Travel Guide Isla Contadora

Contadora is the most touristic island of the archipelago and the best connected to the mainland. Its name derives from the fact that, in colonial times, pearls were counted here before being shipped to Spain. Much later, in 1983, the island came to the world's attention when Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, Gabriel García Márquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1982), and Mexican Nobel Peace Prize winners Alfonso García Robles and Alva Myrdal called on Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela to form the "Contadora Group", which laid the foundations for ending the war in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras). At the same time, up until the mid-2000s, its small airfield was home to many celebrities, including the exiled Shah of Iran, Christian Dior, Julio Iglesias and Michael Bolton... But the island's jet-set has deserted it since the closure of the emblematic Hotel Contadora, owned by a notorious drug trafficker in recent years and a symbol of 1980s luxury. Today, the hotel is nothing more than a ruin overlooking one of the island's most beautiful beaches, complete with shipwreck.There are only around thirty permanent inhabitants on the island, but a hundred or so employees come to spend varying lengths of time there as janitors, gardeners or hotel staff. The exclusive Contadora is home to luxurious second homes and a few small hotels, which fill up especially at weekends. Many Panamanian visitors come with a pasadía, a ferry package, bar-restaurant and access to the beaches and their amenities. However, it's also a great place to spend several days in peace and quiet. The verdant island is home to a dozen postcard-perfect white-sand beaches. Contadora is an excellent base from which to explore the archipelago, for fishing, diving or whale-watching in season. Last but not least, reality TV fans should know that the Survivor series in several countries, and The Island, , regularly set up their logistical bases on the island!