National parks are a sort of systematic endeavor to salvage the precious forests that were slowly getting obliterated from Costa Rica. When the need to conserve the unexpended wilderness occurred, the national park system was formed. Tortuguero National Park feature among the major national parks and a potential tourist attraction in Costa Rica .

Tortuguero National Park is characterized by its variety and diversity. The park boasts of eleven ecological habitats that range from rainforests to the herbaceous marsh communities. Tortuguero National Park is home to nearly 300 species of birds and a variety of amphibians, reptiles and mammals. That includes the thirteen endangered animal species in Costa Rica that are on the brink of extinction. The jaguars, ocelots, tapirs, cougars, river otters and manatees find a sheltered refuge in Tortuguero National Park. You will stumble upon crocodiles, iguanas and basilisk lizards positioned on top of the tree branches. The manatees were considered extinct until a group of about hundred manatees were spotted in the remote lagoon within Tortuguero. Tortuguero National Park is also the nesting ground for the five species of turtles that cover a long distance every year to reach the sand beaches to lay eggs. This has remained as unchanged practice for centuries.

Tortuguero National Park has trails that remains waterlogged quite often. The El Gavilan Trail incorporates both the beach and the rainforest while the trail that begins in the north of Tortuguero Lodge will lead you to a spot which is a vantage point overlooking the swamps and the coastline. If hiking is not your cup of tea, then you can hire canoes from the Tortuguero Village and sail along the canals of the park.