Travel Guide Parque Nacional Tortuguero

Tortuguero National Park is located in the province of Limon. Located 256 km northeast of San José, 85 km from Limon, on the Caribbean coast, it is the third most visited park in the country, although it is only accessible by plane or boat. It is home to an incredible biological variety thanks to its plant diversity: rainforest, swamps, beaches and lagoons. It enjoys a humid tropical climate.Created in 1975, the park protects 18,946 ha of land area, 52,265 ha of sea area, and contains 11 different habitats. More than 400 species of trees and nearly 2,200 species of other plants have been identified. Regarding the animals living in this park, there are 405 species of birds, 111 reptiles, 57 amphibians and 60 mammals. It is also the nesting place of 4 different species of marine turtles: hawksbill turtles, loggerhead turtles, green turtles and leatherbacks. The turtle arrives by thousands of individuals on the beach of Tortuguero between June and August. The hawksbill turtle, whose shell is used for handicrafts, is considered endangered.Near the rivers live manatees, caimans, crocodiles and lepisostes, considered living fossils. In the forests live jaguars, sloths, lizards and frogs (tiny red and poisonous frogs), as well as 375 species of birds (Alcedinidae, Ramphastidae, Great Blue Herons, peacocks and parrots) and more than 400 species of trees and about 2,200 species of plants.