Our day began with a pod of dolphins playing a long the waves of National Geographic Sea Lion. The colors of the sunrise were unique and everyone was setting up the snorkeling gear … we were arriving to Coiba National Park, an amazing marine protected area with incredible history and one of the largest coral sections protected on the Pacific side of Panama. The waters were calm and the wind invited us to go out on deck to enjoy the scenery.
The morning adventure was at the small Island known as Granito de Oro. Beautiful white sand, two coconut palms, hundreds of hermit crabs and the most incredible coral section you can imaging, turtles, colorful fish, reef sharks, were the theme of the morning; easily every person went into the waters twice. The contrast on the color of the water plus the volcanic rocks on the main island were a perfect scenery to enjoy every moment
After a great morning snorkeling, the ship was relocated to the main station on Coiba Island. The huge place years ago was hosting the most remote prison on the country, but because the rich and diverse fauna, it became a protected area. After lunch, we decided to do some paddle boarding and kayaking, meanwhile there were others that continue enjoying the snorkeling. There were some great birds around, different calls and songs… but the some of the birds that was hard to ignore were the black vultures… they were few of them drinking water and running around each other like playing on the sand… they were not the most beautiful of the birds we saw but was a lot of fun to see their display and drying their wings on the sun.
It was hard to see how quick the day went by, our trip in Panama was ending but the beauty of Costa Rica is waiting for us…
