The Lagunas de Chacahua National Park , created in 1937,
is a national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 located in the Municipality of Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo

Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo

Villa de Tututepec de Melchor Ocampo is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico.It is part of the Juquila District in the center of the Costa Region.The name "Tututepec" means "Bird Mountain"....

 in the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 state of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, about 54 km west of Puerto Escondido, near a village called Zapotalito. It can be reach via Federal Highway 200 or by boat from Puerto Escondido. The park encompasses 132.73 square kilometres, about 30 km² of which is taken by various lagoons such as the ‘’’Laguna de Chacahua,’’’ ‘’’Laguna de La Pastoria,’’’ and Laguna Las Salinas. There are various smaller lagoons that are connected by narrow channels. The rest of the park consists of dry land.

The park has 10 different types of vegetation: “selva espinosa", swampland, deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

, sub tropical broadleaf, mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

s, savannah

Savannah

Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...

, “bosque de galleria”, “tular”, palm trees, and coastal dunes. 246 species of flowers and 189 species of animals have been documented so far in the park. Birds such as storks, herons, wild ducks, blue-winged teal

Blue-winged Teal

The Blue-winged Teal is a small dabbling duck from North America.-Description:The Blue-winged Teal is long, with a wingspan of , and a weight of . The adult male has a greyish blue head with a white facial crescent, a light brown body with a white patch near the rear and a black tail. The adult...

s, pelican

Pelican

A pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae....

s, and spoonbill

Spoonbill

Spoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises.All have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side...

s can be found here. Three species of turtles also visit the park to lay their eggs.

There are boat tours to observe the shores, mangroves and the many birds that fish these waters. These tours usually include a stop to sample the local food and to visit a crocodile nursery which raises several Mexican Pacific coast crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus).