"ARCHIPELAGO OF THE PEARLS OF PANAMA ”

Source: visitaPanama.com

The Archipelago of the Pearls has been the main focus for tourism development in our country. Its beautifully fine white sand beaches have attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists around the whole world.

This magnificent group of islands is a gift of nature. Barely 20 minutes by plane from the city, we could not have asked for a prettier archipelago. Being so close to the mainland, its waters are warmer and shallower. More tropical fish abounding in the coral reefs, the islands are geologically unique in its class. The Panama Bay also acts as a natural barrier and protects them from marine currents, storms and other meteorological rigors.

This type of calm waters are ideal for the reproduction of thousands of marine species among them mollusks and conches, that, being safe from the forceful movements of water and radical temperature changes, find in it the ideal habitat for its reproduction.

It's not a surprise that Vasco Núñez de Balboa and his soldiers were amazed by the large amount of oysters they found in the warm waters of the archipelago when they first landed there.

For their amazement, thousands of oysters offered huge pearls to divers who dared to plunge among the hundreds of sharks infesting its waters. Hence its name: Archipelago of the Pearls.

For centuries these islands surrendered their fabulous treasures to the “conquistadores” who established huge diving operations to exploit the business of pearls.


COVETED JEWELS

The Pearls have always been highly coveted jewels: the first business with pearls dates back to the Roman empire, when from the Far East amazing spheres of an incomparable perfection reached Rome , its colors and exquisite texture adorning the necks of the most beautiful women of the Empire. From Zanzibar to the Andaman Islands, in the coasts of India , traders in garments and precious jewels risked their lives in long sea journeys to find these beautiful spheres, divine gifts from the Gods of the Sea.

Thousands of years later the Spanish “conquistadores” found in Panama an unrivalled place in the world. Using the already submitted Indian slaves as divers, the Spanish devised a system to collect pearls. A bell-shaped diving cask was slowly submerged until it reached 25 feet . In the top of this bell remained enough trapped air so the Indians could breathe before returning to the deepest waters. Thus a submarine station that allowed divers to remain more time under water was created. This system caused many health inconveniences for the divers' health. This bell system was the precedent of submarine equipment, and developed the business of diving for pearls, a flowering one in the archipelago. For various centuries the most coveted pearls in Europe came from this beautiful group of islands. Unfortunately, over-exploitation of oysters led to an ecological imbalance that put an end to the business, notwithstanding the Archipelago of the Pearls is currently a jewel for tourism.