Santa Catalina

After leaving Boquete, I went with a few friends to Santa Catalina for a couple of days; a short stop on our way to Panama City. From Boquete, we took 4 different buses (3 of which were jammed-packed crowded AND hot) for a total travel time of 8.5 hours! 

Santa Catalina is a small surf town. . . . very very small.  We stayed at some cabanas close to the beach, but then again, everything there is close to everything else, bc the town is so small. While we were there, we hit the beach, surfed, checked out a big surf competition happening in town, and went for a day trip to Coiba Island.  The surf competition was reef break surfing (?), which happens a bit farther out in the ocean, so my camera didn't really take any good picturs. ....basically, all I have are some pictures of the town (the 3 photos below are looking in all 3 directions of the main intersection in town), and some pics of our Coiba snorkel adventures!

Speakng of snorkle adventures: our group of 5 took a boat out to Coiba National Park (an island about a 1.5 hour boat ride from Santa Catalina), as well as a couple other small islands nearby.  We snorkeled twice with a guide, and also took a small hike on Coiba.  We swam with all kinds of interesting and colorful fish, sea turtles and (my worst nightmare) SHARKS. Thankfully, the sharks were far enough away, and smallish (maybe 5 feet long); plus, this type of shark typically hangs out on the ocean floor. . . .or at least they usually hang on the ocean floor until your guide bothers them a bit to get them moving.  At one point, I had a few short heart palpitations, but I made it out alive.

It was a short 4 night trip, but a nice stop on our way to Panama City.