Costa Rica Unveils Massive New Marine Park
First reported March 4, 2011 · Updated October 28, 2026
March 4, 2011 | Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica
Costa Rica has established a new marine conservation area around Cocos Island, extending protection to thousands of square kilometers of Pacific Ocean habitat. President Laura Chinchilla’s administration created the Área Marina de Manejo Montes Submarinos through an executive decree dated March 3, 2011, covering 9,640 square kilometers of ocean in the surrounding region.
The measure marks a significant expansion of Costa Rica’s efforts to conserve marine life beyond its mainland beaches and coastal national parks. Its focus is not only the island’s well-known waters, but also submerged mountains and the open-ocean habitat used by migratory animals.
Why seamounts matter
Seamounts are underwater mountains that can influence currents and concentrate nutrients. Their slopes and nearby waters provide habitat for diverse marine species, while nutrient-rich flows can help support feeding areas used by fish, sharks and other ocean wildlife.
Cocos Island lies roughly 500 to 550 kilometers off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. The island and its surrounding waters are internationally known for extraordinary marine biodiversity, particularly aggregations of sharks, rays, tuna and other pelagic species. The island’s remote location means the protected region has ecological significance far beyond what most travelers see along Costa Rica’s mainland coastline.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee placed Cocos Island National Park on the World Heritage List in 1997, recognizing the site’s importance as habitat for large marine animals. The 2011 conservation decision built on that established importance by addressing a much wider marine landscape.
A managed area, not a uniform fishing ban
The legal designation is important. The new site is a marine management area, not simply an extension of a no-entry or no-fishing zone where every activity is prohibited. The decree assigned administration to Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC, through the Cocos Marine Conservation Area.
Management planning would determine the zones, permitted uses and restrictions within the protected area. That framework can include different levels of protection and regulated activity rather than a single rule applied to every part of the sea.
The initiative reflects the challenge of conserving animals that travel long distances. Sharks, sea turtles and other wide-ranging species cross boundaries that are meaningful to governments but invisible underwater. Protecting feeding grounds and migratory routes can therefore require coordination across a larger seascape.
What happened next
Costa Rica subsequently amended the 2011 decree to clarify that the newly designated marine management area did not replace the separate legal status of Cocos Island National Park. The area was specified as 9,640 square kilometers excluding the pre-existing national park.
The country expanded marine protections again in December 2021, substantially enlarging the Cocos Island National Park and creating a far bigger marine management framework in the surrounding Pacific. The government conservation-area mapping service provides a comparison of the 2001, 2011 and 2021 boundaries.
Questions and answers
When was the new area established? March 3, 2011.
How large was it? The decree specified 9,640 square kilometers.
Was all fishing prohibited? The designation established a marine management area whose permitted uses depend on management rules and zoning.
What wildlife benefits from conservation there? The area is important to sharks, rays, fish and other migratory Pacific species.