This morning we woke up in Panamanian waters after sailing all night from Costa Rica. After having a great time in Costa Rica for the past few days, we departed last night from the little port of Golfito in Golfo Dulce area, and almost magically woke up this morning in Panama, sailing along a mountainous coastline on our way to the mega island of Coiba island, our destination for today.
Coiba Island in Panama is quite an interesting place. With its 503 square kilometers, it is the largest island of all Central America. Just some 12,000 to 18,000 years ago (nothing in geological time) it separated from mainland Panama, bringing with it many of its species, that over time and isolation diverged into new species that are unique to the island, such as the Coiba spinetail, howler monkeys, and Coiba agouti.
One of the darkest chapters of the history of Coiba is that in 1919, it was converted by the Panamanian government into a penal colony, where the worst criminals were sent. Gladly by 2004 due to its still pristine conditions and endemic wildlife species, it was declared a national park.
As we approached to Coiba, we were indeed impressed by the sheer size of the island. It is so big that it was hard to realize that we were no longer sailing by the mainland and that now we sailed by the coastline of Coiba.
Our destination this morning though was a visit to a tiny islet of Coiba called “Granito de Oro.” And at around 8:00 a.mm we arrived. From behind it looked just like a rocky outcrop, but as we sailed to the opposite side we found and extensive immaculate white sandy beach topped literally with one coconut palm. As National Geographic Sea Lion dropped anchor, we all eagerly jumped into our expedition landing craft to disembark on the pristine beach, carrying with us all of our snorkeling paraphernalia.
It was a great morning at Granito de Oro. The snorkeling and relaxing on the beach was great, the weather was fantastic, the water was warm, and the scenery breathtaking.Among some of the fish we observed today while snorkeling were white-tipped reef sharks, bicolored parrot fish, Moorish idols, and giant damselfish.
This was a great first day in Panama! We it ended as it began, sailing deeper into Panama.
