Las Baulas National Park

It is one of the largest parks in Costa Rica, due to the leatherback and leatherback turtles' need for a wide and extensive space on the beach to lay their eggs, which they do almost every day.

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The park is located to the south of the other major national park , the Santa Rosa National ParkLas Baulas National Park stretches along the Playa Grande and covers a large area.

The main attraction of the area is the ecological tourism and the enjoyment of its natural environment, almost every day both Leatherback and Leatherback turtles come to the Grande beach to lay their eggs, although this happens all year round if you really want to enjoy an impressive natural spectacle you should go between October and April, the time when the activity of the protected turtles is most intense.

The best time to visit is between October and April, but you should also take into account other parameters such as: try to visit the Playa Grande when the tide is high and on a night with a full moon, as this way you will see the maximum number of turtles in the area.Leatherback National ParkIn the past the local people used to do a lot of looting of leatherback and leatherback turtle eggs, nowadays the ecological awareness is great and this practice of looting has been replaced by the National Park rangers, nowadays most of the people who live in the area are rangers and guides specifically trained to show and protect all the fauna and flora of the Leatherback National Park.

The protection of the natural environment of Las Baulas National Park is very efficient and conservation-minded, such that walking on the beach and in the protected areas is prohibited without the company of a park ranger, and guided tours of the beach to see the turtles nesting are specially restricted to a certain number of people. Controlling the size of the tour group helps to avoid unduly stressing or disturbing the turtles as they walk along the Playa Grande.

For the guided tours it is necessary to be prepared and take into account the clothing and some forbidden elements, for example it is strictly forbidden to use torches or flash cameras, in the same way it is interesting to wear suitable footwear for walking in natural landscapes, you have to take into account that you have to walk in the dark and we will not see exactly where we will put our feet so we have to use suitable footwear for these circumstances.

In the park there are also important mangrove swamps where a multitude of fauna coexist, including birds, monkeys, deer and crocodiles.

For a mangrove tour, you can rent a boat in the town of Tamarindo, very close to Las Baulas National Park.

Windsurfing can be practised in some areas of Playa Grande. Accommodation is assured, in the area there are some hotels very close to Playa Grande where the turtles go to lay their eggs.