Wender·Vista
Coco Island
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCosta Rica
550 kilometres off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

Coco Island

— — the green island the sharks remember.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Isla del Coco sits alone in the eastern Pacific, about 550 kilometres southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. No one lives there but the park rangers who rotate through. The island is steep, wet, and green, with waterfalls that drop straight off cliffs into the sea, and the surrounding water holds one of the largest known schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Jacques Cousteau called it the most beautiful island in the world. Reaching it takes a 36-hour boat from Puntarenas, and only divers usually make the trip.

from the studio
Coco Island
— bring it home

Coco Island, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Coco Island

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Isla del Coco, the only island in the eastern tropical Pacific with a tropical rainforest, lies about 550 kilometres southwest of Cabo Blanco on Costa Rica's mainland. The island covers roughly 23.85 square kilometres and rises to 575 metres at Cerro Iglesias, its highest point. It has been a Costa Rican national park since 1978 and was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, expanded in 2002 to include 1,997 square kilometres of surrounding marine area. The island is uninhabited apart from a small rotating staff of park rangers. The American filmmaker Steven Spielberg used aerial footage of Cocos as the on-screen stand-in for the fictional Isla Nublar in Jurassic Park.

— the water

The waters around Isla del Coco hold one of the largest known aggregations of scalloped hammerhead sharks, in schools sometimes counted in the hundreds at cleaning stations on the seamounts. Galapagos sharks, whitetip reef sharks, and silky sharks share the column, along with manta rays, marbled rays, and pods of bottlenose dolphins. The two main anchorages, Chatham Bay on the northeast and Wafer Bay on the northwest, also serve as the only legal landing points. The dive sites at Bajo Alcyone, Manuelita, and Dirty Rock pull divers from across the world; Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who returned several times in the 1980s, called Cocos the most beautiful island in the world.

— the visit

Access is by sea only. Liveaboard dive vessels depart Puntarenas on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and run a roughly 36-hour crossing to the island, then anchor for seven to ten days of diving in Chatham Bay or Wafer Bay. Park rules forbid overnight landings, sport fishing within 22 kilometres, and any commercial activity ashore. Day landings are permitted at Chatham and Wafer beaches under ranger supervision, and a short trail leads to a waterfall behind Wafer. The park charges a daily entry fee of about 30 US dollars per diver, set by the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment.

— where
Costa Rica · Puntarenas Province
— within
Cocos Island National Park
— elevation
575 m · 1,886 ft
— position
5.5333° N · 87.0667° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km NE
Chatham Bay
anchorage and beach
2 km NW
Wafer Bay
anchorage and ranger station
1 km N
Manuelita Island
dive site islet
3 km S
Cerro Iglesias
highest peak on the island
N
Coco Island
Chatham Bay
Wafer Bay
Manuelita Island
Cerro Iglesias
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Coco Island — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

About 550 kilometres southwest of the Costa Rican mainland, alone in the eastern tropical Pacific. It is the only oceanic island in the region with a tropical rainforest, covering roughly 23.85 square kilometres.

Nobody, apart from a small rotating staff of park rangers from the Costa Rican environment ministry. Overnight landings by visitors are not permitted under the national park rules.

The fictional Isla Nublar is set off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, and Steven Spielberg used aerial footage of Cocos Island as its on-screen stand-in in the 1993 film. The island itself plays no role in the story.

Scalloped hammerheads gather at cleaning stations along the seamounts around the island, where smaller fish remove parasites. The schools sometimes number in the hundreds and are among the largest known aggregations in the world.

By liveaboard dive vessel from Puntarenas on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. The crossing takes roughly 36 hours each way, and trips run seven to ten days at anchor. No airstrip exists on the island.

Costa Rica declared Cocos Island a national park in 1978. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1997, and the listing was expanded in 2002 to include 1,997 square kilometres of surrounding ocean.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for customers giving to friends and family with ties to the Pacific dive community. Cocos is a place serious divers usually count among their few. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio sits well in a study.

The deep blues and saturated greens anchor Coastal-modern, biophilic, and Library schemes. It also reads cleanly in a Minimalist room where one richly coloured piece carries a long neutral wall.

Yes. Biophilic design has shifted toward saturated tropical greens and ocean blues alongside warm woods. A single Large tile of Cocos over a sideboard reads as collected rather than themed.

Above a console the single Large tile is the usual choice. Above a standard sofa, step up to a 4-tile Mural; above a long sectional, a 9-tile Mural in a 3x3 grid.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour lives in the ceramic surface itself, so steam and splash do not lift it. Glossy is best kept to dry walls and framed display.

A microfibre cloth, slightly damp with water. No abrasive sponges, no ammonia, no glass cleaner. The thin glossy layer wipes clear and the surface returns to its full colour within seconds.

Yes. Reid Wender paints the WenderVista atlas in a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no third-party imagery. Each tile is hand-finished before it leaves the studio.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.