Coiba Island, Panama
After traveling 130 nautical miles, we anchored in front of Coiba Island when the sun was giving its first rays. The little islet of Granito de Oro (Little Grain of Gold), next to Coiba Island, was calling each one of us to enjoy its beach and coral reefs.
Coiba National Park was created around the 1990. It gathers around 271,000 hectares in which only 50,000 are inland and the rest is marine. For many years it was one of the biggest penal colonies in Panama. Right after being declared a national park, they began to reduce the amount of camps and inmates. Actually it gathers the second biggest coral reef in the eastern Pacific.
Right after breakfast we grabbed our gear and went to enjoy the wonders of this park. Some went to look for the different species of birds around the ranger station. Others went to walk through a trail known as the Howler Monkey. Over this place, the endemic subspecies of howler monkey gave them the welcome with their distinctive howl.
Once back from these activities, we changed our gear for snorkeling. Coiba offers a different snorkeling area. Hard coral is the most common with a big diversity of reef fishes. Moorish idols, queen parrot fish, dragon wrasse, butterfly fish, reef cornet fish, angel fishes, and many others colored the waters of this park.
We had a wonderful day but our trip had to continue. Another 190 nautical miles had to be covered in order to get to our next destination in Panama, “the Paradise of Sea Birds!”
After traveling 130 nautical miles, we anchored in front of Coiba Island when the sun was giving its first rays. The little islet of Granito de Oro (Little Grain of Gold), next to Coiba Island, was calling each one of us to enjoy its beach and coral reefs.
Coiba National Park was created around the 1990. It gathers around 271,000 hectares in which only 50,000 are inland and the rest is marine. For many years it was one of the biggest penal colonies in Panama. Right after being declared a national park, they began to reduce the amount of camps and inmates. Actually it gathers the second biggest coral reef in the eastern Pacific.
Right after breakfast we grabbed our gear and went to enjoy the wonders of this park. Some went to look for the different species of birds around the ranger station. Others went to walk through a trail known as the Howler Monkey. Over this place, the endemic subspecies of howler monkey gave them the welcome with their distinctive howl.
Once back from these activities, we changed our gear for snorkeling. Coiba offers a different snorkeling area. Hard coral is the most common with a big diversity of reef fishes. Moorish idols, queen parrot fish, dragon wrasse, butterfly fish, reef cornet fish, angel fishes, and many others colored the waters of this park.
We had a wonderful day but our trip had to continue. Another 190 nautical miles had to be covered in order to get to our next destination in Panama, “the Paradise of Sea Birds!”
