San Lucas Island National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Isla San Lucas) is an island located off the Pacific shore of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in the

Gulf of Nicoya The Gulf of Nicoya ( es, Golfo de Nicoya) is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Nicoya Peninsula from the mainland of Costa Rica, and encompasses a marine and coastal landscape of wetlands, rocky islands and cliffs. The first Spanish ...

. It is part of the

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas (canton), Puntarenas canton of Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which is made from the Puntar ...

district of

Puntarenas Canton Puntarenas is a canton in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. The head city is Puntarenas. History Puntarenas was created on 7 December 1848 by decree 167. Geography Puntarenas has an area of km² and a mean elevation of metres. The c ...

of the province of

. Formerly housing a brutal

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, now abandoned, the island was designated as a

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in August 2020 by decree 9892 and managed under the Central Pacific Conservation Area.

Toponymy

Named for

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...

Geography

San Lucas Island located in the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, about 40 minutes by boat from

. The island has an area of approximately

Indigenous culture

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

groups lived on San Lucas and the surrounding islands. There are eight known archeological sites on the island, including apparent houses where stone

tools A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

and a metal object were found in the late 1970s. The excavation sites date to between 1,000 and 1,500 AD.

Prison

From 1873 to 1991, San Lucas Island was a penal island for some of the worst criminals in Costa Rica. It is often erroneously cited as the largest prison in Costa Rican history. It was founded by the dictator Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez. Being sent to San Lucas Island was a terrible prospect as prisoners' lives were short and often spent in

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

. Ironically, Guardia abolished the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

a year after establishing the prison. The former buildings of the penal island are considered "Patrimonio de Cultura," or cultural heritage sites. The buildings include a historic dock that is still in use after the first dock was destroyed, a church, a medical building, temporary holding cells, a three-story main office, a large concrete disc used to hold a water tank, and water pumps. In addition, there are prison cells of varying security levels depending on the prisoners' crimes. The prison cells contain the typical

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

of older Latin American prisons, such as religious phrases, pornographic images, signatures and drawings. There are also several water pumps and a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

under excavation on the island.

José León Sánchez José León Sánchez Alvarado (19 April 1929 – 15 November 2022)Beltrán Cortés Carvajal, the famous killer of the doctors Carlos Manuel Echandi Lahmann and

Ricardo Moreno Cañas Ricardo Moreno Cañas (May 8, 1890 – August 23, 1938) was an assassinated Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central Ameri ...

National Park

It was first designated as a Wildlife Refuge as created in 2002 by decree 29277-MINAE. On August 10, 2020, it was designated as the 30th National Park of Costa Rica by record 21287 of the Legislative Assembly and also as a Historical-Architectural Heritage ( es, Patrimonio Histórico-Arquitectónico) by record 21789.

Wildlife

The island includes a wide variety of wildlife, such as howler monkeys, spiders, snakes, deer, and pheasants. There are also at least 8 species of bats on the island. The waters surrounding the island are home to hammerhead sharks, rays, and turtles.

Tourism

The

Instituto Costarricense de Turismo The Costa Rican Tourism Board ( es, Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) is the government agency responsible for promoting sustainable in Costa Rica. Originally the agency was created by decree in 1931 as the National Tourism Board, and by a law ...

began planning to invest money into tourism on the island by developing commercial spaces for restaurants, beaches, and tour operators. The volunteer organization

Raleigh International Raleigh International is a youth expedition organisation based in the UK. On 19 May 2022 Raleigh International Trust ceased operations and entered Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation. The Raleigh International brand was bought by Impact Travel Group ...

occasionally sends young volunteers to help rangers clear beaches to make the island more attractive for tourism. Now it is a full-fledged tourist destination, with several companies offering charters to the island. There is great concern that the tourist activities are destroying

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

sites and the prison's archeological significance, as well as the wildlife habitats of the area. There are plans to develop more sustainable tourist activities on the island.

Volunteer work

The island benefits from volunteers of the charity

, who work with the rangers on the island to improve the surrounding area.

References

{{authority control National parks of Costa Rica Pacific islands of Costa Rica Geography of Puntarenas Province Tourist attractions in Puntarenas Province Nature reserves in Costa Rica Protected areas established in 2002 Protected areas established in 2020 2002 establishments in Costa Rica 2020 establishments in North America