Used as a quarantine station for tall ships in the early 1800s, Cayo Costa is now a state-owned park. Thus protected from development, the 656ha/1 600-acre island has remained unspoiled and shelters dense vegetation of palm trees and pine forests. The park, in the north of the island, is ideal for hiking and bicycling with 8km/5mi of waymarked trails or for strolling along the deserted shell-strewn beach to admire the pelicans and dolphins at play. In summer, loggerhead turtles come to the island's shores to lay their eggs.