The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge is strategically located at the south-eastern most tip of of the Caribbean Sea. It is surrounded by the Sixaola River at the Panamanian border to the east, a row of mountains from the Talamancan range to the south and bathed on the north side by the white sand beaches and rich coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea. The land eco-system best represented in the Refuge are the wetlands, which with the surrounding forest areas, contains a great diversity of species, many only locally sited and endemic to this area. There are numerous species of animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.