As the least developed of the Puerto Viejo area towns, Manzanillo provides for an authentic experience with Caribbean flavor. Manzanillo is home to the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, which protects a nine-kilometer beach where four species of turtles nest yearly. Manzanillo offers visitors ideal snorkeling with opportunities to see dolphins and other exotic marine life. Also, many of the beautiful coconut-palm-lined beaches open into amazing lush forests rich with wildlife. This region affords the opportunity to see wild jaguars, monkeys, sloths, parrots, butterflies, tropical frogs and other local animals.