The 15 km of shoreline from Punta Uvita to Punta Pinuela is protected within Parque Nacional Marion Bellana. The park forms a quadrant that extends 16 kilometres out to sea, encompassing 4,500 hectares of inshore ocean.

It is named after the Pacific humpback whales that gather here at predictable times to mate and give birth. Bottlenose and common dolphins can be seen frolicking offshore year round; they weave their way through the bow waves of boats like ribbons of silver.

The nation’s largest coral reef is fond within the park; it fringes a small island that is connected to Punta Uvita by a tapering tombolo. The reef extends in patches southward toward Isla Ballena.