La hora tica in the more appropriate Spanish.
A very common approach to scheduled activities in Costa Rica. When told there is a meeting or appointment at a certain time, Costa Ricans will ask if that is by Tico hour or on time. From an American perspective, it seems a very positive attitude towards the rigors and stress of deadlines and living by the clock. As long as you are there within an hour of the scheduled time, you are on time by the Tico hour.
Of course, natives of other Central American countries see this as a point of laziness on the part of the Costa Ricans. How can a relaxed and easy going group of people accomplish anything? Accomplishments are always made within the first hour of the day and being in place to begin work when the whistle blows is simply the only way to become successful in life.
The common joke is that when the work day starts you won't find any Costa Ricans at their desks. They are either still on their way into work or have wandered off in search of coffee or something for breakfast. The real work day won't start until an hour later. This may explain why Costa Rica has become famous for all but perfecting the art of growing, processing and serving coffee.
The Costa Rican people are a wonderful people. I should know, my wife was born and raised in Costa Rica. However, I have set all my clocks an hour fast to make sure she gets to work on time.
The source for this entire write-up was my wife,
who is one of the foremost experts in the world on this topic.