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PARQUE NACIONAL CAHUITA (daily 8am-5pm; "pay what you want" if entering at Kelly Creek; US$6 at the Puerto Vargas entrance, 4km south of Cahuita along the Limon-Sixaola road) is one of the smallest in the country, covering the wedge-shaped piece of land from Punta Cahuita back to the main highway from Puerto Limon to Sixaola and, crucially, the coral reef about 500m offshore. On land, Cahuita protects the littoral, or coastal, rainforest, a lowland habitat of semi-mangroves and tall canopy cover which backs the gently curving white-sand beaches of Playa Vargas to the south of Punta Cahuita and Playa Cahuita to the north. Birds , including ibis and kingfishers, are in residence, along with white-faced ( carablanca ) monkeys, sloths and snakes, but the only animals you're likely to see are howler monkeys, and perhaps coati. The park's one trail (7km), skirting the beach, is a very easy, level walk, with a path so wide it feels like a road, covered with leaves and other brush, and a few fallen trees and logs. The Rio Perzoso, about 2km from the Kelly Creek entrance, or 5km from the Puerto Vargas trailhead, is not always fordable. Similiarly, at high tide the beach is impassable in places: ask the ranger at the Puerto Vargas puesto about the marea , or tide schedules. Walking this trail can also be unpleasantly humid and buggy: best to go in the morning. Many snorkellers swim the 200 to 500m from Puerto Vargas out to the reef. Again, you should ask about currents, although the water here is calmer than at the beach next to Cahuita village.
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