When Christopher Columbus arrived in Panama from Costa Rica, the first place he visited was Boca del Drago, entering what is now known as Admiral Bay (or Caribaro by the indians) via the channel that separates the main land from Colon Island.

Today, this region of the archipelago is an attraction for tourists. There, you find beautiful beaches at the tip of the island and shady trails to walk. Coral reefs beyond the beaches attract the snorkeller and the diver.

It is possible talk about two sectors in Boca del Drago: the touristic and the real community. This is composed by more or less 300 ngobe indians that inhabit 25 houses, most of them disperse along the road between Bocas del Toro and Boca del Drago.

Boca del Drago has a primary school in the multigrade system, with 2 classrooms, 2 teachers and more thant 45 students. They don't have electricity and the water come from a creek. They are esencially fishermen, growing also vegetals, farm animals and cattle. Some of the members of the community are employed in the Boca del Drago tourism sector.

This sector is located at the sea shore, taking advantage of the beauty of the coast. There, we can note the presence of a good restaurant, cabines for lodging and several private houses that are used during the weekends.

In this sector an educative-scientific organization has his field base: ITEC.

But there are other actractions in the site: just a few minutes away by boat, toward the open sea, is Swan Key, a bird sanctuary that attracts to nest the beautiful and unique tropic bird, with their snow white color, long tail and orange beak. Also nests here the funny looking boobies, while the graceful frigates, those thieves of the sea, the clever pelicans and seagulls make the cay their place of stay. For this reason disembarking on the island is not allowed, nor recommended.

Should you still have time up your sleeve, cross over to the main land and make the short trip up the Soropta Channel, an artificial way built by the banana planters to transport their products along the coast. Today this channel, which goes through the San-San Pond Sack Natural Reserve, is used only by locals and tourists.