We were already in Panama City when we first heard of this “surfer’s secret spot”. The turquoise crystalline waters and coconut trees kissing the water made our decision very easy and, after a couple of days in busy Panama City, we were ready to embark on a trip to Santa Catalina.

It’s not an smooth trip, as it takes about six hours in packed minivans. If you’re lucky, you get one with air conditioned. We weren’t, and it’s really hot in Panama these days! On the way to Santa Catalina we stopped in Sona. If you’re a fan of “Prison Break” this will bring back some memories. As expected, it was all for show and there really isn’t any prison there! But it is indeed a desolated place, with not much going on.

One and a half hours later we finally reach Santa Catalina’s shores, and under a pouring rain we manage to find our way around the village’s only two streets. To be honest, after a couple of hours there, we were starting to feel a bit disappointed with the place. We had seen beautiful pictures of idyllic beaches, but our short walk to the beach only showed us dirty sand and brownish waters. After six hours of bumpy roads, we were expecting a bit more…

That night we decided to compensate our misfortunes with some pizza and wine (is there a better way of feeling good again?). It was here that we heard about the hidden beauties of the Island of Coiba, where our paradise beaches were waiting or us. Ok, there was hope again 🙂

Next day we woke up to a beautiful sunny day, and went early in the morning for a boat tour to Coiba. And this is were we really regretted not having a waterproof camera! It was my first time snorkeling and I was thrilled! It was like swimming with Nemo & friends. We saw a whole bunch of colorful fishes that would have made amazing pictures. But most incredible of all, we swam with whitetip reef sharks… Not from the inside of a cage, but right there, next to us. I’m writing this now, and feeling the thrill all over again! No words to describe it (and unfortunately, no pictures either).

We made a technical stop in Santiago, halfway to Santa Catalina, and stayed in a truly beautiful place, with this amazing late afternoon light

Sunset near Santiago, halfway in our journey from Panama City to Santa Catalina

Red ant holes: their bite is quite painful, as Jules will see a bit further along the trip

The run-down minivan that took us from Sona to Santa Catalina

We can’t really say that Santa Catalina’s beach is ugly… But after you’ve been to Coiba, there’s no comparison!

Sunset at Santa Catalina’s beach

It was pouring when we arrived… We were looking hopeful for an opening in the sky that didn’t happen

Santa Catalina’s busy Main Street

Verne looking at the other taxis on the Santa Catalina shore (it’s funny, this new concept of taxi!)

‘Isla Granito de Oro’, a piece of heaven on earth!

Our ride to ‘Isla Granito de Oro’

The water is so transparent, that in the shore you don’t even need your snorkel

It’s a never ending of amazing shades of blue, green and sand gold

Can you believe this shade of blue? Oh… And it was also very warm!

View from the top of Coiba Island

This lizard’s shade of green was exactly the same as the grass. You wouldn’t be able to spot it in any of our other pictures with it outside the leaf!

There is indeed a very large crocodile there, Tito. Unfortunately he was shy that day and didn’t show up

Verne considers an alternative lifestyle, on board of a shrimp fishing boat

Believe it or not, this flat sea beach is called ‘Surfers Paradise Beach’ and can host 7+ meter waves

Another view of the very calm ‘Surfers Paradise Beach’

Coiba Island is definitely a very special place, and a sanctuary for marine life. Being there, seeing all that beautiful underwater world, made all the bumps in the road more than worth it! Talking about bumps, the trip back to mainland was pretty rough as well, thanks to the late afternoon “southern breeze”. Seemed like a full blown wind to us, but at the end of it Verne made it to a large shrimp boat and felt very tempted to ignore his vegetarian diet 🙂

Going north now to a tropical forest paradise: Boquete!

Jules *