San Miguel Gulf

The Gulf of San Miguel reaches into the Pacific coast of Darién, receiving the waters of the Tuira and Chucunaque rivers. Its broad estuary opens into the larger Gulf of Panama, with forested lands and river valleys extending inland. In 1513 Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the isthmus and reached the coast near this gulf, claiming the sea he called the South Sea for the Spanish Crown.