Coiba, Corcovado, the Panama Canal - explore the Pacific coast's most protected and biodiverse places by expedition ship.
The Pacific coasts of Panama and Costa Rica form one of the most ecologically extraordinary expedition routes in the Americas. This is where the cool Humboldt Current meets the warm Panama Bight, where deep-ocean upwellings feed surface ecosystems of staggering abundance, and where two countries have placed large percentages of their territory under strict protection. An expedition ship is the tool that unlocks it.
Coiba Island: Panama's Conservation Miracle
Coiba National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - encompasses 38 islands and 430,000 hectares of marine and terrestrial protected area off Panama's Pacific coast. Until 2004, the main island housed a penal colony, and strict access controls inadvertently created one of the most intact marine ecosystems in the Eastern Pacific. Today, it holds over 750 species of fish, 33 species of sharks, and significant populations of scarlet macaw and white-bellied spider monkey found nowhere else in Central America. The only practical way to access Coiba is by vessel.
Corcovado: The Most Biodiverse Place on Earth
National Geographic has called the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica "the most biologically intense place on Earth." Corcovado National Park, at its heart, protects the largest primary rainforest in Central America's Pacific coast. Arriving by expedition ship - anchoring offshore and taking Zodiacs into the park's rivers - allows wildlife observation that is impossible from land-based lodges: tapirs on beaches at dawn, bull sharks in river mouths, scarlet macaws overhead, and dolphins escorting the tender to shore
See current Central America voyages on the Caribbean and Central America page.
The Marine Layer: Whales, Rays, and Open-Ocean Life
The waters between Panama and Costa Rica are a major humpback whale corridor - unusually, humpbacks from both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere come here to breed, making it one of the only places on earth where year-round humpback whale activity is possible. Pacific manta rays, whale sharks, and bottlenose and spinner dolphins are regularly encountered. The diving and snorkeling, for those who want it, is world-class.
The Canal: History at the Junction of Two Oceans
An expedition that transits the Panama Canal - one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history - adds a layer of historical and intellectual interest that complements the natural wonders on either side. Watching your ship lock through the Canal, rising and lowering between the Pacific and Atlantic watersheds, is an experience that connects the engineering ambitions of the early 20th century to the geological drama of the continents.
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