San Lucas Island National Park

San Lucas Island National Park protects an island in the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, within Puntarenas province and managed under the Central Pacific Conservation Area. First designated a wildlife refuge in 2002, the island was elevated to national park status on 24 August 2020 as the thirtieth national park of Costa Rica, covering about 4.49 square kilometers of land and 9.95 square kilometers of surrounding marine area. From 1873 to 1991 the island held a penal facility whose ruins are preserved as heritage structures, alongside archaeological evidence of indigenous habitation dated to between 1,000 and 1,500 AD.