| Despite
having miles and miles of tropical coastline,
Costa Rica has very little coral reef development.
Cahuita National Park was created in 1970 to
protect one of the few such areas in the country,
and thus became Costa Rica's first marine national
park (about 600 of the 1,067 hectares protected
by the park are under water).
Unfortunately, there is not
much live coral left at Cahuita, although an
interesting assortment of marine life can be
seen if the water conditions offer much visibility.
While admiring the colorful fish and curious
coral formations, be careful not to bump into
any of the black spiny sea urchins, they're
very painful, and very abundant in these waters.
The relatively small area of
"dry" land contained in the park is
quite swampy and has no trails going through
it other than the trail along the beach from
the village of Cahuita to the ranger station
area at Puerto Vargas on the opposite side of
Cahuita Point (about 7 km.). Sloths, monkeys,
lizards, crabs, and many kinds of birds can
be seen on the walk.
Getting there
Cahuita is located 42 km. south
of Puerto Limón. From the south end of
the village of Cahuita, access to the park is
by foot trail. To drive into the park, go past
the turn offs for the village and continue south
until the sign for Puerto Vargas. Buses to and
from Limón run several times a day.
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