Las Baulas National Marine Park

Las Baulas de Guanacaste Marine National Park protects Tamarindo Bay in Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica near the town of Tamarindo, and is also a Ramsar wetland site. Established on 9 July 1991 and designated a Ramsar site on 9 June 1993, it holds the largest nesting colony of leatherback sea turtles on the Pacific coast of the Americas, with females coming ashore at Playa Grande to nest between October and May. The park covers about 7.7 square kilometers of land and roughly 167.3 square kilometers of marine area, more than half of it underwater, and its white sand beaches and forests support around 174 recorded bird species alongside regulated recreational use such as surfing.