Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
View from Tortuguero Mountain
Location	Costa Rica
Nearest city	Tortuguero
Coordinates	10°32′28″N 83°30′08″W / 10.54111°N 83.50222°W / 10.54111; -83.50222Coordinates: 10°32′28″N 83°30′08″W / 10.54111°N 83.50222°W / 10.54111; -83.50222
Area	312 km2
Established	1975
Governing body	National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)

Tortuguero National Park is a National Park in the Limón Province of Costa Rica. It is situated within the Tortuguero Conservation Area of the northeastern part of the country. Despite its remote location, it is the third-most visited park in Costa Rica, reached only by airplane or boat. The park has a large variety of biological diversity due to the existence within the reserve of eleven different habitats, including rainforest, mangrove forests, swamps, beaches, and lagoons. Located in a tropical climate, it is very humid, and receives up to 250 inches (6,400 mm) of rain a year.

The park, a protected area within the Humedal Caribe Noreste, was recognized under Ramsar Convention on 3 March 1991 for its rich biological diversity and ecosystems that support threatened flora and fauna species. Set in a natural wetland of the Caribbean coast, it forms a corridor with another protected area, the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve of Nicaragua. It is a key Ramsar Site.

The park is located on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and covers an area of 77,032 acres (31,174 ha). It is bounded with an elevation range of 0–230 metres (0–755 ft), indicative of a sea coastal region to low hilly topography. The Tortuguero National Park has over 20 miles of coastline, which provides sea turtles a protected place to lay their eggs. Tortuguero is bordered on the north by the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge (with habitats and climate similar to Tortuguero), to the south by the mouth of the Parismina River and the Cariari National Wetlands, the town of Tortuguero at the mouth of the Tortuguero River, and the Dr. Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge, which is a biological station to carry out turtle tagging program run by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (Now known was the Sea Turtle Conservancy).