One of Costa Rica’s  most popular natural attractions is watching baby turtles hatch on the beaches of Tortuguero National Park, situated on the northern Caribbean coast, approximately 50 miles northwest of San José by air. The park contains many rivers, canals, lagoons, beaches and a rainforest, along with several species of endangered sea turtles including green, leatherback and hawksbill.

While the nesting season varies for each turtle type, the leatherbacks nest on the Caribbean coast from March to July. They are the oldest turtles on Earth (more than 150 million years old, thus surviving the extinction of the dinosaurs), the largest of all sea turtles and one of the largest reptiles on Earth (measuring 4 to 8 feet in length and weighing 500 to 2,000 pounds). The babies, called hatchlings, usually emerge from their shells, which have been incubating in the warm sand for seven to 10 weeks, once the sun goes down. After the tiny leatherbacks — only about 4 inches long — hatch, they run by the hundreds down to the surf, their little flippers madly flapping, until they reach the water and swim away.

For visitors, Tortuguero village makes a good base to see this natural phenomenon, since it has numerous lodgings, restaurants and tour operators.