Ballena Marine National Park:

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This is one of a number of new parks designed to preserve Costa Rica's varied, abundant, but largely unstudied marine resources. The name "ballena" is Spanish for whale and reportedly the offshore waters in this part of the country are used as a wintering area by several species of migratory whales, including Humpback Whales and Pilot Whales. Undoubtedly, the most common marine mammals in the vicinity are Spotted Dolphins which are year-round residents.

Since almost the entire park is marine environment, there obviously are no trails, however, for those interested in diving and snorkeling there are good opportunities around the small islands of Ballena and Las Tres Hermanas.

Getting there: The best way to visit this park is by boat, however, it's a fairly long way from either Quepos or Drake's Bay (more than 40 km.), the two nearest areas with much tourism development and boats equipped for making the run. Eventually (it could still be decades), the government plans to complete the southern portion of the coastal highway between Quepos and Palmar. If the existing dirt road is ever improved it will open up the terrestrial access to this area.

Fishing: Theoretically, the sport fishing in this part of the country ought to be good, although these waters are not often fished owing to their distance from the established charter operations in the region.

Climate: Wet.