Isla del Coco National Park

It has an area of 2,400 hectares on land and 97,235 in the navy.

IMPORTANCE

 
Cocos Island is a territory rich landscape and a true natural laboratory for studying the evolution of species. It was extremely wet, about 7,000 mm per year, and is covered in an evergreen forest, which presents in the cloud condition Cerro Iglesias, 634 m

Abundance of ferns, bromeliads, rivers, streams and waterfalls, valleys, cliffs and myriad islands frequented by sea birds and nesting place for seagulls and birds fool.

The topography is very broken, leading to the formation of many waterfalls, some of which fall expectacularmente sea from great heights. The coast is very winding, has cliffs up to 183 meters in height and plenty of underwater caves. The sea, turquoise is extremely transparent.

HISTORY

 
The island was discovered in 1526 by Joan pilot heads for 1556 and already included in the planisphere of Nicolás Desliens as Cocos Island. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a refuge for pirates and privateers that flourished along the Pacific coast of Spanish America. According to legend, hid here as valuable treasures of Lima, consisting of tons of gold and silver bullion, gold sheets covering domes of churches, William Davies of the treasure that was hidden in 1684 and that of Benito "Bloody Sword "Beautiful in 1819.

These riches have attracted more than 500 expeditions, including one from the Government of Costa Rica who took the island on 15 September 1869.

FLORA AND FAUNA

An evergreen forest, thick and dense, covering the rugged island of 2,400 hectares, often cloud and lashed by torrential rains and copious.

Here we have identified 235 plant species (70 endemic), 362 insects (64 endemic) and 2 endemic reptiles: the lizards and salamanders, 3 spiders, 85, including marine birds (4 endemic), 57 crustacean , 118, marine molluscs, more than 200 fish and 18 corals.

 
In its waters abound white shark fin, the giant hammerhead sharks, tuna, parrot fish, blankets and horse mackerel.

Among the most distinctive species of trees of the island are the copey the iron stick and palm endemic. Among the endemic birds of the mosquerito Isla del Coco, the cuckoo of Cocos Island and the Cocos Island finch. Common in the forest is the holy spirit, white bird that visits the island to nest and can be distinguished by flutter over the heads of visitors.

SERVICES

General information, clean water, sanitation, footpaths and areas of land diving.