Location: Limon Province Map
Area: 11 km² of land and 6 km² of sea
Cahuita National Park is situated in town of Cahuita in Limon Province of Costa Rica. It is a fairly small, but beautiful park that covers 11 km² of land and 6 km² of Caribbean sea. You can can encounter white headed capuchin, Northern tamandua, sloths, raccoons and many other creatures. These are generally peaceful creatures although you should keep your distance just to be on a safe side. After all animals might get fairly aggressive and defensive if they feel threatened by human beings. Cahuita National Park is also famous for its underwater biosphere. Snorkeling and diving is available here. Additionally turtles often make their way here to lay their eggs at night. So don't get surprise if you see one of these reptiles peak its head from the sea waves. Cahuita park is situated South of Limon just north of Manzanillo Beach.
Cahuita National Park is a protected natural area,
located in the province of Limón, Costa Rica, 42 km south of the
capital of the province. It has an area of 1067.9 ha land and
22400 ha marine. It was created by Executive Decree No. 1236-A,
dated September 7, 1970. The park was created to protect flora and
fauna, coral reefs and various marine ecosystems. It is considered
one of the most scenic areas of the country for its white sand
beaches, its large number of coconut trees, its turquoise blue sea
and its coral reef.
Cahuita National Park is located within
the humid tropical forest life zone and has several important
habitats such as swamp forest with cativo, sangregao and golden
fruit species; the mixed forest not flooded with species of guaitíl,
jorco and cerillo; the mangrove, with a predominance of the red
mangrove; and the vegetation of the coast, with an abundance of
coconut trees and papaturros.
The coral reef covers an area
of 600 ha and extends in front of Cahuita Point, between the Lazy
River and Puerto Vargas. A part of the reef platform is submerged at
about 11 meters below sea level.
According to studies
conducted after the earthquake of April 22, 1991, the reef platform
emerged 1 meter. It is the most developed reef on the Costa Rican
Caribbean coast.
Fauna
The angelfish, the Isabelline, the blue
parrotfish, the barracuda, the stingray and 3 species of sharks are
part of the list of 123 fish species reported for the Cahuita
National Park. 35 species of corals, 140 of mollusks, 44 of
crustaceans and 128 of algae have been identified.
Unfortunately, this great variety of marine resources is in the
process of deterioration caused by the large amount of sediments and
contamination by agrochemicals, which the La Estrella River drags
and which are deposited by the marine currents on the coral reef.
The terrestrial fauna lacks the large mammals common in other
parks due to the small terrestrial extension that it protects.
Highlights the howler monkey, the capuchin monkey, the raccoon, the
sloth, the otter and the coatis (coati). The main species of birds
are the green ibis, the kingfisher and the heron. It should be noted
that the greatest attraction of Cahuita National Park is the great
variety of its marine fauna.
As an extra fact, the only two
coral reefs that can be found in Costa Rica are located in Punta
Cahuita, Limón and Daniela Befeler.