Marine Exhibition Center of Punta Culebra, Open-air marine museum on Naos Island, Panama City, Panama

The Punta Culebra Nature Center is a visitor center on Naos Island, one of the islands linked by the Amador Causeway in Panama City. Run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, it combines a marine museum, aquariums, a touch tank with echinoderms and turtles, and a trail into a patch of tropical dry forest where raccoons, sloths and green iguanas live.

The center is run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which is based in Panama and operates the site on an island linked by the Amador Causeway. Its mission is marine and terrestrial science and education, conservation and interpretation of tropical coastal environments. The sources give no founding date, so 1996 is not supported.

The center displays local marine animals like sea turtles and starfish in tanks you encounter while walking. It shows how the people of Panama connect with the ocean through their daily lives and the resources that come from Pacific waters.

The site is easily reached on foot and can be explored via well-marked paths between different areas. The best time to visit is during warmer months, as the paths offer shade but it can still get hot.

The center occupies a former US military site on Naos Island, one of the islands joined by the Amador Causeway. Its exhibits include Fabulous Frogs of Panama and a touch tank with echinoderms and turtles, and a trail crosses a patch of tropical dry forest where raccoons, sloths and green iguanas roam free.