El Real

El Real, formally El Real de Santa María, is a corregimiento on the Tuira River and the seat of Pinogana District in Darién Province, with a population of around 1,183 as of the 2010 census. The Spanish founded it as a fort in 1665 to protect their gold-mining interests in the region; the English buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp seized the fort in 1680 but found most of the gold already removed and left within days. Today El Real functions as the main gateway to Darién National Park — it sits about 17 km by boat from Yaviza, the terminus of the Pan-American Highway, and is the jumping-off point for reaching the park's Pirre ranger station, either by boat up the Río Pirre or on a roughly three-hour hike.

El Real is reached by boat along the Tuira River, most commonly from Yaviza or from further downriver towns; there is no road connection.

• Remnants of the Spanish colonial-era fort
• The Tuira River itself, the main travel corridor through this part of Darién

Most visitors use El Real as the staging point for entering Darién National Park via the Pirre ranger station.

Yaviza (the Pan-American Highway terminus) and the Pirre ranger station of Darién National Park are the natural next stops.