Coiba Island National Park and Granito de Oro, Panama
After an overnight journey we said goodbye to Costa Rica. Today, Panama gave us a warm welcome as we arrived at Coiba Island National Park. This park was once a prison, but now it is protected to preserve the land resources and wildlife. Some of the wildlife includes the endemic crimson backed tanager and the Coiba howler monkey, among other species of birds and mammals.
During the morning we anchored in front of the ranger station and had some time to explore our surroundings. We chose to either exercise our upper body while kayaking or to test out our snorkeling gear to get used to the warm water of Panama’s Pacific Ocean. After a delicious lunch back aboard, the Captain repositioned the National Geographic Sea Lion and we were in front of the charming Granito de Oro Island.
Very few times one gets the feeling to own a peace of paradise like we did at Granito, where we had the small white sand beach and its coral reefs all to ourselves.
We were free to choose between when we wanted to go to the island and when we wanted to return to the National Geographic Sea Lion. Relaxing by the beach and exploring the crystal waters and the live colorful reefs became a temptation hard to walk away from.
Parrot fish, moray eels, angel, surgeon and butterfly fishes, sea turtles and white tip reef sharks, just to mention a few of the species seen, showed the colors and beauty of the underwater world. The white tip sharks remained resting at the bottom while the snorkelers enjoyed their presence discovered hidden corners of a healthy resplendent environment.
The fish did not seem to be disturbed by our presence, since we stayed at a distance good enough to appreciate the marvels of nature without causing any damage to it. Our Panama expedition could not have started better!!!
