Island Coiba



Coiba Island is one of Panama's most unique offerings, kin to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and Costa Rica's Cocos Island. Its stunning beauty make it a delight for divers, tourists and scientists, all eager to discovery Coiba's living bounty.

Coiba's History

Coiba Island is one of Panama's most unique offerings, kin to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and Costa Rica's Cocos Island. Its stunning beauty make it a delight for divers, tourists and scientists, all eager to discovery Coiba's living bounty.

Situated in the province of Veraguas, just 12 miles south of the Pacific mainland in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Coiba is the largest island in the Central Pacific. It is both a national park and a World Heritage Site, and home to a bewildering variety of birds, animals, and marine species found nowhere else in the world. A treasure trove of pristine biodiversity, Coiba harbors a dark past whose faded remnants still stand today.



Natural Wonders

Once part of the mainland, rising sea levels separated Coiba Island from the rest of Panama roughly 15,000 years ago. Despite its relatively short isolation, many plant and animal species have evolved new and distinct forms on the island, making them unique in the world. Endemic species include the Coiba Island Howler Monkey, the Coiba Agouti (a small rodent) and the Coiba Spinetail bird.



The island is also home to many plant and animal species that have largely vanished from the mainland, such as crested eagles, scarlet macaws, wpider monkeys, and the Yellow-billed Cotinga. Many of the islands inhabitants make their home in Coiba's red, white and black mangroves swamps, one of the most diverse mangrove systems in the region.