long time. Has anyone visited recently? I was last there about 18 months ago and San Jose was lots of fun.

 

Visited a male brothel--can't remember the name but it was a non-descript house on the south side of San Jose--no name on door and largely unadvertised. But the guys there were really hot and I believe the cost was $30!

 

And there was an outrageous stripper club called Bogarts. They had maybe 10 or so dancers of every type - nelly, boy-next-door, muscle hunk-- you name it. They had a balcony with a private room -- free but you had to wait your turn to use it -- and the dancers would be all for $10-20. My friend and I invited two to join us for a couple days to visit La Fortuna and Arenal and we had a great time!

 

I haven't been to Quepos and Manuel Antonio for nearly 10 years -- then if you wanted a rent guy it was best to bring one from San Jose but I wondered if things had improved over the years.

 

I was thinking about returning for a long weekend this fall but hoping for update.

[+ Axiom2001]

Mid-- how did you find out about the brothel? I'm going to Costa Rica in December for two weeks and would like to obtain some specifics prior to my venturing there. A few months ago, one of our respondents wrote a few good words about CR. He mentioned that he had a map of a gay bar in San Jose which he could send one via email.

[mjd]

We stayed at Joluva Guest House and they had a map of San Jose with various places indicated. It was a decent place--not luxorious but very friendly, terrific location, and very helpful. But the brothel wasn't on their map and I can't remember now how I found it. It must have been on one of the Costa Rica gay info web sites I guess. It was so funny, it was just a plain old yellow house house but when you went in their were like 5 guys "on duty" during the day when we visited and the quality was excellent.

[kjun]

This post contains strange information. For several years I've been going to CR and mainly San Jose. Never have I heard of either a male brothel or a bar named Bogarts.

 

the Cajun

[skins1]

yeah, neither have I. for str8's costa rica is great. i didn't know there was a male brothel. oh well. if anyone knows let us know.

[mjd]

Brothels are common -- and apparently legal -- in Costa Rica, but they probably aren't going to be advertising in tourist glossies! There were male brothels for years in Puntarenas (Las Palmas) and San Mateo near Orotina (The Farm)and it's unfortunate they are no longer. In fact there is a porn video made made the guys who worked there -- it's by Oggi and called Fantansia Latino. However, once they started fiddling with pictures and video the authorities raided them and found that the manager's boyfriend was underage.

 

Seems like drug use, not checking age carefully enough, or failure to grease the right palms usually end these ventures.

 

In San Jose, a predecessor of Bogarts, although at a different location, was El Pucho, which also had pretty amazing displays of hard naked guys and more debauchery as the night ensured. It wouldn't surprise me that Bogarts and El Pucho closed -- most businesses such as these depend upon an underground word-of-mouth for customers and they seldom last long. The same thing was happening to saunas in San Jose during my last visit -- the authorities closed three of them, ostensibly for health violations, and then didn't reopen until I left.

 

For those who want to learn more about the seamy side of gay male prostitution and public sex in Costa Rica check out the case studies by sociologist Jacobo Schiftler (hope I have the spelling correct).

[kjun]

Bogarts is a straight house of prostitution. Never was Gay.

 

the Cajun

[mjd]

I'm sorry but someone is misinformed. We went to Bogart's club several times and it had a large stage with strippers and the patrons were all gay. The only women present were transvestites. The guys ranging from twink to muscle god. I have lots of great memories and pictures. It was solely a night club and the only "room" was the encounter room--sort of a projection booth--I thought this place might have been a theater at some time.