History of Fuerte Amador

The offshore islands had always been considered excellent defensive grounds and were long visited by English pirates. Sir Francis Drake, Captain Cook, and Henry Morgan all used Taboga and Perico as refuges after raiding Spanish galleons. It was here that then-Captain Ulysses S. Grant ended his cross-Panama march in 1852.

During the construction of the Panama Canal, notably the Culebra Cut, waste material was dumped in a mangrove bush then known as the "Balboa dump". As the work progressed, the dump was back filled to create a large breakwater, which was later extended to the nearest of the offshore islands,