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Santa Catalina was founded in 1918! A few extended families of fishermen and farmers. Foot paths and dug-out canoes. Tropical rainforest! Thriving reefs! Subsistence was attained without much sacrifice. This is what first-hand accounts from the community elders sound like. For most of the towns existence there has been limited contact with the modern world. Surrounded by a remarkable bounty of natural resources (ie: Golfo de Montijo, Coiba NP) the small fishing village is now on the map. Continual contact with the civilized world did not come until the middle of the 20th century. Contact came with the promise of `progress´. Progress, unfortunately, came in the form of deforestation and over fishing. Clear cutting from international lumber companies along with beef production (the detrimental, poisonous, erroneous transformation of forest to cattle pasture) created the deforestation. Over fishing (the shrimp fishery in particular) from `city´ trawlers/draggers combined with the toxic run-off from the beef producers have deteriorated the local ocean environment.
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Not until the late 60´s early 70´s was there a continuous `road´ that connected Santa Catalina Beach with the rest of the outside world. It was at this particular time when Sta. Catalina was ´discovered´. Few surfers, mostly from the former Panama Canal Zone, started to make the rough journey; literally shoveling their way in. Slowly more and more surfers made the long haul and very few left disappointed (albeit the hideous road, lack of electricity, no reliable drinking water, etc.). Coiba Island (25 mile from Sta. Catalina) was not declared a National Park until 1996. At this point the transformation was on: former penal colony (to the likes of Alcatraz) opens itself up; offering an intact ecological wonder for the world to discover! Coiba National Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2004 and is now labled by many as the 'Galapagos' of PANAMA.
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| Main Street 1990's-few cars per day! |
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| Volleyball on Main Street ca mid 1990´s |
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There is now a diverse crew of local and non-local residents living in Sta. Catalina. The people here are proud to have their town on the map. Welcoming visitors and showing them the beauty that remains, is becoming a way of life as well as a way of making a living. The changes have come very sudden to the local residents and most struggle to adapt. Be patient; it goes a long way here. Some have sold there land blindly. Some have more `civilized´ homes. Others may have a small business. Still others are simply waiting. Many are out on the sea trying to make ends meet catching fish. Most want healthy children and integrated education. Call it eco-tourism...aiming for local sustainability. Things are happening down here... ĦBienvenidos!
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| Santa Catalina beachfront ca mid 1990's |
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