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The park extends along the coast for 14 kms. with beach after beach shaded by lush vegetation and coconut trees, typical of the Costa Rican Caribbean. These beaches are ideal places to relax and observe nature close at hand, mainly from March to the end of April and from September to the end of October, during which time there is less rain and the prevailing climate is semi-humid, hot and cloudy.
A dense, tropical foliage, with a wealth of palm trees and high humidity, provides shelter for pacas, raccoons, Northern tamanduas, white-faced capuchin monkeys, Southern opossums, three-toed sloths, agouties, common long-nosed armadillos and Mexican tree porcupines. The marshes are home to green iguanas, basilisks, yellow-crowned night herons, magnificent frigatebirds, green ibis, little blue herons, gulls and other species. The coast is inhabited by red land and fiddler crabs, the latter a very striking species that uses its oversized claw to dig holes in the mud.
The world of coral reefs is made up of over 35 species of coral, including Elkhorn coral and smooth brain coral. The species identified on the Cahuita reef include 128 of algae, 44 of crustaceans, 140 mollusks, 3 of halophytic phanerophytes, and 123 of fish. The reef consists of 240 hectares around Cahuita Point, a site endangered by the build-up of silt and others sedimentary deposits.
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