A popular tourist destination, Contadora has a small regional/domestic airport (IATA code: OTD), and has regular flights to and from Panama City and the rest of the islands in the archipelago.

[citation needed] In 1979, the exiled Iranian shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, briefly lived in Contadora.

However, most tourists tend to stay at the villas for rent at the northeast side of the island due to their privacy and access to a private beach.

Those who prefer to explore the island can do so on foot, bicycle, golf cart, scooter, ATV or by taxi.

Contadora's main water source comes from a small lake at the northwest of the island called el Largo.

[5] Rainforest makes up most of the islands mass, and within everything from iguanas, to geckos, to monkeys, to snakes, to non-indigenous deer live.

[citation needed] When Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was exiled from Iran he spent much of his fortune on property in Contadora.