Cébaco island lies off the Pacific Coast of the Republic of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, in

Montijo District Montijo District is a district (''distrito'') of Veraguas Province in Panama. The population according to the 2000 census was 12,211; the latest official estimate (for 2019) is 7,060.Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo, Panama. The distri ...

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

. It is located near another island called Gobernadora, which is smaller. It has much wildlife within its forest and some large private properties that have teak plantations.

Economy and infrastructure

The island is located in the Gulf of Montijo and has a small town of approximately 30 homes on the northern coast of the island. Most locals live off

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

and sell to the mainland. The only transportation to the island is by boat, but no commercial ferry operations are available. Local fisherman can be found on the mainland that are able to transport groups to various parts of the island. The town in Cébaco Island uses

solar panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

as an energy source that provides

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

to the community, and powers a local public phone and the public phone antenna.

Tourism

The Gulf of Montijo is well known for its sport fishing (tuna and wahoo),

Scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

and whale watching. Besides the fishing, Cebaco offers surfing on the southern coast. In the main village of El Jobo, there are accommodations, Coiba Lost World EcoLodge, and offer activities around the area of Cebaco, Montijo Bay and Gobernador

Environment

Much of the western half of the island has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports a significant population of

brown-backed dove The Azuero dove or brown-backed dove (''Leptotila battyi'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The Azuero dove, the grey-fronted dove (''Leptotila rufaxilla'') and pallid dove ( ...

s. The

Derby's woolly opossum Derby's woolly opossum (''Caluromys derbianus''), or the Central American woolly opossum, is an opossum found in deciduous and moist evergreen forests of Central America, from southern Mexico to western Ecuador and Colombia. It was first describ ...

also occurs there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cebaco Pacific islands of Panama Important Bird Areas of Panama Important Bird Areas of Oceania