 Location
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge encompasses the borders of Santa
Cruz and Nicoya, in the province of Guanacaste. It is bound in the
North by Punta India and in the South by Punta Guiones Nosara,
besides extending three miles out to sea. The refuge comprises an
area of 300 Hectares on land and 800 Hectares in the ocean.
Climate
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge has Hot and humid climate,
alternating with rainy season. Winters are usually dry. The climate
provides an ideal nesting ground for the Pacific Olive Ridley sea
turtles. Leatherbacks turtles are occasionally seen between
November and January. However, Hawksbill and Green turtles are a
rare sight.
Attractions
The park offers an ideal sight seeing for those who have interests
in turtles. Tourists are enthralled by the variety of marine turtle
species, such as the Olive Ridley or Lora and Leatherback or Baula,
at Playa Ostional along Nicoya Peninsula. Arribadas or the turtle
colonies at Ostional are among the largest in the world, with as
many as a million sea turtle eggs laid in the beach nesting areas
each year.
Before an "arribada", tourists are sure to observe an increasing
number of turtles swimming close offshore. Normally an individual
adult turtle nests between four and six times a year, there will
probably be females present that nested in the previous "arribada".
This results in a big colony altogether.
Flora and Fauna
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge has a rich collection of tide
pools filled with marine creatures such as fish, sea anemones, sea
urchins, starfish and shellfish. Further, the beach offers a
scintillating sight of transparent ghost crabs, bright red Sally
light foot crabs and a variety of lizards to tourists. Other
regions of beach have a sparse vegetation belt and include mainly
deciduous trees such as frangipani and plants of cacti.
Besides turtles, the park offers a rich species of iguanas,
crabs, howler monkeys, coati-mundi, besides birds. The southeast
end of the refuge, near the mouth of Nosara River has a beautiful
network of mangrove vegetation, which offers an ideal place for
bird chirping.
Facilities
The park has a well managed ranger station at Playa Ostional which
is open from 8 am to 4 pm. Tourists can also avail the opportunity
of guided tours , besides there are bi-lingual park employees to
offer their services.
Ideal time
The best time to visit Ostional National Wildlife Refuge is just
before and during an ARRIBADA. These occur at the start of the LAST
Quarter MOON. The best months to see the biggest ARRIBADAS are
between July and December.
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