Cocos Island

Located in the Pacific Ocean, 482 km southwest of Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica, lies the famous Cocos Island Marine Park. A rugged and incredibly beautiful island, this World Heritage Site is the crown jewel of Costa Rica's many National Parks. Cocos Island has an irregular coastline and is approximately 24 km2.

The island was formed during a volcanic upheaval about 2,5 million years ago. Its landmass is punctuated by four mountain peaks, the highest of which is Cerro Yglesisas, at 634 meters.

The island has two large bays that make safe boat harbours and sandy beaches. Just off Cocos are a series of smaller basaltic rocks and islets. The largest satellite is Isla Manuelita (formerly Nuez).

The history of Cocos Island is replete with true tales of pirates and explorers. The evidence is everywhere. It can be found in the archives of Spain and England as well as on Cocos itself. For four centuries, adventurers and sailors have left their mark carved in the numerous stones and boulders along the beach of Chatham Bay.
Among Cocos Island's many attributes is a startling degree of biodiversity. This Island's world-renowned waters explode with life; including innumerable white tip reef sharks, schooling hammerhead sharks, dolphins, mantas and marbled rays, giant moray eels, sailfish, and of course the occasional whale shark.

Other common encounters are large schools of jacks and tuna, silky sharks, silver tip sharks, marlin, Creole fish, green turtles and octopus.  Cocos Island is also home to at least 27 endemic fish species including the exotic red-lipped batfish.