Barra Honda National Park

Located in the province of Guanacaste, 22km north east of Nicoya City with an extension of 2.295.5 hectares. Created by means of the law no. 5581 of August 20,1974.

Reef rocks constitute Barra Honda hill, of 300mts tall,, which means, by old reefs that sink caused by an elevation provoked by tectonics faults 60 millions of years ago.

These reef formations were constituted by green and blue seaweed, also the tiny sea protozos cover by shells, sponges and porcupines.

Another important element in this area, is its capacity as a reserve for the populations around.

The Barra Honda hills contents a wide cave system different one from another, from which 19 has been explored. The Santa Ana cave has 240 meter deep, one of the deepest.

The most attractive and interesting are: the Velvet, the Tampa and Santa Ana, with stalagmites and stalactites, columns, pearls, flowers, white wash needles, pop corn, shark teeth's and other formations.

The velvet is the cave that contents the mayor abundance in formations. One of these areas is called The Oregano and has the characteristic of give different sounds when you hit it softly.

The tampa is the one which present the deepest precipice, since the entrance up to the first descending there is a perfect vertical height of 52mts. This cave also has the biggest rooms ever found, one of this constituted by white color, which give a very beauty effect.

The stinking puddle because of the guano of the bat is the only one that has abundance of these mammals.

In the Nicoa cave, were found a big amount of human bodies in 1970, and time after, pre columbine native handicraft.

The vegetation in the park is in its majority the ron ­ ron, the tempisque, the jobo, the naked indian, the poroporo, the gallinazo, the soncoya, the guanacaste, the carco, the madroño and the peine de mico.

The wild life is very variety: the white face monkey, the coyote, the armadillo, the deer, the raccoon, the pizote, the fox, the stinky fox, the copetona magpie, the zapayol or catano, the red head zopilote, are some of the species you can observe in different areas of the park.

Park Facilities and Hours

The Barra Honda Ranger Station is open for visitor attention from 8am to dusk, and has potable water and restrooms.
Advance reservations are required for spelunking. The caves are not open in the wet season due to the danger of flooding.

There are hiking trails and scenic overlooks throughout the tropical dry forest of the park.

There is a camping area and four rustic cabinas with bunks for six or eight each. For more information or reservations, call the SINAC-MINAE office ACG in Liberia, Costa Rica at (506) 666-0630.

Climbing gear is available from the park rangers, who will guide you through the cave descent.

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