Tortuguero National Park is one of Costa Rica’s most popular ecotourism destinations, because of its scenic beauty and rich biodiversity. The canals, rivers and beaches of this area are living laboratories for tropical rainforest study and marine biology. The wildlife in this zone is very diverse; usually there are populations of monkeys, amphibians, birds and fish. Resident animals include jaguars, sloths, frogs, lapas, toucans and bats, among others.
Though it can only be reached by airplane or boat, this area is flooded with tourists that came every year to get in touch with nature. Its 11 ecological habitats in one place are certainly a great reason to visit.  You can find everything, from high rainforest to herbaceous marsh communities. Fronting the sea is the seemingly endless expanse of beach. Behind that is a narrow lagoon, connected to the sea at one end and fed by a river at the other, which parallels the beach for its full 35-km length. Back of the lagoon is a coastal rainforest threaded by an infinite maze of serpentine Channels and streams fed by rivers flowing from the central mountain ranges and by the torrential rains that fall in the area. On the periphery of the forest lies a complex of swamps.
The park was created in 1975 to protect this vast area: the nesting beach sea turtle, such as Hawksbill, Loggerheads, Green and Leatherbacks, the offshore waters to a distance of 30 km, and the wetland forests extending inland for about 15 kilometers. The park shelters a fabulous array of wildlife, including more than 300 bird species, 57 species of amphibians and 111 of reptiles, including three species of marine turtles; 60 mammal species and 13 of Costa Rica’s 16 endangered species.