​Tortuguero was declared a National Park on September 24, 1970 and its limits have been modified three times (1980, 1995 and 1998) with the aim of incorporating more territory. Its extension has gone from 64,701.45 to 76,937 hectares. Of these 50,284 are marine and 26,653 are terrestrial.
 
In the case of the land area, 99% is used for the absolute protection of resources and 1% as a visitor site. The marine area is 100% dedicated to absolute conservation.
 
Tortuguero National Park (TNP) is located northeast of Costa Rican territory and is one of the main tourist icons in Costa Rica because it is internationally recognized for protecting the most important green turtle nesting beach in the Western Hemisphere.