Costa Rica
Tour and Panama Cruise with CruiseWest
Granito de Oro (Little Grain of Gold)
Island * Text and Photos by Jack
Yeazel
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NERAL:
This island is in a bay off Coiba Island
which served as a penal colony for Panama. The history of the island
is interesting, including the fact that the guards locked themselves away
for the night while the prisoners roamed the island. Its remoteness
kept the prisoners from escaping.
The Oro beach has very fine sand and
crystal clear waters. Coiba National Park is quite a recent park
in Panama only being established as recently as 1991. Some of the
snorkeling group saw eels, turtles, and large varieties of fish.
They felt as if they were swimming in an aquarium.
Click on the following
thumbnails for larger views
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These two orentation maps show the
large island of Coiba, small Island of Coibita, and the even-smaller Island
of Oro.
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View of Oro from the ship.
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Time to go snorkeling!
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Low tide shows the island to be the cones
of two small, extinct volcanos.
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The beach is populated by hundreds (maybe
thousands) of hermit crabs.
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Hermit crabs crabs enjoy some of the ship's
punch.
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The park rangers give us a 'looking over'
-with some BIG artillery!
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The waters and sand are pristine.
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Snorkeling, or just wading, is great fun.
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Kayaking is also available.
So now it's on to Emberá.
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