Ostional National Wildlife Refuge

Location: Guanacaste Province,  a 200-meter stretch of beach between Punta India and the mouth of the Nosara River, including the town of Ostional, Santa Cruz

See North Pacific Tourism Region

Size: 180 acres

Date of Creation: October 1997

Part of: Tempisque Conservation Area

About :

The Ostional Refuge is an important nesting site for a wide variety of seabirds and other water fowl. It is one of the largest nesting sites for the Olive Ridley and leatherback turtles in Costa Rica.  Travelers should note that swimming is not recommended here due to rough waters and the occasional presence of sharks and crocodiles.

Activities:

Turtle tours and hiking are popular. A bike ride from Nosara beach to the Ostional Refuge makes for a pleasant outing.

Facilities:

Flora & Fauna:

Flora: coconut and royal palms, tea mangrove

Fauna: The Olive Ridley turtle nests on the beaches here every month of the year and in arribadas (large groups) at least once every month.  The months of the largest arribadas are between July and December.  “Large” means hundreds of thousands of nesting turtles as opposed to small arribadas which only include tens of thousands of turtles.  The arribidas seem to begin with the start of the last quarter moon (as a general rule).  The largest arribadas on record are from November 1995 when 500,000 females came ashore.

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Fees and Schedule:

Getting there:

Buses depart San Jose; for Santa Cruz at 7am., arriving at noon; from here, take the 12:30 p.m. bus to Ostional (three hours, returning at 5 a.m.); it may not run in wet season. Alternately, an Alfaro bus departs San Jose; for Nosara at 6 a.m., arriving around noon. You can take a taxi (about $8) or walk to Ostional.

By Car: The gravel road between Ostional and Nosara requires drivers to ford the Rio La Montaña (about five km south of Ostional), which can be impassable during wet season. About one km further the road divides; the left fords the Rio Nosara just before entering the village of Nosara and is impassable in only the most favorable conditions (the bridge has washed out); the right crosses the Rio Nosara via a bridge and the town of Santa Marta.

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Nearby Parks:

Contact info:

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