Tortuguero National Park
| Tortuguero 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 |
| Area | 312 km2 (194 m2) |
| Established | 1975 |
| Visitors | 10,000 (in 1995) |
| Governing body | National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) |
| Official name | Humedal Caribe Noreste |
| Designated | 20 March 1996 |
| Reference no. | 811 |
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, reachable only by airplane or boat, it is the third-most visited park in Costa Rica. 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 northeastern Caribbean wetlands, 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.