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Panama PanamaIslandUNESCO World Heritage

Coiba

499 km² of land in the Pacific Ocean.

When to go

Coiba seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
N 5 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

499km²

Area

174km

Coastline

417m

Highest point

29°C

Warmest sea

April

10km

To the mainland

When to go to Coiba

Best for the beach from January to March.

The sea is warmest in April (29 °C) and coolest in November (28 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island and national park in Panama

Coiba is an island in Panama. It covers 499 km², with 174 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 417 m. The nearest mainland is 10 km away. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Coiba.

  • 2beachesPlaya Ara Macao, Playa Crocodilus
  • 1viewpoints
  • 1named peaksCerro Gambute

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Coiba in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Coiba, each with its own numbers.

  • 9beaches and covesCoastya
  • Beach with the warmest sea

    29.3°C

    Playa Rosario

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

9 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Playa Venado28.9°C
  2. Playa Rosario29.3°C
  3. Playa Machete29.1°C
  4. Playa Hermosa29.3°C
  5. Playa Brava29.3°C
  6. Playa Blanca28.9°C
  7. Playa Barco Quebrada28.9°C
  8. Ensenada de Muñízcove29.1°C

1 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 113 m above the sea. 85 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 26 %0–50 m
  • 58 %50–200 m
  • 15 %200–500 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Coiba499 km²
Madeira Island742 km²
Tenerife2,038 km²

20 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)293031302828282827272728
Night low (°C)272727282727272727262627
Sea (°C)292929292928282828282828
Rain (mm)421828136307294365357338342326146
Wet days1057183030313130302922
Sun h/day8.89.28.97.35.34.54.34.24.34.04.97.1
Wind (km/h)161817131415151618211814

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.4+0.5−0.2−0.1+0.4+0.2±0.0−0.1−0.2−0.1−0.6+0.1
2021−0.2+0.2+0.6−1.0+0.1+0.4+0.5±0.0+0.3+0.6+0.4+0.2
2022+0.2−0.3+0.3−0.1+0.1−0.8−0.4−0.1±0.0−0.2−0.1+0.1
2023+0.1−0.2−0.4±0.0+0.9+0.6+1.3+1.4+1.3+1.6+0.9+1.4
2024+0.9+0.8+1.2+0.1+0.6+0.3+0.3+0.4+0.5+0.7−0.3+0.3
2025+0.1+0.4+0.5+0.7+0.7+0.5+0.6+0.8+0.4+0.2+0.6+0.2

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Coiba National Park, Panama (View from Isla Coiba) (8371374375)
Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia · CC BY 2.0
Coiba Panama (26216765884)
dronepicr · CC BY 2.0
Haie in Coiba Panama
Dronepicr · CC BY 3.0
Haie in Coiba
Dronepicr · CC BY 3.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q741636) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit