Corcovado National Park

This national park is home to more than 400 species of birds and more than a hundred species each of amphibians and mammals and spans more than 40,000 hectares of protected land. Several habitats can be found inside its borders including montane and mangrove. Corcovado Park is the crown Jewel of the Costa Rican park sysem.  It's hard to get to the best part of the park,Sirena (means mermaid, but is the ranger station in the center of the park), but it is well worth it.  You want at least 3 days to do Corcovado park right, unless you can afford $250 to fly in and save the hours hiking and the two hours in a taxi.  In Sirena, rent the pango (little hand made boat, made from a tree) and paddle it up river. It is your best chance to see a tapir up close.  At night, go to the river mouth at high tide to see all the sharks and crocodiles in the river mouth.   Cocovado has a sister park called Piedras Blancas Park, it use to be part of Corcovado but they have since made it into its own park.  One of the best ways to see Piedras Blancas Park is with Escondido Trex, a kayaking tour company out of Pt. Jimenez.  www.escondidotrex.com .  They offer 2-6 night tours by kayak around the Gulfo Dulce (Costa Rica's best flat water kayaking from budget for campers to deluxe where you stay at luxury lodges only accessible by boat).   They also have an amazing day tour to visit the park and they stop by a animal rehabilitation center in the center of the park where it is only boat accessible.