The Pearl Islands, Panama
The Pearl Islands is a group of 200 or more islands and islets many tiny and uninhabited lying about 30 miles 48 km off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama. The Islands were frequently used by pirates in the years that followed and were relatively undisturbed until the 1960s and 1970s when the building of the resort on Contadora took place to which the Shah of Iran retreated in 1979. In 1979, the Shah of Iran briefly took exile on Isla Contadora. Domestic airline Air Panama runs at least daily flights between Panama City and Contadora and Isla San José.
The island of Galera has a façade of very tall coconut palm trees and a white sandy beach. Strong currents, combined with shallows and jagged reefs surrounding the island, make navigation near the island perilous.