Coiba Island, Panama
With the wind at our back, the Sea Voyager arrived in very good time to the island of Coiba. Far offshore the mainland, we had traveled 13 hours from our last destination in Costa Rica to reach this isolated island belonging to Panama.
As the sun began to barely make a difference on the horizon, I dared to wake people up for an early morning bird-watching excursion at the National Park head quarters. While the birders looked for exotic tropical species, the ship continued onto an anchorage just next to a tiny little bump of an island known as “Granito d’Oro.” First explored for its superb snorkeling by the Polaris back in the 1980s, it continues to provide us with an ideal location to offer snorkeling and kayaking. Everyone, both beginners and experienced snorkelers, spent long periods in the water watching, waiting, observing, staring, gasping in awe, listening, searching the water and sea floor for the jewels that slowly but surely were exposed to the discerning eye.
A small hawksbill marine turtle grazed and cruised below us among the corals, the mottled patterns on its shell blending in with the corals of soft browns and earth tones. Very difficult to see above a background of Pocillopora and Pavona corals, the movement was what finally caught our eye. It kept an eye on us as we drifted above, slowly moving on in its search for edible morsals.
We couldn’t have asked for a better morning. White tipped reef sharks, blue crevalles, guneafowl puffers, reef cornetfish, damselfish, convict tangs and many, many others flitted about.
The afternoon had us on our way towards the Gulf of Panama and future adventures. Pan tropical spotted dolphins, black terns, brown boobies and others put in brief appearances between presentations in the lounge.
With the wind at our back, the Sea Voyager arrived in very good time to the island of Coiba. Far offshore the mainland, we had traveled 13 hours from our last destination in Costa Rica to reach this isolated island belonging to Panama.
As the sun began to barely make a difference on the horizon, I dared to wake people up for an early morning bird-watching excursion at the National Park head quarters. While the birders looked for exotic tropical species, the ship continued onto an anchorage just next to a tiny little bump of an island known as “Granito d’Oro.” First explored for its superb snorkeling by the Polaris back in the 1980s, it continues to provide us with an ideal location to offer snorkeling and kayaking. Everyone, both beginners and experienced snorkelers, spent long periods in the water watching, waiting, observing, staring, gasping in awe, listening, searching the water and sea floor for the jewels that slowly but surely were exposed to the discerning eye.
A small hawksbill marine turtle grazed and cruised below us among the corals, the mottled patterns on its shell blending in with the corals of soft browns and earth tones. Very difficult to see above a background of Pocillopora and Pavona corals, the movement was what finally caught our eye. It kept an eye on us as we drifted above, slowly moving on in its search for edible morsals.
We couldn’t have asked for a better morning. White tipped reef sharks, blue crevalles, guneafowl puffers, reef cornetfish, damselfish, convict tangs and many, many others flitted about.
The afternoon had us on our way towards the Gulf of Panama and future adventures. Pan tropical spotted dolphins, black terns, brown boobies and others put in brief appearances between presentations in the lounge.
