lao-ocean-girl

We arrived in Contadora on February 9th, and stayed through the 11th.  This is what Let’s Go had to say about the island:

About 90km southeast of Panama City, this archipelago - of 2003 Survivor Pearl Island fame - consists of over 200 islands, about 10 of which are inhabited.  Most visitors to the islands go to Isla Contadora, the only public island with tourist facilities that aren’t strictly for the super-rich.  The history of the islands is chock-full of pirates and pearls, including the gigantic 31-carat "Peregrina" pearl, currently owned by Elizabeth Taylor, discovered in 1515 and once presented to the Spanish Queen.

The 3 days we spent there were nice, since we were finally out of the city and able to lounge around on a beach.  I was particularly looking forward to seeing Playa Ejecutiva, quoted in Let’s Go as "the island’s ultimate beach, if not the Pacific’s."  I think that quote was just a little too much.  Sure, it was nice, with soft white sand, but it wasn’t that wonderful.  It turned out to be our favorite place to stay, since we never saw more than 5 other people on the beach. 

The place we stayed was Cabanas de Contadora, the cheapest place on the island for $33 a night (we were paying $17 in Panama City with a swimming pool on the top of our hotel).  The next cheapest place was $55 at a new inn owned by a Croatian millionaire that was also building some kind of "castle" on the island.  The biggest resort was Hotel Contadora, an all inclusive resort costing a minimum of $60 a person.  This was where the staff and crew of Survivor stayed.  If I was Jeff Probst, I would have been a little disappointed with the facilities.  It was an OK resort, but was trying so hard to be what it wasn’t - cheesy decorations, gaudy colors, and rusty basketball courts and equipment.  Who in their right mind would pay $65 an hour to rent jet skis?

We walked a lot on that island because it was pretty small.  A lot of expats lived there - American, German, French, etc.  The owners of our cabanas were French themselves.  The locals that live there either work at the hotels, take care of rich people’s houses, or do construction for more hotels or rich people’s houses.  The other islands where the Drake and Morgan tribes from Survivor were really near.  The computer I’m at now won’t let me upload pictures, so they’ll be added later.