Diving in Isla Coiba National Park with Scuba Coiba

Panama is the indigenous name for “abundance of fish” and nowhere else this abundance expresses itself like in the area around Coiba Island and the national park, what not offers only the best diving in Panama but one of the world’s best diving.

SCUBA COIBA is located in Santa Catalina, Province of Veraguas, Panama and started operating in December 2003 making it the first landbased diving operator / dive center in the Chiriqui Gulf at the Pacific coast of Panama with easy and fast access to the world class dive sites of the Coiba national park.

The quiet fishing village Santa Catalina, on Panama’s Pacific coast is visited by few people for its excellent surfing conditions and for its easy access to some of the world’s finest and most spectacular dive sites, scuba diving here is often described as a mixture between Galapagos and Cocos Islands. The world famous national park of isla Coiba can be reached by boat from here in about 1:00 hour to 1:30 hours. But also much closer to Santa Catalina we have discovered world class dive sites, where we have been diving with incredible amounts of fish – including whale sharks, mantas and eagle rays. We are still discovering new dive sites frequently and there are chances that you will be diving at some spots as the first human.

Santa Catalina is also one of Panama’s very few villages located directly at a sandy beach. Still there are a lot more secluded sand beaches in the vicinity, what offer good swimming- and snorkeling opportunities for the non diving guests. We also can organize eco adventure tours to the Coiba national park.

Scuba Coiba Dive Center

Scuba Coiba dive center is owned by PADI instructor Herbie Sunk, who is living and diving in Panama since 2000. The team is completed by PADI  instructors Claire O’Brien (UK) and Adrian Sultana (Malta) as well as the local captain Orlando Godoy and diveguide/assistant Luis Terrero, who are well acquainted with the divesites and the area and are working with Scuba Coiba since 2003.

Claire, Adrian, Luis and Herbie have together more than 20 years experience in teaching and dive guiding, made about 6000 dives (more than 1000 thereof in this area of Panama) and certified around 1000 students from Open Water Diver to Divemaster.

Safety is the main concern for serious dive operators, therefore we provide beyond our experience and training First Aid Oxygen, First Aid kits, a VHF radio, compass, GPS, life vests, signal devices, fire extinguisher and a comprehensive waterproof emergency plan at our dive trips.

Dive Spots – Diving conditions and dive sites of Coiba and the Chiriqui Gulf of Panama and some facts,  mysteries, what and what not to expect.

Tidal exchange of 2 – 5 meters / 6 – 15 ft is present in this area of Panama and causes at some times currents at several places, what can affect the diving in Coiba as well as around Santa Catalina. Currents can be strong depending on tides, moon phases and dive sites.  Some of the best dive sites are frequently swept by currents, therefor they are the best but you should not accept “swimming pool” conditions on every dive.

The visibility around Coiba is usually between 12 and 25 meters / 40-80 ft, closer to the Pacific coast of Panama it is  between 10 and 20 meters / 35-70 ft, but can be worse, depending on currents, thermo climes and tides. You should not expect always perfect visibility on every dive.

The water temperature at the surface is around 27-29 C / 80-85 F all the year. At depth it can drop to around 24 C / 75 F, sometimes lower to 19 C / 66 F.  A 3 mm shorty or full  wet suit is recommended the year around, from late January to mid of May a 5 mm full suit is a good option at least for serious divers planning on doing more than one or two days of diving.

The weather conditions and seasons are changing between a dry season December – May and a rainy season from May to December.

At the beginning of the dry season in December and January visibility can be best and reaches sometimes 30 or more meters / 100 or more feet. Currents can be very strong this time of the year. Beginning end of January / mid of February till end of March / mid of April a continuous north wind brings very dry weather but can affect the surface conditions and may restrict the access to remote dive sites in the open sea. The upwelling caused by the north wind and the influence of Pacific currents bring lots of nutrients and with it big schools of migrating pelagic fish like manta rays, giant pelagic sting rays, tunas, amber jacks, even Orca whales and more.

But this conditions also bring a thermo clime of 19-20 C / 66-68 F reaching up to 25 – 30 meters / 80-100 ft depth. While the visibility at the surface and also down in the cold water is excellent a layer of greenish water between the two layers starting between 5-15 meter / 15-50 feet depending on dive sites and tides can reduce the visibility.

In the rainy season the wind ceases and the water calms, the thermo climes are deeper and till July and August the visibility can range between 12 – 20 meter / 40 – 65 feet down to recreational depth limits, also the water temperature does not drop lower than 24-26 C / 75-78 F all the way down. Thunderstorms and heavy rain should be expected in the later afternoons. Humpback whales are visiting the area from July to October.

September and October are the wettest months, winds can make the surface choppy, big amounts of fresh water in the rivers can reduce the visibility especially at sites close to mainland or to big rivers at Coiba and lower the surface temperature to 25 C / 76 F. Diving is still excellent this time of the year, but because of rain and wind it is recommended to take a multi day trip into consideration, staying at the ranger station at Coiba, having a lot of dive sites within 15 minutes boat ride from there avoiding lengthy daily boat rides from and to Santa Catalina.

If you are browsing the internet looking for information about Coiba and its marine life you will find a lot of stories about big sharks, giant sharks and schools of sharks. It is a fact that 33 species of sharks have been spotted including hammerhead-, bull-, tiger- and whale sharks. But it is also a fact, that they are not a regular or common sighting.

What you will see  for (almost) sure are lots of white tip reef sharks the year around, as are big schools of snappers, jacks, grunts, barracudas, bat fish, colourful reef fish like angelfish, butterfly fish, surgeon-, trigger- and parrot fish, all kinds of moray eels and rare fish like frog fish or sea horse.

At certain times of the year you will see big schools of small manta rays (mobulas)and other schooling rays like pelagic sting rays, eagle rays or cow nosed rays. There is a fair chance of seeing turtles and also giant mantas, whale sharks and big sharks from time to time at certain dive sites, but don’t expect being surrounded by 100′s of hammerheads at every dive.

Diving in Coiba

“Think of the number of fish you have seen elsewhere and double it. Think about the size of the fish you have seen and double that as well. That sums up the promise of diving… …Coiba” (DIVER May 2005).

“So many fish swam over, under and around us that I gave up naming and counting  and just enjoyed them” (UNDERCURRENT March 2006)

The national park includes the islands of Coiba, Rancheria, Jicaron, Jicarita, Afuerita, Canal de Afuera, Uvas, Contreras, Pajaros, Brincanco and covers an area of 270.125 ha, of which more than 80% is sea and it contains the largest coral reef in the tropical Eastern Pacific. Just a short distance off its west coast, at Hannibal Bank and Jicaron, the sea drops down to several 1000 feet / meters. Because of the upwelling of deep-sea water and the mixture of different Pacific currents you will find here an incredible abundance of fish and other marine life.

Encounters with whitetip reef sharks, different rays and turtles is quite normal, as is swimming with schools of surgeon-, butterfly- and angel fish, barracudas, Pacific spade fish, jacks and tunas. Also sightings of humpback (July to September) and pilot whales, orcas, dolphins, tiger-, bull- and hammerhead sharks, as well as whale sharks are possible at certain times.

Diving can truly be called spectacular and is often compared to Cocos Islands and Galapagos. The Lonely Planet for Panama describes it as the best between Mexico and Colombia.

We offer daily 2 tank dive trips, as well as special multiple days trips to the national park. During the multiple days trips we are using the ANAM scientific station as our camp. Except otherwise outlined in trip descriptions we are sleeping and eating (breakfast and dinner, lunch sometimes at the station, sometimes at a beach) at the station. There are no other accommodations in the park. Check out the usual trip outline at our itinerary page for more information.

Every cabin has 2 dormitories for 5 to 6 people each and a bathroom per dormitory. The accommodation is basic, though the rooms have air condition. But as electricity is provided by a diesel driven generator, who breaks down from time to time, or the rangers are short on fuel, or both, air condition as well as light is not always available the whole time.

Due to the unique terrestrial flora and fauna as well as beautiful beaches and snorkeling spots, it is also a very worthwhile destination for non-divers. We gladly can organize also eco adventure trips to the national park for non divers or in addition to your dive experience.

Islands around Sta. Catalina – (Octavia, Pelonas, Cebaco, Cativo)

We are diving our “house sites” in daily dive trips, including 2 dives on 2 different spots. If possible, we are resting between the dives at a secluded sandy beach, what makes these trips also very popular for non-diving family members and friends. The dive sites are outside the national park of Coiba, closer to Santa Catalina; some of the spots can be reached in as less as 15 to 30 minutes.

Diving outside the national park does not mean, that it’s worse.

“Our dives around Santa Catalina…where notable for their huge aggregations of schooling fish. There were enormous schools of oversized jacks, snappers and grunts and numerous moray eels”  (DIVER May 2005).

“Again, splendid fish action, plus green and brown morays that squirmed around the rocks” (UNDERCURRENT March 2006).

Many of our dive spots can be compared to sites within the national park. Besides tons of snappers, jacks, tunas, butterfly-, angel-  puffer fish and free swimming moray eels, what you can see here at almost every dive, we have seen here also whale sharks, white tip sharks, bull sharks, manta- and eagle rays, dolphins, humpback- and pilot whales, as well as turtles at certain times.

At these dive sites you guaranteed don’t meet other divers in the water and as we still are discovering regularly new spots, you well might be the first human diving here.

Itinerary

Multiple day trips to Coiba require some experience above beginner level and offer up to 3 dives a day, also to remote sites which cannot be reached in one day trips. They are the ultimate diving adventure in Panama. Day trips are also available every day.

Typical schedule for Diving adventures for 2 or more days:

Day 1 - meeting at the dive center of Scuba Coiba in Santa Catalina at 08:00 am leaving to Coiba, first dive late morning
lunch at the Coiba ranger station or beach pick-nick, second (and third) dive in the afternoon, dinner and night at the ranger station.

Day 2 –  breakfast at the ranger station, usually 2 dives in the morning, lunch, one dive in the afternoon and either back to the ranger station for dinner and accommodation in case of diving trips for more than 2 days or back to Santa Catalina in case of 2 day trips

Day 3 -  like day 2

What should I know, what should I bring?

Coiba and also Santa Catalina are in very remote areas and many “normal” things have to be brought from outside. In our multi day trips we have to bring all the food, ice, gasoline for the boat and diesel for the generator in Coiba plus the cook from outside too. In Santa Catalina are no super markets or ATM’s. Normal things like sun blocker, towels, mosquito repellent etc. just are not available here. Please get everything you might need including cash money from Santiago, what is the last bigger city before turning “south”.

There is absolutely nothing to buy in Coiba. We provide full board on multi day trips including non alcoholic beverages. If you have any diets or special needs or requests please let us know in advance. If you would like some alcohol, cigarettes, etc. please make sure to bring them.

Photo and Video: there have been problems and discussions with filming videos several times in the past. Though the rules are clear now and filming for private use should be no problem and free of fees, please let us know, if your main purpose is to film in Coiba, under or above water. For professional / commercial filming and picture taking you should apply for a permit at least 14 days prior to your planned stay. You also should apply for one, if you are filming for private use only but are using a very professional looking video equipment. We gladly assist you in this process.

Diving Class are offered in Santa Catalina, for more information view:

“PADI Diving courses in Santa Catalina and Isla Coiba”

Reserve a Scuba Diving Trip: info@panamatravelgroup.com

+507-202-1111 (Panama)   |    1-786-539-4731 (USA)