Tortuguero

It was declared in 1970, largely thanks to the pioneering research of the American biologist Archie Carr, who from the 1950s documented green turtle nesting here and warned of its decline through the taking of eggs and meat, laying the scientific groundwork for the area's protection. It is now the most important green turtle nesting site in the western hemisphere, with thousands of females arriving each season, from July to October, to lay their eggs on the same beach where they hatched years before. With no road access, the park is travelled almost entirely by boat through a system of natural and cut canals that have earned it the nickname "the Amazon of Costa Rica".