Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine April 2017

— Continued from previous page
We had a fantastic adventure exploring this scenic
paradise. It is hard to fathom it is only an hour and a
half ferry ride from the booming Panama City. Some
islands were cloaked in coconut palms, enormous
trees and underlying scrubby bushes. Others looked
like nothing more than barren jagged black masses,
but were filled with small crustaceans, mollusks and
adorably colorful “sea rabbits”. Those islands’ terrain
reminded us of the iron rock that we saw all throughout
The Bahamas.
Even though the endless white sand beaches look
extremely inviting, it is not recommended to just
beach your dink and leave it while you go beachcombing.
Great consideration must be taken, owing
to the 17- to 20-foot rise and fall of the tide. A dinghy
anchor is a must.
Reza Pahlavi, lived on Contadora for a period of time.
At Contadora Island, we picked up a free mooring
ball, launched the dinghy and headed ashore. As there
was no floating dock or other place to safely leave the
dinghy with the high tides, Alice dropped us off and
waited for us to call her on the VHF to pick us up. The
island has a number of resorts, but they are beautifully
done and there are no gigantic high rises. We
spent the day hiking all over the island and visited
several of the beautiful beaches. It is quite wild, with
unmanicured forests in several areas and for that we
loved it! To our amazement, we even saw two wild deer
running through the woods.
From late July to October, humpback whales, as well
as other whale species, migrate from cold waters for
breeding. There are dive operators that can provide you
with equipment to experience some gorgeous snorkeling
was in fact the Sub Marine Explorer, which was built in
1865 by Julius H. Kroehl and was later bought by WH
Tiffany in New York to harvest pearls.
After numerous descents, the submarine encountered
serious issues with the crew. The crew was dying,
and the problem was believed to be caused by the submarine.
The submarine was abandoned and it still sits
in the same place today. Later it was ascertained that
the crew were either getting the bends (decompression
sickness) or carbon dioxide poisoning.
To learn more about this incredible find, check out
the great documentary created by Delgado and his
team on our YACHTULTRA1 You Tube Channel playlists.
Just click on the Lost Submarine Las Perlas
Smithsonian Delgado Documentary or the link www.
smithsonianchannel.com/videos/the-find-of-a-lifetime/12170.
Memories of this Archipelago
After our fantastic Pearl Islands adventure, we
boarded the fast ferry back to the Balboa Yacht Club.
The ferry turned out to be a Gold Coast Catamaran
that was built in St. Croix. We had met and visited
with the owners there many times several years ago
when we were looking into purchasing an additional
charter boat. We met up again with Yonder and stayed
a few more nights aboard with them, before returning
on the bus to Shelter Bay Marina.
The Pearl Islands are a paradise that should not be
missed. There are so many pristine islands to explore,
both inhabited and uninhabited. The best part is that
there are hardly any boats there — you will probably
not see another boat for weeks. You will have the
exquisite islands, the dazzling sunsets, and the unbelievable
fishing opportunities all to yourself.
Oh, yes — one more blissful moment we experienced
Left: The beaches in Las Perlas are inviting, but owing
to the rise and fall of the tide a dinghy anchor is a must
We snorkeled in clear waters teeming with fish and
an array of other sea creatures. We saw numerous
iguanas of all sizes, and a tremendous variety of birds,
some we had never seen before. There were countless
flocks flying overhead during all hours of the day.
One of our highlights was being there during the
turtle-hatching season. Along the remote sugar-white
beaches were the nests and the wonderful telltale
signs of eggshells that showed us evidence of very
recent hatchlings. We also admired the tremendous
scroll marks left by the numerous ghost crabs making
their intricate designs in the sand.
We only saw one other boat the entire trip — a
French sailboat that was based at Isla Contadora full
time. One day, the owner took advantage of the crazy
tides. He was able to careen his boat, scrape the bottom,
let it dry and paint the bottom, all in one day —
an amazing sight!
Isla Contadora
One of the most popular islands within the Pearl
Islands archipelago, this charming destination is a
resort island and was named after the accounting
office that existed during Spanish colonial days.
Contadora translates to “the one that counts” and is
the island where the pearls that were harvested from
the other islands in the archipelago were sent by the
natives, and then were counted by the Spanish before
being shipped off to Spain. The islands produced
pearls of many different colors and sizes. Pearls were
there long before the Spanish. Unfortunately, at the
beginning of the last century, an underwater disease
killed most of the pearl oysters.
In the 1980s, the exiled Shah of Iran, Mohammed
or scuba diving opportunities in the sapphire waters.
San Telmo and the Lost American Submarine
If you are passing through the archipelago, be sure
not to miss the island of San Telmo to check out the
Lost Submarine. It was long believed to be a WWII
Japanese submarine, and only after research by
archeologist Dr. Jim Delgado and his team was found
to be American. They discovered that the submarine
Below: The fast ferry back to Balboa Yacht Club —
turns out the ferry was built in St. Croix!
while there was seeing a spectacular green flash at
sunset. We had seen countless green flashes in the
Eastern Caribbean and during our passage to Panama;
however, upon our arrival on the Caribbean side of
Panama we no longer saw them. Therefore, we were
delighted in Las Perlas to see our first perfect green
flash in more than two years.
The Perlas archipelago is simply a paradisiacal place.
APRIL 2017 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 29