Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero National Park is a coastal and wetland reserve on Costa Rica’s northern Caribbean coast in Limón Province, famous for its canal network and sea-turtle nesting beaches. The park’s lowland rainforest, lagoons and waterways form a mosaic of habitats that support diverse wildlife.

Boat tours through the canals are the principal way visitors experience the park, offering close views of birds, aquatic mammals and reptiles along narrow waterways. Long sandy beaches fronting the Caribbean are key nesting grounds for sea turtles and are subject to conservation patrols and guided viewing programmes.

The protected area was established to conserve coastal wetlands and nesting habitat and has been managed with a focus on marine and freshwater ecosystems. Over time tourism infrastructure has developed in the village of Tortuguero while the park’s interior remains accessed primarily by watercraft.

The park lies on Costa Rica’s northern Caribbean coastline; the small settlement of Tortuguero provides the airstrip and boat connections used by most visitors.

• Access restrictions: Most access to the park is by boat or light aircraft; there are no connecting roads from the main highways to the interior lodges and canals.
• Turtle nesting: The park is an important nesting site for sea turtles, especially green turtles; guided night walks and organised patrols are used to protect nesting females and hatchlings.

What to See #

• Canals and wetlands: The inland canal network and freshwater wetlands that form the park's core transport routes and wildlife habitat, navigated by boat for tours.
• Nesting beaches: Long Caribbean beaches used by nesting sea turtles, with protected stretches where nightly guided patrols are common during nesting season.
• Tortuguero village and access: Tortuguero village, which functions as the main visitor gateway and provides boat access, lodges and a small visitor centre.