Coiba National Park
After sailing during the night, we finally arrived to one of Panama’s newest jewels, Coiba Island National Park. With an extension of 271,000 hectares, this park has the second biggest coral reef of the Eastern Pacific. Before being declared a national park, the main island was used as a prison, allowing its forest to be kept pristine. Since the year 2001, all the prisoners were relocated in different jails throughout the country and the island was opened to the public.
Right after breakfast, we went ashore to explore a little islet known as “Granito de Oro,” “Little Grain of Gold.” As if from a Gary Larson comic, Granito de Oro has three palm trees, white sand and a big troop of hermit crabs. The water was crystal clear and from the zodiacs we could see a number of reef fishes swimming all through the place. How to explore this lovely little paradise? Well, kayaking was one the options as well as snorkeling.
We geared up and went snorkeling. One of the first sightings was a hawks-billed turtle that decided to swim close to us, curious of the weird creatures that had come to her habitat. White-tipped reef sharks didn’t mind our visit and rested on the bottom of the sea. A blunt headed trigger fish was blowing the sand bottom looking for food and bicolored parrot fishes were eating chunks of coral while we swam next to them. The life under the sea is one of the most interesting of the ecosystems. We could see the balance between predator and prey. It was just a good example of a healthy coral reef.
What a marvellous morning! We had this experience and it made us think about the importance of the preservation of coral reefs and the controlling of the fishing activities close to marine parks. The foundation “Mar Viva” is trying to promote the creation of marine corridors with the idea to connect other marine parks such as Cocos Island, Malpelo and Galápagos. This will help in controlling the fishing activities and preserving the life of sharks and many other species of fish.
Back on board, we weighed anchored and started sailing to the next destination of our journey along the wild side of Panama and Costa Rica.
After sailing during the night, we finally arrived to one of Panama’s newest jewels, Coiba Island National Park. With an extension of 271,000 hectares, this park has the second biggest coral reef of the Eastern Pacific. Before being declared a national park, the main island was used as a prison, allowing its forest to be kept pristine. Since the year 2001, all the prisoners were relocated in different jails throughout the country and the island was opened to the public.
Right after breakfast, we went ashore to explore a little islet known as “Granito de Oro,” “Little Grain of Gold.” As if from a Gary Larson comic, Granito de Oro has three palm trees, white sand and a big troop of hermit crabs. The water was crystal clear and from the zodiacs we could see a number of reef fishes swimming all through the place. How to explore this lovely little paradise? Well, kayaking was one the options as well as snorkeling.
We geared up and went snorkeling. One of the first sightings was a hawks-billed turtle that decided to swim close to us, curious of the weird creatures that had come to her habitat. White-tipped reef sharks didn’t mind our visit and rested on the bottom of the sea. A blunt headed trigger fish was blowing the sand bottom looking for food and bicolored parrot fishes were eating chunks of coral while we swam next to them. The life under the sea is one of the most interesting of the ecosystems. We could see the balance between predator and prey. It was just a good example of a healthy coral reef.
What a marvellous morning! We had this experience and it made us think about the importance of the preservation of coral reefs and the controlling of the fishing activities close to marine parks. The foundation “Mar Viva” is trying to promote the creation of marine corridors with the idea to connect other marine parks such as Cocos Island, Malpelo and Galápagos. This will help in controlling the fishing activities and preserving the life of sharks and many other species of fish.
Back on board, we weighed anchored and started sailing to the next destination of our journey along the wild side of Panama and Costa Rica.
