Playa Blanca in Garabito remains open to the public, even after a court ordered a temporary suspension of visitor and vehicle access to the marine wetland that surrounds it. The order can’t be applied on the ground until environmental authorities define which areas fall within the wetland’s zones of direct and indirect influence.
That task falls to the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC). The two agencies have three days to tell the court how long they will need to set the permitted access points and a maximum visitor capacity. Until then, anyone can still reach the beach.
The Contentious-Administrative Tribunal issued the precautionary order on Sept. 23 at the request of environmental lawyer Wálter Brenes Soto. He is suing the State and SINAC over the lack of a management plan for the Playa Blanca Marine Wetland, and the order is provisional and does not decide the merits of the case.
Brenes said that, in his interpretation, authorities should restrict two routes. The first is the path over the cliff from Playa Mantas to Playa Blanca, where he said steps have been built and human waste has been found. The second is the road inside Punta Leona that the Municipality of Garabito opened to the public, which he said brought a sharp rise in visitors.
Brenes stressed that drawing the boundaries is up to SINAC and MINAE. He noted that other sites, including Cerro Chirripó and several national parks, already operate with limits on visitor numbers.
The lawyer said the case is one of many environmental suits he has brought on his own initiative over the past 14 years. He rejected claims that he has ties to real estate developers, which he described as injurious. He also said the wetland has been protected since 1994 and was not his creation.
Garabito Mayor Francisco González took a different view. He said he had not known about the wetland declaration and questioned why restrictions are being raised now, when private entities have used buildings and access points at Playa Blanca for many years.
González said he did not understand what harm comes from allowing everyone to enter and enjoy the beach. He questioned how roads, access points and homes were ever approved in the area if it is a wetland, pointing to houses built on the cliff inside the zone described as protected.
The mayor said he was, in effect, filing a complaint against his own municipality. He extended it to the administrations of two and three decades ago that allowed construction in a public zone.
The court order follows an Aug. 27 ruling by the Constitutional Chamber that gave MINAE and SINAC 12 months to issue a General Management Plan for the wetland, and that plan is not yet in force. Public vehicle access through Punta Leona opened in June, when the municipality removed the barrier on the road. Punta Leona continues to contest that move in court.
The wetland covers about 5.5 square kilometers (2.1 square miles) of shoreline and shallow sea on the Central Pacific coast. It is known for its reefs and as a nesting site for olive ridley sea turtles. What SINAC and MINAE tell the court this week will determine whether, and how, access to Playa Blanca changes.
