The Pirates of Coiba: When the Island Was a Buccaneer Hideout
Long before snorkelers, Coiba had other visitors. They came with cannons.
Why Pirates Wanted Coiba
In the 1600s the Pacific was Spain’s back yard, the route of the silver ships from Peru. When buccaneers crossed the isthmus on foot in 1680 and seized boats on the Pacific side, they needed a place to rest out of reach. Coiba had all of it: springs of fresh water, forest for masts and planks, sea turtles and fish to eat, and beaches where a ship could be hauled out at low tide to clean its hull.
The Names in the Logbooks
Sharp and Sawkins
Bartholomew Sharp and Richard Sawkins led the buccaneers who crossed the isthmus in 1680. Sawkins was killed that year attacking Pueblo Nuevo in Veraguas, and his men retreated to the islands offshore.
William Dampier
The English navigator and writer sailed these waters with the buccaneers and described Quibo in his book A New Voyage Round the World (1697): its water, its wood and its anchorages.
From Hideout to Prison to Park
When the pirate age ended, Coiba stayed remote. From 1919 to 2004 it was a penal colony, and that isolation kept most of the forest and reefs untouched. Coiba became a national park in 1991 and a World Heritage Site in 2005. Today the bays that hid buccaneer ships are where you snorkel with sea turtles.
Want the full saga, with every captain, battle and raid? Read Pirates of the Pacific by Pacific Adventure Tours, and the story of Coiba’s prison years.
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Private boat for up to 6 people: $950 per boat for one day in Coiba, $1,700 per boat for two. Into fishing? See the Coiba fishing charter, from $1,500 per boat. Coming from July to October? Read about whale watching in Coiba.
Frequently Asked Questions
Were there pirates in Coiba?
Yes. In the 1680s English and French buccaneers used Coiba, which they called Quibo, to rest, take water and wood, and repair their ships between raids on Spain’s Pacific coast.
What did pirates call Coiba Island?
English buccaneer journals of the 1680s, including William Dampier’s, called it Quibo.
Who was William Dampier?
An English navigator and writer who sailed with the buccaneers in the Pacific and described Coiba (Quibo) in A New Voyage Round the World, published in 1697.
Was Coiba a prison?
Yes. From 1919 to 2004 Coiba was a penal colony. It became a national park in 1991 and a World Heritage Site in 2005.