Granito De Oro, Coiba National Park
As we entered Panama waters and the Golf of Chiriqui, the weather received us with a typical change of the tropics (rainy to sunny) in just a period of two hours. The weather provided a spectacular morning at “Granito de Oro” at the Coiba National Park where we enjoyed snorkeling. Coiba is the main island of this archipelago of 28 smaller islands that for over 80 years was a penitentiary prison, and later turned into a National Park. The prison that once existed at Coiba was the only self-sustainable one that Panama had, in which the prisoners had the responsibility of growing and raising what they consumed for food.
We had a wonderful time at the small island of Granito de Oro with some reef species like Tiger Snake Eels, Spot tail Grunts, Bicolor Parrotfish, King Angelfish, Moorish Idols, Guineafowl Puffers, Barberfish, Panamic Sergeant Majors, Whitetip Sharks and others that easily could take our breath away at this fantastic location in Panama.
We left Granito de Oro with the sweet taste of a beautiful day and location, with the experience of having enjoyed one the World Heritage Sites that Panama, a place that shelters endangered, and non-endangered species that find an excellent refuge here.
Later at sea, while navigating in the Golf of Chiriqui towards our next destination, some turtles, Pan-tropical Dolphins and Yellow Bellied Sea-Snakes could be seen from our ship National Geographic Sea Lion, demonstrating that in spite of having left Granito de Oro, there was a lot more to see.
