| GENERAL INFORMATION
This park is located in the Los Santos province. With a
surface of 53 hectares (130 acres), it includes 9 Kilometers of beaches that are used by
five different kinds of turtles for nesting between April and September. The park also
includes one of the largest coral reefs of the Panamanian Gulf, 16 hectares (40 acres),
and a white sand island called Iguana. This island is the habitat of many seabirds and
marine species.
This park is visited every year by two kinds of whales, yubatas and humpbacks, which
migrate from the cold waters of the polar areas to warmer waters in the tropics where they
can mate.
How to get there
From Panama City you can take a 35-minute a
plane ride to Chitre in the province of Herrera. Then you will have to take a two-hour car
trip to Pedasi in the province of Los Santos. Then you must get to the mouth of the river
Pedasí and take a boat to Iguana Island. By car along the Pan-American Highway it will
take you at least five hours from Panama City to Pedasí.
Services
Pedasi town is the nearest one to the island to offer hotels,
restaurants and boat rentals. From Panama you can contact a tour operator for a
pre-arranged tour to Iguana Island. Additionally Chitré and Las Tablas (in the province
of Los Santos), have all kind of tourist services like hotels, restaurants, car rentals
and tourist guides.
What to do and Where to go?
You can swim, dive and snorkel in the clear waters off the coast or of the island where
you can see a very rich marine life that includes one of the most beautiful Pacific Ocean
coral reefs. Also you can hike along the many trails that cross the island from East to
West, connecting Cirial Beach with El Faro Beach where you can see many sea birds and of
course, real huge iguanas after which the Island and the Wildlife Refuge was named.
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