Location: district: Tamarindo, canton: Santa Cruz, province: Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Tamarindo GPS Coordinates: 10.299858,-85.841369 (10°17’59.49″N, 85°50’28.93″W)
Size: 385ha (953 acres)
Altitude: sea level
Tempisque Conservation Area (ACT) Telephone: +506 2686-4967 / +506 2686-4968
INFOTUR Tourist Information: 1192
Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge Costa Rica: created on 1987 in order to protect mangrove swamp areas around the estuary and river mouth of the Matapalo River and in a response to the perceived threat the estuary faced from plans to build large tourism complexes on its fringes, near Las Baulas National Marine Park. In fact, this small reserve is now part of Las Baulas National Marine Park and is part of the Tempisque Conservation Area too. This river empties into the Pacific Ocean between Tamarindo and Grande beaches, being an unusual river, since it doesn’t receive a freshwater input for nearly half a year, and given the severity of the dry season in this coastal region of northern Guanacaste, the creeks that feed the estuary during the rainy season completely dry up after the rains have stopped, from December to April.
There are three beaches that form this park, Grande Beach, Ventana Beach and Langosta Beach. The Langosta Beach is a beautiful estuary with beautiful sands, while Grande Beach, part of Las Baulas National Marine Park, is one of the most important nesting sites for the leatherback sea turtle, but as well the Pacific Green turtles, Olive Ridley turtles and Hawksbill turtles nest here. The leatherback turtle can measure up to 2m and weigh 700 kg. These creatures come for nesting between the months of November till February and about 200 of them can arrive to lay eggs in one night. In fact, Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge got the status of the wildlife refuge due to its importance as a nesting site and the threat it faced from the development of tourist complexes around the area.
The part of the beach set aside as a refuge extends 1 km. long and corresponds to the main sector where the turtles arrive every year to dig their nests in the sand. The rest of the refuge is made up of the Tamarindo mangrove swamp.
There are five species of mangroves (botanically unrelated trees that have each evolved methods for tolerating life in a salty water environment where the soil is so waterlogged that oxygen cannot readily be obtained through the underground roots) that flourish here, the black, white, tea, buttonwood and the red mangrove, which is the most abundant of all. The mangroves can be seen in the estuary and when the tide is out, the protruding vertical roots can be seen sticking out of the mud, which helps to aerate the plants. During the dry season, you can also see how this species of mangrove plant exudes particles of salt on the surface of its leaves (in the rainy season the salts are washed off and do not accumulate so as to be visible). These mangroves are also a breeding site and provide an important spawning site for many fish and other marine creatures.
Life in the mangroves is varied, many of them seasonal migrants from North America, with some 57 species of birds, including Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Blue Herons, White Ibis, Muscovy Duck, Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull, Franklin’s Gull, Roseate Spoonbill, frigate bird and sandpipers. An unusual species here is the nocturnal Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis), related to the European Nightjar and the North American Whip-poor-will, which spends the daylight hours lying camouflaged on the mangrove branches. Howler monkeys are sure to be heard and there is a good chance of seeing White-faced monkeys as well as raccoons, white-nosed coati, iguanas, basilisk lizards, spinytail iguanas (ctenosaura), crocodiles and caimans, and a great variety of marine life such as the famous roosterfish, snappers, mullets (Mugilidae), Crevalle Jack, snook and stingray. Crabs can 
be seen scurrying around the mud. Boats may be hired at Tamarindo to tour the mangroves, being early in the morning the best time to see the most species.
The Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge is a pleasure for all the water sports lovers with its beautiful beaches and blue waters. You could go for some scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing and kayaking. You can also go for bicycling or horse riding in the mountainside or perform some sport fishing, as the refuge is located in the most developed part of the country for deep-sea fishing. There are several operators offering charter boat services between El Coco and Tamarindo beaches. There’s action year long on the coast and the favorite sporting targets are Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Pacific Sailfish, Dorado (Mahi-mahi), Wahoo and Roosterfish. And, just 30 minutes away from the refuge, there are two world- class golf courses- Hacienda Pinilla and Hotel Melià Conchal Golf Course.
The Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge has a hot climate year round and the dry season lasts from mid-November to mid- May. Other nearby national parks include Las Baulas National Marine Park and Diria National Park.
Getting to Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge:
From San José drive north to Puntarenas and then follow the highway to Liberia until you reach Belen. There, turn right and continue on the road until you get to Huacas. Once in Huacas, turn right to Tamarindo for 8 km (5 miles), turn right and follow the road for 4 km (2.5 miles) until you get to Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge. This route requires a total of 4 hours from San José.
From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), drive south until you reach Belen. There, turn right and continue on the road until you get to Huacas. Once in Huacas, turn right to Tamarindo for 8 km (5 miles), turn right and follow the road for 4 km (2.5 miles) until you get to Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge.
By bus
Take a bus from the route San Jose – Tamarindo, which takes from 4 to 5 hours (Alfaro-Tracopa, +506 2222-2666). We recommend buying the ticket a day earlier to be sure your seat is saved.
By plane:
You can also take a flight from the Juan Santamaria Airport to the Tamarindo airport, either with Sansa or Aerobell Airlines every day. From here you can rent a car and drive or take a taxi to Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge, which takes about 5 minutes.
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