After exploring Costa Rica and enjoying the tropical rainforest, we crossed into a new country, Panama. Coiba National Park is considered the jewel of the Pacific Ocean. For many years this archipelago was used for a different purpose. In 1919 the ex-president Belisario Porras created a penal colony on the island and until 2003 this special place was a jail.
They didn’t have any type of research on the island until 1992 when a group of biologists from Spain grew interested. Slowly, they caught the attention of the scientific community.
Today onboard National Geographic Quest we had the opportunity to explore a different area of this important place. We split the group in two and offered different experiences simultaneously. We offered a nature walk around the garden of the ranger station and also snorkeling around Coco’s Islet. Then we switched so that our guests had the chance to experience everything.
Mid-day we returned to the ship and enjoyed lunch. On the way out of Coiba, pantropical spotted dolphins approached us and we continued to our next destination, the bay of Panama.
