Coiba National Park, located in the Gulf of
Chiriquí, is a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site,
comprising a 1,700 square-mile island plus 38
smaller islands. The islands are uninhabited,
remote and wild. Endemic land and marine
species, as well as their migratory routes and
reproduction sites, are protected, in part, by
the island's inaccessibility.
Its Tropical Eastern Pacific location, which
includes the Cocos, Malpelo, and Galapagos
Islands, is impacted by five converging oceanic
current with a 16-foot tidal variation
every six hours. Its proximity to the continental
shelf creates deep, open ocean conditions
and nutrient-rich waters that attract pelagics
not usually seen so close to shore. Deepwater
sea mounts, pinnacles and drop-offs, volcanic
substrata, shallow coral reefs, rocky shores,
beaches, mangroves, estuaries, sand and mud
areas offer a diversity of marine habitats.
The island's ancient tropical rain forest,
surrounded by 150 miles of coastline, has
numerous rivers, creating a mangrove habitat
for both caiman and American crocodiles.
The park is home to one of the largest flocks
of scarlet macaw, and nesting sites for the rare
and illusive crested eagle. Whales (including
humpback, finback, orcas and sperms),
dolphins and other marine mammals are
common.
Around 2000 B.C., a Central American
mountain tribe called the Chibcha built
fishing camps on Coiba and several islands
nearby. Ancient fish traps can occasionally be
sighted in intertidal zones. Coiba was settled
by 1550 B.C., when Spanish invaders either
exterminated or moved the natives to work in
the gold mines of Darien on Panama's mainland.
Coiba remained uninhabited until the
early 20th century, when a penal colony was
established there. Considered similar to the
notorious French penal colony Devil's Island,
near French Guyana, Coiba closed in 2000.
Its reputation alleged the disappearance of
hundreds of people, but its offshore distance,
strong currents and healthy shark populations
deterred escape attempts.