Martin Dohrn’s top 3 national parks you must visit

Martin Dohrn has shot some of the most remarkable wildlife documentaries ever made. His quest to film some of the world’s most elusive animals has taken him all over the world. Below he shares some of the places he loves, but very few others have heard of.

Next time you visit a warm, tropical ocean on a moonless night, try and find a place with no artificial lights nearby, especially a sheltered inlet. Turn off your torch. Wait. Look at the stars, let your eyes become accustomed to the dark (there are physiological changes that take about ten minutes to complete) and now look at the water. Put your hand in and swoosh it about. Do you see lights? I almost guarantee that there will be bioluminescence of some sort. Try a swim, watch as your every move is highlighted by flashing and twinkling. It’s a truly magical experience.

Bio Bay on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico would be the ultimate bioluminescence experience, but almost any ocean in the world will reward a bit of patience and keeping your light off (if you’re scuba diving, make sure that everyone in the group is aware of what you are planning to do. Discuss it beforehand, but you will be amazed at what you can see).

Santa Rosa National Park and the adjoining Guanacaste Conservation area in Costa Rica, where we recently made Jaguar Ambush, is one place I return to time and again. It is one of a very few fragments of Pacific dry forest still surviving, and offers a very different forest experience.

There are very few ‘tours’ visiting here. You’ll need to get the bus, or rent a car (Thrifty at Liberia airport is surprisingly cheap. They speak English-ish). The park itself offers extremely spartan, but cheap accommodation, as well as possibly the most authentic, genuine Costa Rican food you’ll find at their comedor (pretty cheap as well). Or you can camp. In January, definitely the best time to go, there won’t be too many other people there at all except for a few scientists.

The two reasons I keep going back to Santa Rosa are the beaches and the forest. Playa Naranjo (a famous surfing spot – camp sites and slightly brackish drinking water) is a dramatic surf pounded Pacific beach, haunted by jaguars, coyotes and crocodiles, black vultures, frigate birds, brown pelicans and caracaras. The powerful undertow created by the huge breakers is a problem for swimmers – take care – but the majesty of the waves, the forest and the practically empty beach more than compensates.