Tortuguero National Park is the most important area in the western Caribbean for the nesting of the Atlantic Green Turtle. Giant Leatherback, Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles also lumber ashore to lay their eggs in the sands of this remote coastal park, located inside an expansive roadless wilderness area in the northeastern corner of Costa Rica. The lush jungle contains some of the country's greatest biological diversity, including a number of unique and endangered animals such as the West Indian manatee.

Location: The park is located along the northern Caribbean coast, approximately 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) northwest of the port town of Limón. No roads exist in this region of the country: travel to the park is via in-country flight or by boat through a scenic network of jungle canals that run parallel to the coast.

Size: 18,946.9 hectares / 46,817.8 acres

Marine extension: 52,265 hectares / 129,146.8 acres

Created: November 17, 1975

Tortuguero National Park, which spans nearly 23 kilometers (14 miles) of coastline, is perhaps best known as an important breeding ground for four different species of sea turtles.

Atlantic Green Turtles, which have existed for more than 200 million years and can weigh more than 400 pounds, are the most abundant marine turtles at Tortuguero. They usually nest along the park's protected beaches from July to October. Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Giant Leatherback turtles are less common, and usually come ashore to lay their eggs between March and October.

Female turtles usually come ashore at night to nest in the sand. After laying her eggs in the hole she has laboriously dug with her flippers, the female turtle completely buries the eggs with sand to disguise and protect them from their natural predators.

Tortuguero Hill, near the coast, is a turtle-shaped hill that local residents say acts as a beacon to draw the green turtles back to their nesting grounds. During the day, snorkelers and divers sometimes see these giant turtles feeding in coral reefs.

The large coastal park consists of a vast alluvial floodplain formed by a coalescence of deltas that filled part of the ancient Nicaraguan trench. The plain is broken only by the Sierpe Peaks, which rise up 300 meters (984 feet) above sea level and are the remains of a small archipelago of volcanic origin that once existed in the area.

The park is criss-crossed by a natural system of lagoons and navigable canals of great scenic beauty. The Tortuguero Jungle Canals are home to seven species of freshwater turtles, West Indian manatees (one of the most endangered Caribbean species), crocodiles, a great variety of crustaceans and more than 50 species of freshwater fish.

Tortuguero is located in one of the rainiest regions of the country, with annual precipitation levels between 5-6 mts. (16.4-19.7 ft.). Two types of rains exist here: the heavy local showers that are most frequent, and the characteristic rainy periods, or "temporales," which last up to two weeks. These "temporales" are caused by the trade winds from the north and northeast.

The most common species of plants in Tortuguero National Park are crabwood, wild tamarind, bully tree, dove wood, wild nutmeg, Santa Maria, cativo, black palm, stilt and holillo palms and water hyacinths.

The park shelters three different life zones containing at least 11 types of habitats. Among the most important are littoral woods where gramineous and cyperaceous plants and coconut palms are predominant; high rain forest where crabwood, banak and Santa María grow; slope forests made up of trees such as wild tamarind, bully trees and dove wood; swamp forests with wild tamarind, cativo, black palm and stilt palm. The park also has holillo forests composed almost exclusively of the holillo palm; herbaceous swamps, and marshes with floating aquatic plants, including ferns and water hyacinths, which in some areas grow in such a thick mass it is difficult to traverse by boat.

The fauna is richly diverse, and includes species such as the jaguar, Baird's tapir, ocelot, collared peccary, sloth, paca, white-nosed coati, raccoon, kinkajou, tayra, howler, white-faced capuchin and spider monkeys, and the fishing bulldog bat. This bat is one of the largest in the country, and eats fish that it catches in its strong claws as it flies over the water.

Among the frogs seen frequently inside the park are the smoky frog, glass frog (whose internal organs can be seen through its transparent skin) and poison dart frogs, which have highly toxic skin.

Some of the birds seen inside the park are the endangered great green macaw, turkey vulture, Central American curassow, common black hawk, violaceous trogon, Montezuma oropendula and a large variety of waterfowl species. At certain times during the year, spectacular flocks of migrating birds can be seen from the coast.

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