Prison Island San Lucas

Imagine this: you walk through damp, moss-covered cells. Thick walls whisper stories of pain, hope and long-faded humanity. And outside? The sound of the sea and the calls of tropical birds.

Welcome to Isla San Lucas – once Costa Rica’s most notorious prison island. For more than 100 years, it was a place of punishment and isolation. Today, it offers a striking contrast of history and nature: crumbling watchtowers, abandoned cell blocks and, all around them, tropical forest, quiet bays and secluded trails.

With Puraventura, you experience this remarkable island in the Gulf of Nicoya in all its depth – somewhere between chills and wonder, past and present.

Isla San Lucas lies in the Gulf of Nicoya – once inaccessible, now a protected nature reserve with a dark past. From 1873 to 1991, it served as a high-security prison. Criminals, political detainees and opponents of various regimes spent years or even decades here, often under harsh and inhumane conditions.

Feared as “Devil’s Island,” escape was virtually impossible and surveillance was constant. Today, you can wander through the abandoned corridors, observe cells still marked with original inscriptions and listen to the echoes of history. At the same time, the nature surrounding the ruins invites quiet reflection – as if it has slowly reclaimed the island for itself.