Taboga Island

Just five miles southwest of the “Safe Water” buoy off the entrance of the Panama Canal (Pacific side) lies a marvelous little island, Isla Taboga.  Dubbed “Isla de las Flores,” the Island of the Flowers is the weekend playground of the Panameans.  Lured by the prospect of clean waters and hospitable beaches, we went to check it out.

Of course, arriving on a Sunday gave us the full picture: beach packed with people crammed under an army of sun umbrellas, the air ripe with salsa music and laughter, pleasure yachts at anchor with the usual crowd: tanned guys drinking beer and shooting the breeze, skinny girls sunning themselves in scant bikinis or floating on air mattresses, and white-uniformed crew scampering over decks to launch PWCs or pump air into the various toys, including a water toboggan.  If you like people-watching, this is great fun.

Most boats catch a mooring (VHF 74: Taboga Moorings, or Jesus at 6442 5712) for $8/day.  Unfortunately, DOMINO weighing in at just the 25-ton safety limit imposed by Jesus, was just too big for the moorings.  Dropping anchor can be difficult since there is very limited space between the moorings and the water is deep (15 to 20 meters).  But we found a spot off the ferry wharf in 10 meters (33 feet) at low tide.  Since there is a 5.2-meter tide (17 feet), planning for a 15-meter (50’) deep anchorage can deter a number of boats not equipped for such an anchorage. No problem for DOMINO.  In this case, 200 feet of chain/40 feet of depth (33 feet of water + 7 feet of freeboard) = 5:1 scope of ½” chain.  Solid.  It’s not the case for all boats, however.  Case in point: a splendid, brand new Catana 47’ on delivery to Tahiti anchored there a few days after us.  The crew went to shore for a few hours only to come back to a vacant anchorage.  Their brand new boat had drifted away, nowhere in sight.  Fortunately, the Catana was equipped with GPS tracker and the crew was able to locate it via Internet.  Jesus (Taboga Moorings) sent out a panga to retrieve the yacht, bring it back to the island and safely secure it to one of his moorings.  Lesson: if you don’t have the right tackle, don’t anchor here!

Taboga is, however, a great place to leave your boat on a mooring if you must travel home for a few weeks, definitely an alternative to Panama City’s Balboa Yacht Club.  Jesus does a great job caring for the yachts.  

The beach doesn’t seem like much at high tide, but as soon as the water recedes, a sand spit appears, parting the waters into 2 anchorages and opening a path to the little island of Morro Taboga.  Great place to meet the locals, sample empanadas from the local food stands, drink beer, and avoid being run over by an ATV or two.  Take a walk along the waterfront, its yellow-and-white concrete banisters a colorful garland along the town, walk up to the church, down across bridges, and enjoy the blooming hibiscus and bougainvilliers.  Be surprised by a Gauguin mural (yes, Paul Gauguin did a stint here) and chat with the locals.  It’s all cool. 

Until then….

dominomarie