Coiba National Park holds over 800 species of fish. You won't meet them all in one day — but you will meet the same wonderful cast on almost every tour. This is the field guide we wish every guest had before getting in the water: what you'll see, how to recognise it, and where on our route to look.
1. King angelfish
Dark blue body, a bright white vertical bar and a golden tail — the unmistakable royalty of the Eastern Pacific reef. Usually in pairs, cruising the rocky walls at Coco Grande.
2. Moorish idol
Black, white and yellow bands with a long trailing dorsal filament. If you've seen Finding Nemo, you know this shape. They pick at the coral in small groups.
3. Sergeant majors
The yellow-and-black striped crowd that surrounds you within seconds. Bold, curious and everywhere — the friendliest welcome committee in the park.
4. Parrotfish
Turquoise and green, with a beak built for scraping algae off rock. Listen underwater: that crunching sound is a parrotfish eating — and quietly manufacturing the white sand you'll walk on at Ranchería.
5. Spotted boxfish
One of the strangest and most delightful finds: a small, boxy, armour-plated fish, dark with a constellation of white dots. It hovers rather than swims, tucked close to the coral. Spot one and your guide will be as excited as you are.
6. Pufferfish
Round, slow, comically expressive. They never inflate unless badly stressed — so if you keep your distance, you'll simply watch one potter along the bottom like a tiny submarine.
7. Surgeonfish & tangs
Oval, dark and quick, grazing in shoals over the rock. Named for the scalpel-sharp spine at the base of the tail — another good reason for the golden rule: look, don't touch.
8. Needlefish and jacks near the surface
Look up as well as down. Silver needlefish hang just beneath the surface, and fast-moving jacks pass in tight silver schools between the reefs.
Bonus: the ones that aren't fish
Sea turtles graze the same reefs, whitetip reef sharks nap on the sand below, and eagle rays glide the sandy channels. If you want the full picture, read our guides to sea turtles, sharks and rays.
Where to look on our route
Coco Grande: angelfish, moorish idols, sergeant majors. Coco Pequeño: turtles, boxfish, pufferfish. Isla Tortuga: parrotfish, surgeonfish and the big shoals. Three stops, three completely different casts of characters — book the Coiba Island Tour and meet them all in one day.