National Marine Park Las Baulas

• Address: Bahía de Tamarindo, cantón de Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
• Phone: + 506 2653 0470; +506 2686 4967
• Area: 220 km²
• Date of foundation: July 9, 1991.
• Opening hours: 8:00 - 16:00
• Ticket price: $ 10

The National Marine Park Las Baulas is located on the azure Pacific coast of Costa Rica . Despite the fact that its territory is very large (220 km2), land occupies only 10% of the land. The coastal zone consists of four magnificent white sand beaches: Playa Carbon, Playa Ventanas, Playa Grande and Playa Langosta. Tell you about the park more.

What to do and what to see?

If you have already purchased a luxurious Costa Tica tan at local resorts and plentifully swam in the clear waters of the ocean, and the soul asks for new impressions, then in Las Baoulas you will find something to do not only during the day, but at night.

The park offers a lot of entertainment for its visitors:

1. Nesting of sea skin turtles . People come here just to see how sea turtles lay their eggs, and then return to the ocean. Nesting period is from October to April. At this time on the beaches start up groups of 15 people only accompanied by a guide. For a day, no more than 60 visitors can enter the park. All excursions are conducted at night.
2. Surfing . During the day, visitors can surf, swim in the ocean and sunbathe on one of the beaches of the park.
3. Diving . If you are a fan of underwater walks, then we advise you to go to the Playa Carbon beach - one of the best diving spots in Costa Rica .
4. Mangrove swamps . You can go on a tour of mangroves at any time of the year. This trip provides an opportunity not only to admire the swampy forests, but also to watch crocodiles, monkeys and other local inhabitants.
5. Museum of Natural History . Take a look at the small museum at the entrance to the park. Audio tours are available in several languages.
6. Boat tours . If you want to ride a kayak on the river or the ocean, go for a boat trip.

If you are planning to spend a night in Las Baulas, you can stay at one of the hotels in the park: Rip Jack Inn and Las Tortugas at Playa Grande, Luna Llena and El Milagro. Lunch or dinner can be enjoyed in one of the restaurants of the reserve, where you will be offered local cuisine .

To the tourist on a note

1. Book a night excursion in advance. The opportunity to get into the group declines during the peak season in December and January.
2. Not all the territory of the reserve is carefully guarded, so if you were on the beach without a guide, do not use unshielded flashlights, photograph without a flash, do not go over the sand above the tidal boundary (there turtles lay eggs and you can damage them), do not make loud noises and Do not get too close to reptiles.
3. Do not leave garbage and especially plastic bags. Turtles take them for jellyfish, eat and die.
4. In the National Marine Park Las Baulas, the collection of eggs and the capture of animals is strictly prohibited and only poachers supply such products.
5. If you without a memory fall in love with Las Baoulas and do not want to part with it, you have the opportunity to remain a volunteer. All information can be obtained from the MINAE office (Ministry of Environment and Energy) at Playa Grande.

How to get there?

To get to Las Baulas, you need to take a bus that goes from San Jose to Huacas. The stop is located in San Jose 300 m to the north and 25 m to the west of the children's hospital. Another bus leaves from the station in San Jose, located 300 m north of the main entrance of the Hospital San Juan de Dios.

If you want to go directly to Tamarindo , then take the bus that departs from the Hospital San Juan de Dios. You can get there by bus from Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz) to Playa Grande. Two flights at 6:00 and 13:00 go to the park. The bus departs back at 7:15 and 15:15.