Coiba Island & Granito de Oro
We knew it would a great day when we witnessed yellow-finned surgeon fish, parrot fish, capuchin monkeys, hundreds of migrating Urania moths and a rainbow tree boa all before breakfast. While migrating, the moths can fly 12 hours a day at 20 km/h and can cover distances of 240 km over open water! Just before 7:00 this morning we had the option to Zodiac ashore to Coiba Island where we were offered a stretch class on the beach or nature walks along the foot paths in search of wildlife.
Coiba Island is Panama’s largest island and is the mainstay for Coiba National Park, the third largest marine park in the world, smaller only than the Great Barrier Reef and the Galápagos National Park. Coiba Island is also famous for being a former penal colony where prisoners were sent after being convicted of crimes. Interestingly, the prison guards would lock themselves in their rooms at night with their guns while the prisoners roamed freely. Due to Coiba’s remote location and large number of poisonous snakes, only 10% of the prisoners attempted to escape and many of them were recaptured. Today, the island no longer serves as a prison camp; instead there is a ranger station and several small concrete buildings where travelers can stay.
After breakfast back on the ship, we returned to Coiba Island for a morning of kayaking, snorkeling and swimming. The marine life was prolific, and we saw even more surgeon fish and parrot fish as well as many other species. Near lunch time, the galley and hotel staff loaded the Zodiacs with a BBQ picnic, and we enjoyed a respite from the sun as we ate our hotdogs and hamburgers.
For the afternoon we repositioned the ship to a smaller island within Coiba National Park called Granito de Oro, or little grain of gold. This small islet is mostly beach with a few palm trees, lots of hermit crabs and an impressive rocky coral reef. The snorkeling here was just as spectacular as Coiba Island with sightings of king angel fish, yellow and black striped sergeant majors and Moorish idols. There were even glimpses of a white-tipped reef shark. One of our naturalists captured the underwater world on camera and shared it with us at recap, identifying the numerous species of corals and fish that she saw. As the clouds thickened and darkened overhead, however, a late afternoon shower drove us from the beach and back to the ship to dry off. It was a full day of sun and sand, so it was nice to have some time on board to relax!
