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| Currently, visitors travel
to the island by sailboat or by chartered ship
from San José. The one-day cruise and
visit provides for some of the best opportunities
to observe exotic animals such as tapirs and
peccaries. |
| Courtesy Mario Cubero |
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| White sand and gently swaying
palm trees await visitors to these largely uninhabited
islands. |
| Courtesy Mario Cubero |
 |
| Thatch-roofed bungalows are
scattered across the island to offer visitors
a respite from the hot sun. |
| Courtesy Mario Cubero |
Ten large islands, and dozens of smaller ones, are
scattered throughout the Bahia Gigante, which lies
in the gulf that separates the Province of Puntarenas
from the Peninsula of Guanacaste. White sands, gently
swaying palm trees, and quiet relaxation awaits visitors
to these largely uninhabited islands.
Isla Tortuga is definitely the most famous island
in this archipelago, even if Isla San Lucas is the
only island which has actually been inhabited. Until
the early 1990s, it provided a home to prisoners,
who undoubtedly had the most beautiful jail view!
Since these islands are largely uninhabited they are
home to various bird species, such as the brown pelican,
whose colony on the Isla Guayabo, is the largest in
Costa Rica.
Many a developer has returned home disappointed after
trying to purchase land in order to construct a hotel
on these islands. This is what happened on Isla Tortuga—a
turtle shaped island that had, since the 1980s, been
receiving visitors taking the one-day-cruise from
San José. A few of the visitors had more in
mind than taking in the peace and tranquility of the
island.
“My dad found this island back in the 1970s.
He loved the fishing and wanted to protect what he
saw,” said Mario Cubero, a property owner on
Isla Tortuga. “He became the owner by a lease—a
lease that I just renewed a while ago.” At first
the island only saw ten visitors per week, coming
by way of the Calypso cruise ships. For three months
each summer a cruise-ship sailing between Costa Rica
and Panama brought people to the island, but, according
to Cubero, “it did not matter much that they
came as a large group, because they came only for
a brief dinner.”
Measured from the point of average high tide,
the first fifty meters of land in Costa Rica is
deemed publicly owned; therefore, the relationship
that exists between the island and its visitors
remained harmonious. People had a right to visit
the island, and the Cubero family kept it clean
all the while providing a variety of services to
these groups. Five years ago the island’s owners
received the Blue Flag certification, a form of
recognition, from the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism
(ICT), for having maintained the island’s sense
of purity. In order to continue qualifying for this
certificate such tests will be administered on a
regular basis.
Two years ago, however, a group of Spanish investors
decided to build a 200-room hotel and casino on the
island. The first thing they did was to contact the
municipality of Puntarenas, rather than the Cubero
family. Mario Cubero heard about the negotiations
almost by accident, and begun a nation-wide newspaper
and television campaign to stop the development. Before
long the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism and Ministry
of Environment supported the campaign.
“The politicians saw what was happening to us
as if it were actually happening to them… to
their private property,” said Cubero. “We
were very pleased with the level of support that we
received.”
Turtle Island’s future looks bright. People are
allowed to visit for one day in order to practice
water sports, hike in the forest, and observe exotic
animals such as peccaries, parrots, and tapirs. Yellow
parrots, best known for their ability to mimic the
human voice, nest on the island. Such endangered species
need special protection as they are often illegally
captured and sold.
According to Cubero, at some point, a few small bungalows
will probably be constructed on the island, however,
because of the bureaucratic process, the paperwork
alone is expected to take several years.
Leasing an island in Costa Rica is a complicated process.
Investors who may be interested in coming to Costa
Rica will hear over and over how “We don’t
want quick money” and “We want this place
to look the same in thirty years as it does today.”
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