Coiba Island National Park
After sailing through the night, we arrived at one of the newest National Parks of Panama, Coiba Island National Park. Known for having the second biggest coral reef of the eastern Pacific, this park was protected by law in November of 2004. It protects an area of 275,000 hectares of which only 52,000 hectares are mainland and the rest is marine area. The island has remained pristine because it used to have a large penal colony in different camps on the island. Today, the penal colony has been shut down and the prisoners have been relocated to different jails in Panama. Because of the lack of development, it’s a paradise for nature lovers, snorkelers and divers.
As soon as we dropped anchor, we took our snorkeling gear and went ashore. A little islet was waiting for us, “Granito de Oro”, the little grain of gold. As in a comic of a Gary Larson, this islet has a couple of coconut palms, white sand and a big colony of hermit crabs. The weather conditions were appropriate for our morning activities. Some went kayaking, while others could not resist the temptation to snorkel in search for fish, sharks and turtles. White-tipped reef sharks, Hawksbill turtles, green moray eels, angel fish, moorish idols, spotted grunts, blennies and many others species of fish prooved that the name was appropriated for this tropical islet.
The hermit crabs on the beach were patrolling the area looking for something to eat. They are scavengers and their duty is to keep the area clean from any organic material, for they are omnivorous. Since they have all their sense of smell very well developed, they can smell food from a distance. We could hear them marching over the rocks when they detected an open coconut that was left behind and in seconds there was a big group of hermit crabs piled on top of it. Hermit crabs are being threatened because of the collecting of shells done by humans.
For lunch, we went to the main island of Coiba and a delicious beach barbecue was waiting for us. At the end of the day, we had experience the wonders of nature of this pristine paradise. It had been the last day in Panama and we would have wished to stay for ever there, but our adventure had to continue, Costa Rica was waiting for us.
After sailing through the night, we arrived at one of the newest National Parks of Panama, Coiba Island National Park. Known for having the second biggest coral reef of the eastern Pacific, this park was protected by law in November of 2004. It protects an area of 275,000 hectares of which only 52,000 hectares are mainland and the rest is marine area. The island has remained pristine because it used to have a large penal colony in different camps on the island. Today, the penal colony has been shut down and the prisoners have been relocated to different jails in Panama. Because of the lack of development, it’s a paradise for nature lovers, snorkelers and divers.
As soon as we dropped anchor, we took our snorkeling gear and went ashore. A little islet was waiting for us, “Granito de Oro”, the little grain of gold. As in a comic of a Gary Larson, this islet has a couple of coconut palms, white sand and a big colony of hermit crabs. The weather conditions were appropriate for our morning activities. Some went kayaking, while others could not resist the temptation to snorkel in search for fish, sharks and turtles. White-tipped reef sharks, Hawksbill turtles, green moray eels, angel fish, moorish idols, spotted grunts, blennies and many others species of fish prooved that the name was appropriated for this tropical islet.
The hermit crabs on the beach were patrolling the area looking for something to eat. They are scavengers and their duty is to keep the area clean from any organic material, for they are omnivorous. Since they have all their sense of smell very well developed, they can smell food from a distance. We could hear them marching over the rocks when they detected an open coconut that was left behind and in seconds there was a big group of hermit crabs piled on top of it. Hermit crabs are being threatened because of the collecting of shells done by humans.
For lunch, we went to the main island of Coiba and a delicious beach barbecue was waiting for us. At the end of the day, we had experience the wonders of nature of this pristine paradise. It had been the last day in Panama and we would have wished to stay for ever there, but our adventure had to continue, Costa Rica was waiting for us.
