Marino Ballena National Park, Marine national park in Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica.
Ballena Marine National Park is a protected coastal area featuring coral reefs, mangrove forests, and multiple beaches along the Pacific shore. The waters here range from shallow near the beaches to deeper ocean areas farther out.
The park was created by executive decree Nº 21294-MIRENEM on 9 June 1992, as Costa Rica's first marine park and the first in Central America. It protects 13 km of sandy and rocky Pacific coast in Bahía Ballena, Osa canton, Puntarenas, including the Uvita tombolo, the beaches Bahía, Pedregosa, Ballena, de Arco and Piñuela, and 4,500 ha of sea around Ballena Island and the Las Tres Hermanas rocks.
The park's name comes from ballena, Spanish for whale, because humpback whales arrive to breed in these warm waters. The terrestrial section takes in the Uvita tombolo and the beaches of Bahía, Pedregosa, Ballena, de Arco and Piñuela, while the marine section surrounds Ballena Island and the Las Tres Hermanas rocks.
Visitors can snorkel and watch whales, with the best whale watching season running from December through April. Coastal trails are easy to access, but check tidal and wave conditions before entering the water.
At low tide, a natural sandbar forms in the shape of a whale's tail, extending about one kilometer from shore into the sea. This sandbar inspired the park's name and is a rare coastal formation.
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