|
Separated from the mainland by dense mangrove swamp and with a 14km beach on its seaward side, Isla Canas is the most important sea-turtle nesting site on Panama's Pacific coast, being frequented by four of the world's eight species of sea turtle. Though archeological evidence suggests that people have been coming to the island to hunt turtles and harvest their eggs for many centuries, it was only settled in the 1960s. The settlers, who now number some 400, have cleared most of the land for crops, but the eggs have always been their principal source of income. Since 1988, the hunting of turtles has been prohibited and a cooperative has been established to control the harvest. Members watch over the beaches at night and collect the eggs as soon as they are laid, keeping 80 percent for sale and consumption and moving the rest to a nursery where the turtles can hatch and return to the sea in safety. The reserve was officially established in 1994, protecting the mangroves as well as the marine life, and the turtle population has made a dramatic recovery since. Come here between May and January and you will almost certainly see green, hawksbill or Olive Ridley turtles laying their eggs at night - the latter sometimes arrive in massive "arribadas" of several thousand in one night between August and November, a truly magnificent sight. From December to March there's a good chance of seeing the leviathan-like leatherback turtle, which can weigh over 800 kilos. Surprisingly, given the popularity of the similar Parque Nacional Tortuguero in Costa Rica, there is as yet almost no tourist development at Isla Canas, so if you make it down here you will almost certainly have the place to yourself. The island is also very beautiful by day - you can hire a horse and ride along the endless white sand or get one of the locals to take you through the mangroves in a canoe
Your Tip for Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve - visit the main Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
