Balboa, Panama
Along the piers of Balboa, the port marking the Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal , you'll see yachts from all over the world. Many end up here after transiting the Canal and go no further, which is why there is more traffic from Atlantic to Pacific than in the reverse direction. Balboa was built to house American administrative headquarters for the Canal and many of the buildings are handsome examples of the American colonial style of the early 1900's.

San Blas Islands, Panama
The vivid colors of the San Blas Islands are undoubtedly the inspiration for the fanciful birds, fish and animals in brilliant reds, oranges, blues and greens that decorate the intricately appliquéd molas created by the indigenous Kuna women. Strung along the throat of Panama 's dramatically beautiful Kuna Yala coast, the remoteness of these coral atolls protects an independent people who prize their communal culture with its rich oral history and artistic heritage.

Isla Iguana, Panama
As you approach the remote uninhabited island of the Isla Iguana wildlife reserve on Panama 's Pacific coast, the first thing you'll notice are the frigate birds, 5,000 of them, in fact, soaring and diving in breathtaking aerobatics. And the reason they are here is the abundance of the island's coral reefs, containing more than 500 marine species. Their lure is as irresistible to snorkelers and divers as it is to the frigate birds, but if you'd rather stay topside, you can laze in a hammock under a palm tree and watch all the action from the beach.

Isla de Coiba, Panama
The crumbling cells and overgrown graves are all that remain of the former penal colony that once inhabited Isla de Coiba. Because of its unsavory history, few people came here and almost 80% of the island's 124M acres are still virgin forest, where howler monkeys, crested eagles and scarlet macaws roam freely through the jungle canopy. Today, divers, snorkelers and surfers have made Coiba's Bahia Damas Reef a premier diving destination because of the amazing marine life including 4 kinds of turtle, manta rays, sharks, dolphins and whales.

Pearl Islands (Islas de Las Perlas), Panama
Named but never set foot on by the Spanish explorer Balboa in 1513 because they were supposedly the source of the pearl ornaments worn by the local Indians, the Pearl Islands were where the famous “La Peregrina” the world's largest pearl, was found. Today the islands are again a source of high quality pearls. But most visitors these days come not for the treasures of the oyster, but for the gorgeous pearl-white sand beaches of the more than 220 islands that make up this archipelago, just 47 kilometers from Panama 's Pacific coast.

Golfito, Costa Rica
The Central American headquarters of the United Fruit Company until the 1980's, Golfito today is a new destination for outdoor adventurers and nature lovers – both on land and in water. Within howling distance is Piedras Blanca National Park , where white-nose capuchin and howler monkeys, toucans and scarlet macaws screech in the treetops and rare jaguars stalk their prey. And just across from the untrod beaches of the Golfo Dulce lies another natural treasure, Corcovado National Park .

Isla de Cano, Costa Rica
Nobody knows why pre-Columbian Indians chose Cano Island as a burial ground. If you hike up the trail from the beach, you'll see where archeologists have found stone balls (bolas), mortars, pestles and other ancient tools scattered in various gravesites in the rain forest – and you may run across the occasional harmless boa constrictor! Located about 15 kilometers West of the Osa Peninsula in Drake Bay , Cano is also a favored diving spot, with an interesting cave dive.

Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica (Santa Rosa National Park)
This tiny port on Costa Rica 's most northerly Pacific coast is the entryway to Santa Rosa and Guanacaste National Parks and the cloud forests of Volcan Cacao and Volcan Orosi. Santa Rosa , the country's first national park established in 1972, is the site of historic La Casona, where Ticos battled the mercenary William Walker. It's also home to an amazing number of animal species, including jaguars, tapirs, marguays, ocelots, anteaters, three-toed sloths and other animals that migrate between the lowlands and dry forest to the higher volcanic slopes, with more than 11 unique eco-systems.

Drake Bay, Costa Rica
When Francis Drake sailed into Drake Bay in 1579, he was amazed by its tranquil beauty. Today's visitors will be equally moved. Drake Bay is close to Corcovado National Park , one of the wildest, wettest and most wondrous jungle habitats on earth. With eight different habitats, 400 bird species, more than 100 reptiles and amphibians and 10% of all the mammals on earth, it's a tropical Noah's Ark. Also near Drake Bay is the smaller Marenco Biological Station, where you may hike through moss-festooned rain forest replete with toucans, monkeys, curassows and tanagers or ride a horse to the Rio Claro for a swim.

Quepos, Costa Rica
Quepos has long been a favorite R&R destination for sport fishers and eco-adventurers alike. As you wander the one-street village with its enticing eateries and festival atmosphere, you might be reminded of Key West . You'll have a hard time tearing yourself away, but the astonishing beauty of nearby Manual Antonio National Park will entice you to discover another world - an amazing natural wonderland of colorful flora and fauna, where lush jungle, secluded beaches, and dramatic headlands over purling surf give your camera a real work-out. The nearby Rio Naranjo is a magnet for thrill-seeking river rafters.

Isla Tortugas National Reserve, Costa Rica (Curu Wildlife Reserve)
A tall fringe of coconut palms waves a welcome to a landscape of milky white curving beaches bordered by azure seas punctuated by soaring volcanic pinnacles. This is the exquisite little 320-hectare island of Tortuga off Costa Rica 's Nicoya Peninsula . You might think you were snorkeling in aquavit, the water is so clear. Giant manta rays, dolphins and the occasional humpback whale are frequent visitors here and the volcanic reef is home to dozens of marine species. Nearby on the Nicoya Peninsula , the Curu Wildlife Reserve offers an up-close look at the amazingly diverse marine life of the Curu River mangrove estuary.

Puerto Carrillo, Costa Rica
It's the Playa that brings people to the little fishing village of Puerto Carrillo . Slung like a huge horseshoe between two towering headlands, the pristine white sands are bordered by a road that winds through rows of palm trees. Purportedly, this beach has the sunniest weather in Costa Rica . And in spite of the road, not many visitors come this way, so you will find few footprints in the sand.

Samara, Costa Rica
A stone's throw from Puerto Carrillo lies Serene Samara, a small undiscovered beach resort with a lot of charm. A short kayak paddle takes you to little Choro Island for bird watching, or saddle up and ride to Tobacco Falls for a swim. And for the truly adventurous, you can hitch yourself to a steel cable zip-line for the ride of a lifetime through the canopy forest, where you'll have a bird's eye view of Costa Rica 's tree-top ecology.

Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica
Home to Costa Rica's largest sportfishing fleet and the only full service marine between Acapulco and Panama, Flamingo is also the home (or second or third home) of many wealthy Americans and Costa Ricans, whose palatial mansions sprawl atop the hills or along private coves. Another attraction to residents and visitors is the superb Robert Trent Jones 18-hole golf course. And if that doesn't appeal to you, the magnificent beach offers surfers a thrilling ride.

Playas del Coco, Costa Rica
Playas del Coco was one of Costa Rica 's first beach destinations for the laid-back and cool. The Guanacoste beaches are justly famous for surfing and they are also the nesting places for many species of marine turtles, including Hawksbill, Ridley and Olive. Inland the vast savannahs and dry rain forests are a completely different climate from the rest of Costa Rica.

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
In the 1849 Gold Rush, before the Canal was built, the way you got from Atlantic to Pacific was via Cornelius Vanderbilt's trans-isthmus steamboats, which took you up the Rio San Juan across Lake Nicaragua and then via rail to San Juan del Sur, the Pacific terminus, where you'd catch a clipper for San Francisco. Today you can easily drive to Lake Nicaragua, one of the largest lakes in the world and home to a species of fresh water shark, and take a more modern tourist boat to the twin-volcanic peaked island of Ometepe , a magical Eden-like place held in almost mystical regard by Nicaraguans.

Cocos Island (Isla del Coco) Costa Rica
Topped by clouds, split by tumbling waterfalls and 500 miles from the nearest mainland, the towering cliff tops and forbidding shores of Cocos Island have kept this 50-square kilometer island so isolated that the only people to visit its shores have been treasure hunters and whalers. Attempts to settle the island in the 1890s by German treasure seeker August Gissler eventually failed, and today Cocos maintains a unique biogeographic ecology duplicated nowhere else on earth. It is the only Pacific island with a true rain forest, which is home a number of endemic species, including the Cocos Island finch, flycatcher and cuckoo as well as the ghostly, cliff-dwelling Esperito Santo (white tern). And the marine life includes some of the largest and rarest sharks, tuna and other deep sea species.