Braulio Carrillo National Park

On your way to the Caribbean

Tortuguero: Caribbean

Colorado River and Tico Boat

Tortuguero Villagers

Green Turtle during nesting season

Tortuguero National Park

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Braulio Carrillo National Park

On your way to the Caribbean

Tortuguero, located on the northeast Caribbean Coast, is warm and humid with an average daily temperature of 26 degrees C (79 degrees F), and an annual rainfall of 5,000 millimeters (200+ inches). Warm days are tempered by trade winds and cool nights. The wet tropical lowland environments support several diverse and distinctive ecosystems: coastal woodlands, upland tropical wet forests, premontane tropical wet forests, raphia palm swamps, swamps and marshes. The varied ecosystems throughout the park and along the coast account for an estimated 400 tree species and 2000 other plants. Abundant wildlife inhabits Tortuguero, including 57 species of amphibians, 111 species of reptiles and 60 species of mammals. Approximately 300 species of birds live in Tortuguero during all or part of the year. Tortuguero is famous for the largest colony of nesting turtles in the hemisphere.

Travelers are allowed to visit the nesting beaches and watch the turtles lay their eggs or observe the eggs hatching. However, camera flashes and flashlight are prohibited by law as they disturb the laying process or attract predators to the hatching. Green turtles are perhaps the most common turtles found in Tortuguero, so you're more likely to see one of them than any other species if you visit during the prime nesting season. Loggerheads are very rare, so don't be disappointed if you don't see one. Perhaps the most spectacular sea turtle to watch laying eggs is the giant Leatherback. The largest of all turtle species, the Leatherback can grow to 6 1/2 feet long and weigh well over 1000 pounds.