National Parks

MANUEL ANTONIO

Area:
4,700 Ha.

Location: On the Pacific coast, 7 Km south of Quepos, in the Puntarenas province

The Costa Rica Natural Travel attractions of this park are its two white, sandy beaches, Espadilla Sur and Manuel Antonio.

The park includes 12 islands located a short distance from shore. Most of them lack vegetation and serve as excellent seabird sanctuaries. They are an important nesting site for the brown booby. The seas contain numerous dolphins and, at times, migrating whales are sighted.

The dominant trees include black locust (an endangered timber-yielding tree), balsa, monkey comb, bastard cedar and mayflower, among others.The fauna is diverse and some 109 mammal species and 184 species of birds have been spotted. Of particular interest is the beautiful and delightful squirrel monkey, an endangered species now restricted to a very small territory.

From the beach, it is possible to see two-toed sloths, raccoons white-nosed coatis, howler and white-faced monkeys, and squirrels.

There is a wide range of marine flora and fauna. So far, 10 species of sponge, 19 corals, 24 crustaceans, 17 algaes, and 78 fish species have been identified.