This morning after 120 nautical miles coming from the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, the National Geographic Sea Lion arrived to Coiba National Park, one of the most beautiful areas of Panama. This was our first stop in the Panamanian isthmus. Granito de Oro (little grain of gold) is the name of this islet, big enough to have a perfect morning to explore the life in the Coral Reef.
Our guests were shuttled ashore in the expedition landing craft and the weather and sea conditions could not be better for a smooth landing. Hermit crabs were swarming in the island carrying different sizes of shells, putting on a great show for us.
Our guests put on masks and snorkels to explore the marine corridor in Granito de Oro at Coiba National Park. It is the third largest marine reserve in the world behind the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
The life in the coral reef is beyond impressive, watching all the colors and behaviors of the species. We spotted porcupine fish, bicolored parrot fish, king angelfish, Moorish idols and even a school of panamic sergeant majors on our snorkeling trip.
We returned to the ship at noon time and enjoyed a great lunch. We collected the snorkeling gear and started heading to the Gulf of Panama, a cruise of nearly 200 nautical miles.
At 4:00 p.m. our Panamanian naturalist shared a presentation of the history of Panama which gave us a much better idea of what to expect the following day, in what promises to be another interesting crossing through the Panama Canal.
