Tárcoles River

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The Tárcoles River, also called the Grande de Tárcoles River or the Rio Grande de Tarcoles, in Costa Rica travels through the Nicoya Peninsula and flows into the Pacific. The watershed covers an area of over 2000 square kilometers, which encompasses around 50% of the countries population.

The river is the most contaminated river in Costa Rica, carrying much of the sewage from the central towns and cities. It was also hit by a leak of 400 thousand litres of diesel fuel by the state owned Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery in 2000 which further damaged the ecology of the river and its immediate surrounds.

The river forms the northern border of the Carara Biological Reserve, and is well known for its American Crocodiles, while at its mouth the marshes are have many waterfowl and wading birds.

The many herons and egrets include the Boatbill and Bare-throated Tiger Heron, and other birds found here include Double-striped Thick-knee, Mangrove Black Hawk, Mangrove Warbler and American Pygmy Kingfisher.

Reptiles like the Common Basilisk and large iguanas are also easily seen.