Cahuita National Park
The history of Cahuita National Park tells a lot about our community's commitment to protecting the environment as well as its own character.
When the area was first protected as a Marine National monument in 1970 there were many disgruntled farmers and inhabitants, and several hundred people gathered at a community meeting to speak against the park. According to D. R. Wallace's Story of Costa Rica's National Parks, Alvaro Ugalde, was the last speaker, and the only one who was for the park. But, he turned the sentiments of the community by pointing out that the likely alternative to a National Park would be a "mass of hotels, marinas and golf courses which nobody wanted except foreign companies waiting on the sidelines." This independent spirit has persisted, and the development of the area has been by small local owner operators and Alvaro Ugalde is today recognized as one of the fathers of Costa Rica's National Parks system.
The next significant development in the Park's history occurred in 1994, when the national government decided to increase the non-resident entrance fee to all National Parks by 1,000%. In reaction, the community organized and staged a peaceful resistance. One of the organizers explained their tactics:
When the problem emerged, the people took the park. We took it in a pacific way. What we did was to sit next to the entrance of the park and play dominoes. When a tourist arrived, we said: “Sir, don’t pay. The community of Cahuita invites you to enter the park free of charge.”
The ultimate result, after negotiations between the community and government representatives: Cahuita National Park became (and remains) the only such park in the country which is administered jointly by the community and the national government. The "Kelly Creek" entrance at the edge of the village is maintained by the community, which admission based on voluntary donations. At the other end of the Park, the Puerto Vargas entrance is run by the national government, and charges the same admission fee as all other National Parks. And although Cahuita was the only community to adamantly oppose the huge fee increase, its actions benefited communities near all other National Parks, since the government also agreed to greatly scale down the increase in entrance fees.
More recently the village, and other communities along the southern coast, banded together and forced to government to abandon plans to permit a foreign company to begin off-shore oil drilling, a struggle dramatized in the recent award-winning film Caribe. This coalition is still active, keeping a vigilant watch against renewed attempts to permit off-shore drilling, and many restraunts and other small businesses maintain a collection box for donations to support the cause.
The Park's existence and size is a critical element in reducing the likelihood that the village will ever suffer the sort of uncontrolled development which has required the lovely Manuel Antonion National Park on the Pacific coast to forbid pubic access one day each week, and to impose a strict limit on the number of people allowed on the other days. Manuel Antonio is only 682 hectares in size. The road leading to it from the town of Quepos is now wall-to-wall hotels, condos and restaurants, and even getting to the public beach outside the park using requires a lengthy wait in traffic.
Cahuita National Park encompases 1,068 hectares of land, 600 hectares of coral reef and 22,400 hectares of marine territory, protecting the largest fringing coral reef along the country's Caribbean coast. A walking/biking trail is just inside the rainforest area adjacent to the beach and runs parrallel to the tide line. A stoll along this trail is enchanting. In addition to offering constant views of the sea from the shady path, encounters with sloths and other wildlife are common -- and at the end of the trail, and encounter with troops of white-faced capuchin monkeys is almost inevitable.
The park is full of howler and white-faced capuchin monkeys, along with the surprisingly adorable sloths, squirrels, iguanas, crab-eating raccoons, white-nosed coatis and countless birds. A census of the inhabitants of the park's vast underwater reef counted 35 species of corals, 140 species of molluscs, 44 types of crustaceans, 128 varieties of algae, and 123 types of fish. Turtles also abound.
The park offers various activities, such as hiking, swimming, diving, sunbathing, beach volleyball or futbol, observing the wealth of biodiversity or simply doing nothing and enjoying the marvelous scenery. To make visits enjoyable, Cahuita offers the following visitor services: information, drinking water, restrooms and showers, picnic tables, trails and a camping area. A seawall just outside of the Kelly Creek entrance is a favorite gathering spot for both locals and tourist, since if offers a sweeping view of the Park beach, and of the children invariably found playing in the shallow creek. The seawall also is a favorite dining spot, especially on weekends, when Caribbean food and a large variety of fresh fruit are sold in small stands by the Park entrance.
The lots we offer for sale are located on the fringe of the Park's boundaries.
Take a look at our photo gallery, which shows just a fraction of the Park's delights on its beaches or trails.