Granito de Oro, Coiba Island, Panama
After cruising all night, we slipped into the waters of Panama just before the magnificent sunrise and set our anchor down beside Coiba. It ranks as the fourth largest National Park in the world. Coiba is also Panama’s largest island and is made up of many small islets. It’s found in the southwestern part of the Chiriqui Gulf and was a penal colony before it was declared a National Park in 1991. The waters surrounding this area are also protected making this area one of the largest protected marine reserves in the world.
We were surrounded by lush tropical beauty and right off the starboard bow was an absolutely beautiful but tiny sandy island. This little jewel is called “Granito de Oro” and is just that since this translates to “ Little Grain of Gold”. It could be a postcard perfect picture complete with a few coconut trees, dense tropical foliage and an expansive beach, which was to slowly disappear with the incoming tide. Once ashore we discovered the numerous tracks of the hermit crabs, which seem to be the main occupants here.
The fish life here is astounding considering that the Eastern Pacific is usually devoid of coral reefs due to the normally turbid and cold waters brought about by the upwelling of this area. One of our choices was to snorkel and explore the rich waters just off the beach. The other choices included kayaking around the island, hiking on the main island of Coiba or just relaxing on the beach. I chose the warm clear waters and donned my equipment and set out to play with the ship’s Splash Camera. With a little help from above and I mean from the Zodiac I soon had captured some incredible underwater scenes and couldn’t wait to share this with the group. Soon the cocktail hour found us sipping refreshing “Panama Mamma’s, listening to the staff’s stories at recap of Lance-tailed Manakins and their leks and watching bewildering shapes and colors of marine life from the video monitor.
After cruising all night, we slipped into the waters of Panama just before the magnificent sunrise and set our anchor down beside Coiba. It ranks as the fourth largest National Park in the world. Coiba is also Panama’s largest island and is made up of many small islets. It’s found in the southwestern part of the Chiriqui Gulf and was a penal colony before it was declared a National Park in 1991. The waters surrounding this area are also protected making this area one of the largest protected marine reserves in the world.
We were surrounded by lush tropical beauty and right off the starboard bow was an absolutely beautiful but tiny sandy island. This little jewel is called “Granito de Oro” and is just that since this translates to “ Little Grain of Gold”. It could be a postcard perfect picture complete with a few coconut trees, dense tropical foliage and an expansive beach, which was to slowly disappear with the incoming tide. Once ashore we discovered the numerous tracks of the hermit crabs, which seem to be the main occupants here.
The fish life here is astounding considering that the Eastern Pacific is usually devoid of coral reefs due to the normally turbid and cold waters brought about by the upwelling of this area. One of our choices was to snorkel and explore the rich waters just off the beach. The other choices included kayaking around the island, hiking on the main island of Coiba or just relaxing on the beach. I chose the warm clear waters and donned my equipment and set out to play with the ship’s Splash Camera. With a little help from above and I mean from the Zodiac I soon had captured some incredible underwater scenes and couldn’t wait to share this with the group. Soon the cocktail hour found us sipping refreshing “Panama Mamma’s, listening to the staff’s stories at recap of Lance-tailed Manakins and their leks and watching bewildering shapes and colors of marine life from the video monitor.
