Coiba Marine National Park, Panama
We woke up today in the sheltered waters off Coiba Island in Panama, after an overnight sailing from Costa Rica. The crystal-clear waters of Coiba heralded a day full of exciting encounters with the local wildlife, which lived up to our expectations.
Groups divided into several different activities; some preferring a bit of birding early in the morning, around the grounds of the park ranger station, while others opted for a kayak outing along the forested coastline; yet others felt quite content swimming and snorkeling off the gorgeous beach that fringes the station. In any event, most of us got great looks of the different characters that inhabit these aquatic realms. The reef fish definitely stole the show with a motley display of colors and shapes. Parrotfish, damselfish, and angelfish were all the starring characters of this underwater spectacle, but there were also great sightings of nurse and white-tipped reef sharks.
Back at the park ranger station, our galley crew presented us with a satsifying picnic lunch, which hit the right spot after all that exercise of the morning hours. Early in the afternoon we pulled anchor and headed east for the Gulf of Panama, gateway to the legendary Panama Canal.
We woke up today in the sheltered waters off Coiba Island in Panama, after an overnight sailing from Costa Rica. The crystal-clear waters of Coiba heralded a day full of exciting encounters with the local wildlife, which lived up to our expectations.
Groups divided into several different activities; some preferring a bit of birding early in the morning, around the grounds of the park ranger station, while others opted for a kayak outing along the forested coastline; yet others felt quite content swimming and snorkeling off the gorgeous beach that fringes the station. In any event, most of us got great looks of the different characters that inhabit these aquatic realms. The reef fish definitely stole the show with a motley display of colors and shapes. Parrotfish, damselfish, and angelfish were all the starring characters of this underwater spectacle, but there were also great sightings of nurse and white-tipped reef sharks.
Back at the park ranger station, our galley crew presented us with a satsifying picnic lunch, which hit the right spot after all that exercise of the morning hours. Early in the afternoon we pulled anchor and headed east for the Gulf of Panama, gateway to the legendary Panama Canal.
