If you come to Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, you will told about beaches, sunshine and surfing but you will probably not come across Playa Caletas. It is an isolated beach north from Manzanillo along the Peninsula.

An organization called PRETOMA have had their team of researchers monitoring sea turtle activity at this site since 2001. It is a stunning but lonely place. The volunteers live extremely basic lives but do an incredible job of guarding the turtles and protecting various species.
 

Playa Caletas is a principally an Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting beach, but also hosts an important number of one of the world’s most endangered species of sea turtle, the Eastern Pacific Leatherback. Olive Ridley nesting peaks in September and October, while leatherback nesting peaks in December and January. The beach also receives occasional visits from nesting Pacific green and hawksbill sea turtles.

Given the importance of Playa Caletas as a sea turtle nesting habitat and the unique mangrove and wetland habitat in the vicinity, PRETOMA began spearheading efforts in 2003 to provide permanent protection for the region through the creation of a national wildlife refuge. After more than three years of hard work, in August of 2006 the Costa Rican government officially declared the Playa Caletas-Ario National Wildlife Refuge (CANWR). This area includes a total of 313.3 terrestrial hectares and a 19,846 hectare Marine Protected Area (MPA) extending 12 miles off shore, where destructive fisheries such as shrimp trawling and compressor diving are now prohibited.

Since the project was initiated in 2001, more than 100,000 hatchlings have been protected and released to the sea, and predation rates have dropped from 90% to 20%. 

Playa Caletas is an uninhabited beach and project personnel are usually the only people on the beach. The closest town is San Francisco de Coyote, approximately 7 km to the northeast.

Small groups of tourists can visit the protected area but you need to go with someone who knows how to get there and always in a 4x4 car. I know this from bitter experience of the first time I went there.

It’s an amazing adventure for children as there is nothing quite like seeing their faces watching the tiny baby turtles being released back into the sea.

Dahlia Nahome is the Costa Rica editor for Wandering Educators.
As well as running her rental business, www.costaricanvacation.com & launching www.purasonica.com (a local radio station & whats on guide with her husband) she also enjoys writing about and raising the profile of the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica and has work published on various travel blogs.
You may reach her at dahlia at costaricanvacation dot com.