Ostional
Where thousands of sea turtles land on the same beach
Ostional is a small fishing village on a long, wild stretch of the Nicoya Peninsula coast, protected as the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge. It is one of the very few places in the world where olive ridley sea turtles nest in arribadas: mass arrivals in which thousands of turtles come ashore over a few nights.
Arribadas happen once or twice a month, mostly in the rainy season, and last several days. Outside those nights the beach is still worth the trip: dark sand, tide pools, rough surf and hatchlings scrambling for the sea in the early morning.
The village has a unique, legal and closely monitored egg harvest in the first hours of each arribada, a community programme that has helped protect the beach from poachers.
Getting there
From Nosara drive north on the coastal gravel road (Route 160) for about 20 minutes. In the rainy season the Nosara river crossing can be impassable, so check conditions before you go.
Local tips
Book a guide with the local guides association as soon as an arribada starts: places fill fast. Bring a red-light torch, never a white one.
Travel lightly
No flash, no white light and no touching the turtles. Keep well back from nesting females and let hatchlings reach the sea on their own.
Photos: Panegyrics of Granovetter, CC BY-SA 2.0; arribada photo: Laranapeleona, public domain. Both via Wikimedia Commons.
Shared by Offbeat team
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