Boquete Outdoor Adventures

This is a 9 day trip with 5 days of paddling based around Isla Coiba off the Pacific coast of central Panama. We will spend 2 nights in hotels at the beginning and end of the trip. The rest of the trip is camping. This trip is designed for experienced paddlers because of the isolated location, remote beach landings, strong currents and the possibility of waves and wind. Generally, we will not paddle long distances (8 to 10 miles per day) in order to have time to snorkel, hike, fish and relax on the beaches.

We run this trip during the dry season (December to April). During this time, the wind and swells are usually light on the Pacific side of Panama. We can run the trip during the rainy season as a custom trip, but it becomes an advanced paddling trip because of the increased swell and wind in addition to heavy rains.

Isla Coiba is the center of one of the world’s largest marine parks and a UN World Heritage Site. Until 2004, Coiba was also home to a penal colony. The park itself, founded in 1991, is made up of 38 different islands and is home to the 2nd largest coral reef in the eastern Pacific. Coiba is the largest island in Central America (50,314 hectares) and the marine park covers 430,821 hectares. The marine life is incredible in the park. There are orcas, dolphins, humpback whales, sea turtles, huge manta rays, tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks and much more! The beaches are nesting grounds for sea turtles, and the island itself is home to at least 36 species of mammals and 150 species of birds. Coiba is also home to several species of monkeys, crocodiles, and has one of the last concentrations of scarlet macaws in Panama and Central America. Around 80% of the island is still pristine rain forest. The presence of the penal colony in the past coupled with the fact that it takes a 2 hour motor boat ride to get to the island, means that the park and Coiba itself are largely untouched
Today, there is a ANAM (Panama’s park service) station at one end of the island and a police station at the former penal colony. Otherwise, the island is uninhabited and remote.

The trip begins with your arrival at the international airport in Panama City. We will meet you at the airport and transport you to a local hotel. The next morning, we will drive to Puerto Mutis (4-5 hours). The next day we will begin our paddling trip. Our route will vary depending on the sea conditions. We start on the northern end of the island. The swell is generally out of the southwest. If we think the swell is manageable, we will begin by exploring the western side of the island. Otherwise, we will stay on the more protected eastern and northern parts of Coiba. There are also a number of outlying islands that we can explore. All our camping will be on remote beaches.

GENERAL ITINERARY

Day 1 (Saturday)

The trip begins with your arrival at the international airport in Panama City. We will meet you at the airport and transport you to a local hotel. Most flights arrive in late in the day. If you arrive early, we would be happy to arrange a tour of the Panama Canal or the ciry.

Day 2 (Sunday)

The next morning, we drive to Puerto Mutis (4-5 hours). From here, we will take a motor boat that will transport guests, boats and gear to Isla Coiba. Once we arrive at the island, we will outfit and pack the boats at the ANAM station. We will have time to do some paddling in the area that afternoon and we will camp at the ANAM station for our first night.

Day 3 (Monday) through Day 7 (Friday)

Our route will vary depending on the wind and wave conditions. We will be camping on remote beaches around the island. Some mornings, we may find crocodiles in the surf and on other mornings we will have Scarlet Macaws in the trees near our camp site. We will spend at least one day paddling up a remote river covered with mangroves where we likely see many different species of birds and some large crocodiles, and are likely to see monkeys near camp many days.

Day 8 (Saturday)

The motor boat will meet us in the morning where we make the boat ride back to Puerto Mutis (2 hours). From here, we drive back to Panama City where we will stay in a hotel that night.

Day 9 (Sunday)