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The Cacyra National Wildlife Refuge was created on 1995 as a private refuge to protect tropical forest areas near the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Also, this refuge was created in order to serve as a biological corridor between the Carara Biological Reserve, now the Carara National
Park, and the Turrubares Hills Protected Area. That is why its biodiversity is very similar that the one you can find in Carara National Park.
Almost the entire area of the refuge is covered by secondary growth rain forests, so they are very common pioneer species such as balsa (Ochroma pyramidale), the guarumo (Cecropia sp), the guácimo (Guazuma ulmifolia) and buzzard (Schyzolobium parahyba), among others, as the life zone is tropical wet forest, with transition to premontane forest. The climate is humid, very hot, with a long dry season. The grounds are covered in tacotales and secondary forests that were transferred by IDA to be devoted to shaping the biological corridor.
Other nearby Costa Rica National Parks includes the Fernando Castro Cervantes Wildlife Refuge and the Carara National Park. There are no public park facilities at this wildlife refuge.
Getting to Cacyra Wildlife Refuge:
From downtown San Jose takes about 1 hour, take the Prospero Fernandez Highway, which starts at the National Gymnasium in La Sabana. From there continue directly through the towns of Escazu, Santa Ana, Ciudad Colon and Puriscal. From Puriscal is about 40 minutes to reach San Juan de Mata de Turrubares. Turrubares also has other alternative routes such as the canton of Orotina southwest and the canton of Atenas southeast.
From Puntarenas downtown, Caldera or Jaco, you should reach Orotina. Of there are 7 km, approximately 15 minutes.
By bus
Take a bus from the route San Jose – Quepos by Puriscal which takes about 2 hours, (Transportes Delio Morales, 2223-5567). From here you can take taxi to Cacyra Wildlife Refuge.
You can also take a bus from the route San Jose – Puriscal which takes about 1 hour, (Comtrasuli, 2258-3903). From here you can take taxi or take another bus Puriscal – San Juan de Mata, to Cacyra Wildlife Refuge.
For any of the routes we recommend consulting the respective schedules to make connections. Similarly, it is advisable to arrive early to be sure you get a seat.
Location: southeast from Carara National Park, canton: Turrubares, in San Jose province, Costa Rica.
GPS Coordinates: 9°46’9.81″N, 84°31’39.72″W
Size: 37ha (91 acres)
Central Pacific Conservation Area (ACOPAC) Telephoe: +(506) 2416-7068
INFOTUR Tourist Information: 1192
