Coiba Island
Patricio Roca - PanamaRide.com

An hour flight from Panama City via local flights, departing daily at around 7:00 a.m. from Marcos A. Gelabert airport. The flight is definitely a smooth one. We probably experienced turbulence for no more than ten seconds, and this was only once.

Even though the atmosphere was somewhat cloudy; every once in a while the clouds would open up to unravel the beauty of the Panamanian continental divide. Passing over the mountain range that varies from very steep hills in a tropical low mountainous forest, to pre-mountainous dry forests, and last, the only tropical dry forests in Central America . Beyond the dry forests, which are right next to the pacific coast of panama, we started the aquatic portion of the flight. Once we reach the ocean we start devising the protected islands and watershed for this breath-taking sanctuary. Once we landed in the island, we were greeted by a small group of heavily armed Panamanian police officers, who directed us towards the beach so we could meet our boat transfer to the park ranger's station. Practically on the other side of the island.

Coiba Island was a maximum security prison until the year of 1993 and even thou the common stories are about the prisoners who escaped and are now living hiding inside this 300 square mile island, Mali Mali, a park ranger and former prisoner here, assured us the only person who was a convict and is still in Coiba is himself.

..."nobody wanted to come back here, I am the only former prisoner who returned to the island, but this time as a free man".

Hiking is possible all around the island with a numerous amount of "virgin" forests, trails with no difficulty level at all, and physically demanding "machete trails"

Coiba Island , with over 648,000 acres was established as a national park in the year of 1992. 147 species of birds are easily found throughout the islands, one of them is endemic and only found here. Marine fauna is probably the main attraction of Coiba. Investigators, biologists, and enthusiasts book year round expeditions just to scuba Coiba. Another attraction is the sports fishing, catching Wahoo and Dorado is an everyday thing.

Sounds interesting but somewhat difficult to grasp, right? You need to come and witness natural wonders of the Panamanian Pacific islands.

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