Cocos Island
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Cocos Island | |
| Criteria | Natural: ix, x |
| Reference | 820 |
| Inscription | 1997 (21st Session) |
| Extensions | 2002 |
Coco Island is a tropical island that is part of Costa Rica. The island covers 24 square kilometres (9.3 square miles). It has two bays in the north. It is 500 kilometres (310 miles) southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997 for its animals and its beauty.[source?]
Today, the only people who live there are four national park guards who patrol the park. Ships leave from Puntarenas, a port in the Pacific Ocean. The island is one of the world's best diving spots. It is famous for its massive schools of different fish, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, and whale sharks. The island is also famous because of the legend about pirates. It is said that this island was chosen by them to hide their treasures. Many people have gone there to look for this hidden treasures but they didn’t find any.
The island has waterfalls, some of them 61 metres (200 feet) high. There are also a few animals which were brought from other places because there are no native mammals. Also some birds were brought. The island has just one kind of butterfly and two lizard species. The highest point, called Mount Iglesias, is 175 metres (575 feet) high.
