Some of the most renowned
pearls in the world came from the oysters on the seabed around
the hundred or so islands which make up the Pearl Island archipelago
in the Gulf of Panama.
The islands are mostly uninhabited. There are some fishing communities
and only two of the islands have tourist development. Contadora
began to be developed in the seventies with the construction of
a hotel and airstrip. Residential development followed around
the superb beaches which surround this and other islands.
Isla San Jose
The latest resort to open in the Perlas Islands is the beautiful
Hacienda del Mar on Isla San José, the most remote island.
This is a private island, the secondlargest, with 14,000 acres
of forest and other ecosystems. The island lies 90km from Panama
City close to the continental shelf and an area known as the“Explosives”
where the sea bottom drops down abruptly to a depth of over 9,000
ft, offering unsurpassed deepsea fishing.
Contadora
The count was first of lustrous pearls from the seabed below
the clear Pacific waters. Contadora ( it translates as “teller”
or “counting house” or just about any system to help
the King of Spain keep sticky fingers out of his treasure tally)
is at the head of the Pearl Island chain in Panama Bay.
The pearls had to pass that way en route, the King hoped, to
Madrid. No pearls remain to count on Contadora today unless milady
brings them along with her bikini. But there is much else to count.
1. Your score on the nine-hole golf course. (Were it longer,
some tee shots would have to put out to sea on a compass heading).
2. Your score on the night-lit tennis courts.
3. The marlin or sailfish pennants as your hired fishing boat
ends its day or your spearfishing score around the reefs.
4. Calories in the island’s restaurants.
5. Bikinis.
Better than extending the infinite list of Contadora’s
countables, we offer a “do” and a “don’t”.
Do count your blessings. Do not count the hours till it is time
for you to leave the isle where, the historian tells, the pearls
were the size of nuts . In line with the methodology of Contadora’s
arithmetical relations with the King of Spain, he did not specify
whether peanuts or brazil nuts. The sun-bright island in the shimmering
sea is a popular Panamanian beach resort.
There are many beaches around the island. Playa Sueca
is a nudist beach.
The Hotel Contadora is a beachfront complex.
The Hotel Punta Galeon Resort offers a luxurious setting
on a bluff overlooking the Pacific and the superb Galeon Beach.
