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 Caño Island is located in the Pacific Ocean, 15 km (9 miles) offshore from Corcovado National Park and the port of San Pedrillo. The reserve has been founded in 1978 and consists of about 300 hectares land area and 5.800 hectares sea area.
Isla de Caño is overgrown with tropical moist forest and offers a habitat for more than 158 different species of plants, 13 different species of birds and numerous seabirds. This reserve is of major archaeological importance since it was used as a cemetery in pre-Colombian times. It is still possible to see some almost perfectly round stone spheres, made by the Brunca Indians.
It has a plateau of about 90 meters height (295 feet), covered by a very tall evergreen forest with trees reaching heights up to 50 meters (164 feet). Other species present are the locust and wild fig. The smaller trees include wild cocoa and rubber tree. The fauna is sparse, possibly caused by the disappearance of the natural forest. The few birds that can be sighted here are the cattle egret, common black hawk, osprey, brown booby, and Northern phalarope. The four-eyed opossum, paca (introduced), boa constrictor, brown tree gorge and transparent tree frog, and a few species of rats, bats, small snakes, and lizards are also sighted here. A rich variety of marine fauna inhabits the tidal pools. In addition to a multitude of fish, there are countless brittle starfish and sea urchins. Two endangered species in the vicinity of the island are the lobster and the giant conch.
The clear waters and coral reefs around the island are ideal for snorkeling and diving. Boat tours can be organized from the lodges around Drake Bay. The boat trip takes about 1 hour. A visit of shore area of the island is also possible from Manuel Antonio, yet this involved a long boat trip.
Boat trips are offered from most of the lodges in Drake Bay or from Dominical:
Caño Island Snorkeling – 1 day
Departing early in morning through the Costanera road along the Pacific Ocean for about 90 minutes to get to Sierpe Town, where we will take 30 minutes for breakfast in Oleaje Sereno Restaurant. After breakfast we will be taking a comfortable boat ride for 90 minutes to Caño Island through the biggest mangrove swamps in Central America, chances to spot up to 4 species of monkeys, crocodiles, snakes, a great variety of birds, an also one of the biggest Island in Costa Rica (Violines Island) also knows for its wealth source of gold.
From the Sierpe river mouth to the island we will get a view of the most scenic places like Drake Bay and part of Corcovado National Park and there are good chances to spot the Humpback, Pilot, Killer whales and dolphins all on the way to the Island. When we get to the island we will spend 2 hours snorkeling in the clear waters, afterwards we will enjoy a pic-nic style lunch.
We will then take the boat trip back to Sierpe and end the journey in Dominical.
 Tour Unit: T18
- Drake Bay, Corcovado & Caño Island - 4 days |
