Corozal Island (or Isla Corozal) is an island in Panama. It is located on Panama’s Pacific coast. Its size is 44,8 acres (18,65 ha), and its maximum length/width is about 520mX300m. The island is located in San Miguel Bay, known as Golfo De San Miguel (a bay of the Gulf of Panama, located on the Pacific coast of Darien Province in eastern Panama). It is less than 5 kilometers from the entrance to the Punta Patino Reserve.
Isla Corozal is less than 5 km west of La Palma town, the capital of the province. it is less than 70 km east of the famous Pearl Islands, and around 156 km (airline) southeast of Panama City. Corozal Island seems protected very well in the bay. The bay is fed by a few rivers, with the largest being the Tuira River nearby, making waters around the island somewhat blurred in color.
The soil itself is brown around the island as well, adding to the watercolor as well, so this island has no classical turquoise waters as seen in Pearl Islands or around Coiba Island and similar. Despite this, the island still has some very nice potential, such as freshwater which means a lot!
Corozal Island’s freshwater is located in the middle of the island, with a large swamp-like region covering the island. The island itself is not quite flat as well. It has some hills and good heights that can be used for better observing the beautiful region around (there are a lot of jungle and hills around).
There is also a lot of vegetation and trees on the island that provide good shade on the beaches. Yes, there are a few beaches on the island as well. There seem very few coconut palms. As this region has a lot of birds, there are some birds on the Isla Corozal as well. Also, big fish for fishing can be found nearby.
Corozal Island is on sale. It is a good catch, and not expensive considering what it can offer. As we are writing from educational and commentary points and are not involved with sales, you have to check for that information elsewhere, but I am in direct conversation with our member Jeff Sherman.
POST UPDATE: 8. MARCH 2026
I had an honor to talk directly to Jeff Sherman, the owner of the island. He is professional man with years of experience and as of recently he has his own Pataro Properties real estate company. He is communicative a lot, and willing to provide as much information he can. He visits his island frequently and is in the country for long so he knows exactly information from first hand. We had an exclusive conversation here just for our readers. This is what he has to say:
About his experience on Corozal Island:
My experience on the island:
Every time I visit the island I am less excited about selling it. This is a diamond in the rough. The locals are very friendly. The island is surrounded by dolphin breeding grounds so I see dolphins every time I go. Dozens or even hundreds of bird species inhabit the island and the surrounding area. The “rough” part consists of virgin mangroves and forests and indigenous communities. You can spend hours on the water and see no one even though La Palma the capital city or Darien is only a 20 minute boat ride away. This is a property for someone who loves the outdoors and adventure. This will eventually make an amazing private retreat residence or an amazing eco-tourism development.
About water around island:
Isla Corozal sits in an estuary at the confluence of four rivers, one of which is the longest in Panama. The water is not polluted but it is muddy or murky. More so when it rains a lot or when the tides are very high. The estuary is also the reason there is so much wildlife in the area. The water may be slightly less salty around the island but not by much as the path to the ocean is very wide so the the tides reach the island twice a day. The open ocean with blue Pacific water is about 10 miles south of Isla Corozal. There you can see whales every winter when they migrate to Panama. Also the best billfishing waters in the world are there too. This is also probably because all of the wildlife living off of all the nutrients flowing down the four rivers into the ocean.
About fresh water on the island:
The north part of the island rises to an elevation of 30 meters and the south to 24 meters, and the west to 20 meters so the water going down these hills to the pond in the middle is replenished that way. The pond in the middle is fresh water that would have to be treated to make it drinkable but the dissolved solids put it well within the limits of good potable water.
About water sports:
Water sports will be good here: kayaks in the mangroves would be amazing. Standup Paddleboard (SUP), fishing, jet skis, but the beaches are not so good for swimming. The good swimming beaches are going to be by boat about 45 minutes to an hour south of the island. When this gets developed and there is an open fisherman or other type of boat with bigger engines, that time might be around 30 minutes.
About parrots and toucans on the island or nearby:
I have not seen them on the island, but to get there you go by boat from Puerto Kimba. One time I arrived to Puerto Kimba and saw a Toucan in the brush right nest to the parking lot. I have seen monkeys on the mainland near the island and I hear them when we go fishing in the mangroves. Bird island about 10 minutes away by panga, has dozens of species of birds on it. I have seen the small green parrots. Not sure if there are wild large parrots, like Mckaws.
About planting and watering plants on the island:
We will do some planting if we end up developing this but not do too much so as to preserve the nature.
I do not think there will be enough water to do heavy irrigation so we will keep planting that requires human watering to a minimum.
About views from hill on the island:
The view from above is all the way to the Pacific Ocean, is of several island in the area, and the mainland and mountains as well.
And these are some technical aspects:
Below you will find the answers to your questions about Corozal Island.
– Acquire an undeveloped island and build a project from scratch:
This island is undeveloped, and we have approved land use, which guarantees development.
The land use permit allows for a much higher density than is currently feasible, but the assigned land use never expires.
Therefore, you can develop this in phases.– Total area: 18.65 hectares
– Legal status: Titled since 1911. It is not permitted to title islands today.
– Price: $495,000
– Environmental restrictions: To develop the property, you will need to prepare a preliminary project and an environmental impact study.
The process of obtaining the zoning involved a hydrological study, a biological inventory of flora and fauna, a complete topographic survey, community consultation, and more.
Based on this, the island was divided into 4 sections.
We designated the area closest to primary forest as a protected area.
The area around the freshwater lake will also remain undeveloped.
The residential area (housing, hotel, aparthotel, cabins, etc., whatever you decide) was divided into two sections:
one for medium density and the other for low density. In short, the studies we conducted were to plan the development taking into account the environmental impact.
Therefore, the development process is quite well-defined.
The architect who handled the land use permit is very familiar with environmentally friendly developments.
He is currently working on a project in Panama for the Smithsonian.
– There are islands surrounding Isla Corozal. I am unaware of their legal status.
– I am traveling to Panama. Please write or call me at the following numbers so I can explain in more detail.We are flexible with the purchase terms.
Isla Corozal represents an opportunity to do something impactful in Darien and that would become famous throughout the country.Our real estate company is Pataro Properties.
All the listings you see are either around where we live in Gorgona or are properties we own.Here’s a link to the Isla Corozal listing: https://pataroproperties.com/isla-venta-isla-corozal-la-palma/8286851
Thanks and regards,
Jeff Sherman
Pataro Properties
+507 6400 4518
+1 786 868 4257
It is also worth to mention that famous Perlas Islands are just directly west of the island about 80kms and can’t be missed, and also following between Perlas in mainland leads directly to Panama City, so it should be very easy to navigate to the island and vice versa. So overall, Corozal Island has it all, a very diversified terrain, flat regions, hills, jungle like vegetation, fresh water pond (that could be treated to be drinkable), good size, sitting in calm bay, surrounded by rivers… And yes, a few coconut palms for tropical scenery…
OVERALL CONCLUSION: Corozal Island is superb island it offers a lot for its price and is one of the best islands I have seen for that price. The only drawback is that color of water that cannot be adjuster or changed, it is impossible, but everything else can be adapted and the island offers a lot. And the island is titled which means a lot there in Panama, and that fresh water pond is savior, it can be treated to make water drinkable, and can be used even now to water plants when needed, and perhaps for small swimming pool near house when built. The owner is willing to cooperate and share his knowledge and experience. I would strongly recommend this island!
Now, you will get Isla Corozal youtube video and video playlist (drone shots) of this island, then you will get an image gallery.
Here is Corozal Island gallery
