Isla Bolaños National Wildlife Refuge

Bolaños Island is an oval-shaped rocky mound, 81 meters high, that lies 1,5 kilometers off Punta Descartes, on the northwest region of the country. Its rugged terrain consists of numerous layers of sedimentary rock that are approximately 40 million years old.

The scarce vegetation is made up of stunted forest, which is very thick and difficult to penetrate.  It grows almost two meters high on very rock soils with very little organic material.  The forest, which completely looses its leaves during the dry season, consists mainly of paira and some medium-sized trees, such as fraginipani and lancewood.

Bolaños is especially important for the conservation of seabirds.  It protects one of the few known nesting sites in the country for colonies of brown pelican and also it's the only nesting site discovered to date for the magnificent frigatebird.

There is a white, sandy beach at the eastern tip of the island with mounds of seashells and clams.  At low tide its possible to walk round the island and gives visitors a chance to glance at several species of crab that live and mate here, specially the large sized land crab.