Taboga Island, Panama

Taboga is today a tourist reference, its beaches only 20 kilometers from Panama City, and the 30 minutes that the firm land crossing to the island lasts make this place a resting place for beach, tradition and culture.

The Church of San Pedro de Taboga, is the most outstanding historical place, being recognized as a World Heritage Site as it’s the 2nd catholic church built in the americas.

Its narrow streets, its park surrounded by huge flamboyan trees are a tourist attraction. The park has been restored, and its colorful flamboyants have disappeared.

With just under 1,000 inhabitants, its few restaurants and hotels makes it an ideal place to spend the day, or getting up very early to get lost in the trails, and hiking in the mountains full of vegetation and wildlife.

From there you can see the boats that wait to cross the Panama Canal, or you can take a tour of the cemetery of the French, or go into the thick vegetation and see the frogs of blue and black (poisonous) and hundreds of Butterflies in the area. In 1984, a large part of the island is declared a Wildlife Refuge, where sea birds, especially Pelicans, nest there. It is an ideal place for water sports practices.
There are several paths and lookouts in its tour of the island, it is appreciated an enormous biological diversity.

You reach the central part of the village by a path, which is worth visiting. The Mirador del Vigia is the highest point of the island, it is located in the concrete structure used in the Second World War by the US Army, as an anti-aircraft defense site of the Panama Canal, from that point you can see the old and modern city of Panama.

At the end of August you can see whales near the coast.