The award, "Certificate of Sustainability for Elite Tourism" was bestowed by the Costarican Institute of Tourism (ICT) following an evaluation process (March-November 2020) and recognised the achievements of the park authorities in relation to organizational management and social, economic, cultural, environmental and sectoral impacts. According to the official park website, the park was born in 1972 out of "communal pressure" against the former foreign owners that denied local people access to the beaches.