Panama or bust

Isla Parida, Panama

Today we entered the warm Panamanian waters and anchored in the middle of an archipelago, the largest island called Isla Parida, surrounded by 25 or so smaller islands, some only big enough for a couple of trees.  Last winter on the Star Pride, I travelled to some similar islands on the Atlanta side of Panama, the San Blais Islands. The San Blais Islands were more like sand bars with cocoanut palms on them but these islands are made of volcanic rock and while there are some palms, there is a wide assortment of other vegetation as well. 

Here are two maps, one showing you the area, and another showing you our position relative to mainland Costa Rica and Panama.

These islands are in the Chiriqui Gulf National Marine Park so the islands are protected and uninhabited.  The islands are home to monkeys, dolphins, whales, a plethora of birds and brilliant aquatic life. The aquatic life is what we were off in search of this morning with two snorkelling stops in among the islands. 

Our guides knew exactly where to go and in no time we were at our first stop. The first snorkel of the year is always a bit awkward getting used to the equipment, etc, and today was no different. And the boat we were in was not the easiest to get in and out of. We were next to a rock outcropping when we anchored and we had quite a long time to explore on our own. Some dive masters are very prescriptive about where you go and some even have you follow them, but these guys were happy to just let us meander in the warm water.  

And meander we did through rock covered in coral with sand floor valleys watching the aquarium of life below us. This is beyond a doubt the best snorkelling I’ve done in the Caribbean/Central American area in the past 3 years.  There were schools of small and large fish, and solo fish in all colours of the rainbow.  Some tiny florescent purple ones, some huge parrot fish, striped ones in various colours, some solid coloured ones in yellows and blues, yellow with spots, grey and white stripped, Angel Fish, butterfly fish, and even some star fish. I got caught in a channel between the rocks making my way back to the boat that was a little anxiety provoking as there was some swell pushing me to and fro requiring me to really boot it a couple of times. But I didn’t hit anything and saw some cool stuff along the way. There was some coral I hadn’t seen before, but none was very colourful or interesting. Was so great to do some good snorkelling after some disappointing excursions the last two years. 

Then the captain moved the boat to another spot around another island, and there was a beautiful secluded beach where we dropped two of our passengers off to spend some time swimming and walking the white sand beach.  As we were getting positioned to do our second snorkel, our guide spotted the head of a large Green Turtle nearby. Once in the water we got close enough to see how huge it was and watch it eat. After a couple of minutes, the dive master had us move on to the rocky area so as not to harass the turtle even though we weren’t close.  Sadly this area was like a coral graveyard, with no live coral at all and lots of dead and bleached branches on the floor of the ocean. There were lots of fish in this location but not nearly as many as the first one. As Adrienne and I were headed back to the boat, she pointed out a huge white fish to me. It looked like a ghost. While we were watching, believe it or not, it changed colour into a grey and white striped fish!  If we hadn’t both seen it I wouldn’t have believed it.  Very cool. We’ll have to ask the on-board naturalist about it when we next see him. 

The snorkelling boat dropped us off on the private beach where the fabulous Windstar staff had spent the morning lining the beach under the cocoanut palms with lounge chairs and bright umbrellas. The kitchen staff, under the watchful eye of the head chef, prepared a fabulous lunch barbecue on the beach as well.  Especially having been on the water all morning, we were tired and ready for some lunch. It was sure good! 

I’ve showered and changed but thinking now is the time for a nap. So off I go to do that before I get signed up to do something else. Tomorrow is a day at sea so unless something really exciting happens you might not hear from me.