Best, easiest access, Spanish-speaking, off beaten path

[gb_williams]

One more vote for Isla Coiba, Panama. My wife and I have been diving around Panama for 12 years. We dove Coiba this past February. It is certainly the most adventurous, both under water and above, and most definitely off the beaten path.

The best way to get there is by rental car from Panama City. (Pick up your car at Albrook Airport to avoid having to drive in the city.) The drive is a good 7+ hours, but the directions are easy. (Just don't speed on the Autopista.)

For years, Coiba was untouchable. It was Panama's Devil's Island. A prison where the guards locked themselves in their rooms at night with their weapons ready. Boaters were warned not to pick up anyone from the water, no matter how desperate they seemed. Visitors to the island were restricted to the ranger station on the northern tip of the island and they were warned not to walk into the jungle and to stay in their cabins at night. 12 years ago, the prison was shut down and the island and its surrounding waters were turned into a national park and marine sanctuary.

Today, there are six cabins maintained by the park rangers where visitors stay. Each has two open rooms where you sleep, everyone in the room sharing a bathroom. Electricity and air conditioning come on after dark and go off at dawn. Meals for divers are provided as part of the packages offered by either Scuba Coiba or Coiba Dive Center. And, they are tasty! I have yet to hear a complaint, other than possibly not enough beer.

Entertainment is provided by capuchin monkeys, ñeques (guinea pigs on steroids) and a flock of vultures. Coiba also has a number of species that are indigenous only to the island, such as the Coiba white-faced howler monkeys. Pulling into a cove for a surface interval one day, we were met by a family of these monkeys who yelled and screamed at us until they realized we were not scared, nor were we going to turn around and leave.

Underwater, you can expect to see lots of white tipped and black tipped reef sharks. (Coiba Dive Center guarantees sharks on every dive.) There are also huge schools of jacks, barracuda and tuna. Plus, you'll see a large variety of morays in all different colors and patterns, frog fish and a lot of other Pacific reef fish and critters. During February, there are still whale sharks and you may see mobula and manta rays.

I recommend doing the three-day, two-night dive package. That gives you a good opportunity to see the island and a number of dive sites.

A couple of warnings: be prepared for strong currents and thermoclines where the water temp drops from 82 to 68. And, beware of rental gear. I don't know about Coiba Dive Center, but I would never trust anything from the other shop. The equipment sits on the boat all day and night when not in use with no rinse until the boat returns. Even then, the rinse tank is too small, the fresh water is too little and the staff are in a hurry to dunk the gear and get out of the shop. I had a choice of two 5 mm full suits -- one with a big hole, the other with a smaller hole. I took the smaller hole which soon turned into a rip from seam to seam. Another diver had the inflator hose on her rental reg blow out on descent.

By the way, I don't recommend the two ocean dive offered by Scubapanama. It's more of an expensive gimmick than decent diving. As a matter of fact, I don't recommend either of the two dive ops at Portobelo. A combination of reef destroying runoff from construction, lionfish and over fishing have decimated the inside reefs. You can only get out to the barrier reef (The Wall) between September and mid-November. Until Panama Divers showed up charging Grand Cayman rates, the cost of diving was reasonable. (When the reefs were healthy, Portobelo was my favorite place to dive in Panama.) Now, both charge $85 for a two-tank dive and then they nickel-dime you to death -- add on $5 rental fee for each tank ... everyone on the boat (whether it's one person or six) has to split the cost of the divemaster ... and on it goes. On a night dive, I rented a primary light from Scubapanama. The DM's light burnt out nearly as soon as we went under and he had no back-up. So, I gave him the rental primary and used my backup, which had a brighter, wider beam anyway. They wouldn't take off the charge for the rental light.

Anyway, my vote would be with Coiba. Wherever you go, have a fun and safe trip.

 

[maize2112]

Wow - really great feedback all! Thanks!

Most of those recommended were on my short-list of possible places so that is affirming that they are viable. I'll continue to evaluate those.

I had not, however, heard of or considered XCalak MX. A couple questions you may be able to advise on...
- Diving: We are planning on going on vaca in mid February. Any idea on how that may affect diving... and getting to Banco Chinchorro? (I'm not sure of the weather patterns there, etc.) How might you compare diving there to Cozumel or Roatan?
- XTC Dive Center: looks like they have great recos. Anyone ever stayed at their 'hotel'? I'm really just looking for something quiet, clean and simple.
- Top Side: It sounds very cool. Assuming someone is adventurous and half way decent in Spanish, how likely can one engage with the native people? I can't sit around napping when not diving so I'd love to try to meet some locals, etc. Or is the town so small that there are such limited options? BTW - I assume they pretty much only speak Spanish there, correct? (With being so close to Belize I didn't know if it was also English speaking).

Thanks!

 

[Doc]

.... How might you compare diving there to Cozumel or Roatan?

What zone in Roatan did you do your diving?

 

[lthomas132]

XTC Dive Center - XTC DIVE CENTER | Scuba diving, Snorkelling, Fishing and Excursions in Xcalak, Costa Maya Mexico is the only dive shop with permits from the Mex. govt. to dive at Banco Chinchorro. Any others are doing it outlaw. Write them with your questions, they will answer. The optimum time for a trip to Chinchorro is June-July, when the winds are light. It's 28 miles of open ocean so don't do it if you get seasick. February might be dicey, especially if there is a El Norte (north wind). All you can do is sign up for a Chinchorro trip and hope the weather cooperates. Otherwise the local reefs are great, and the cenotes are even greater. Never stayed at their rooms but seem to be very basic. As with other "hotels", electricity is off at night and most of the day since they are all on generators. Check out Costa de Cocos - Costa de Cocos Resort - Xcalak, Mexico - Beauty and Tranquility at the End of the Road Less Traveled. They are just down the beach from XTC. Oh, and it is Mexico, so Spanish is the official language but English is spoken at all the shops & hotels. Good luck![h=1][/h]

 

[maize2112]

What zone in Roatan did you do your diving?

We stayed in West End so mostly dove in that area.

 

[Doc]

For comparison purposes, the West End of Roatan may be characterized generally as fairly deep profiles, usually with a maximum bottom of 115', many dives offered there often do achieve depths between 90 and 110'. The reef structure by its shape, structure, and heavily shadowed lighting, causes more activity in the smaller specimens of apex predators- Baracuda, Parrot Fish, that realm swimming at a short distance off the relatively stark wall. The artificial wreck structures in that area are deep and not usually penetrated. Dive boats that one gains familiarity with in this area are generally 6Pax or high end upgraded pangas. There is essentially no current and in many months the seas are dead flat.

Cozumel presents a dive experience of highly attentive DMs, well appointed boats ranging from real-deal dive boats down to nothing less than the adequate smaller vessels you experienced in West End Roatan. You have experienced at least some mild wind and wave, plus currents, albeit relatively mild by any Oceanwide comparator. Your DMs chaperoned the group in the current, but they're very good at not making that apparent much less obvious.

Some of the areas you have been considering on your list are essentially open Ocean, Pacific side exposures. Kind of deep and into the blue. The diving experience will be very amped up in terms of the potential for current as you may have experienced in Cozumel, which was a comparative walk in the park. If you get far enough offshoe and into the current streams this is where you'll encounter the larger pellagics in the water column. With this risk comes reward. The boats you will find will provide very minor challenges from your experience, as will wind and wave complications- these conditions may amp things up. It can be comparatively pretty rough.

The currents, besides being of the potential for much more extreme, will be handled differently from your experience but consistently by any of the resident dive shops- certainly by scale of your experience at Cozumel, which is, by comparison, a mild ride and a catered DM experience. Dive skills that include ability to deploy a SMB from depth and awaiting pick up while submerged would be well recommended as they will likely be an expected skill to be performed at the correct time.

Additionally, due to currents, the ability to do on command a back roll entry, ideally with a negative entry, at least with an immediate descent- that will be in the skill sets of most divers who function well with these highly localized challenges of conditions. 3-2-1 Go! Is often the command for everyone on the boat to get to 20fsw depth right now. Again, surface currents dictate this, non-compliance (due to inability or lack of focus) can wreck everyone's experience.

That's the way of comparison I would focus upon.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
Some of the areas you have been considering on your list are essentially open Ocean, Pacific side exposures. Kind of deep and into the blue. The diving experience will be very amped up in terms of the potential for current as you may have experienced in Cozumel, which was a comparative walk in the park. If you get far enough offshoe and into the current streams this is where you'll encounter the larger pellagics in the water column. With this risk comes reward. The boats you will find will provide very minor challenges from your experience, as will wind and wave complications- these conditions may amp things up. It can be comparatively pretty rough.

The currents, besides being of the potential for much more extreme, will be handled differently from your experience but consistently by any of the resident dive shops- certainly by scale of your experience at Cozumel, which is, by comparison, a mild ride and a catered DM experience. Dive skills that include ability to deploy a SMB from depth and awaiting pick up while submerged would be well recommended as they will likely be an expected skill to be performed at the correct time.
. . .

I can't speak to the other Pacific locations, but as far as Coiba Island, the trips I and gb_williams spoke of are not all that wild and wooly. I believe the Coiba area CAN be very challenging, especially from a liveaboard that really puts you out in the blue. But the day trips based on Coiba Island keep you fairly close in. Other than the currents and cool water, it should be manageable for someone who's dived in, say, Cozumel. You DO need to be able to shoot an SMB, though. Several times the DM let my wife and me ascend by ourselves while he continued on with another diver, signaling us to shoot an SMB on our safety stop, which we did.

 

[gb_williams]

I want ditto Lorenzoid's comments about Coiba. Each of the nine dives were made by descending the mooring line. On a couple of dives, the current was very strong and each diver grabbed a guide line as soon as he/she backrolled into the water. We went hand-over-hand to the mooring line and descended as a group, one after the other.

On most dives, my wife and I ascended separately from the group, and like Lorenzoid, I inflated a sausage during our safety stop to show the boat where to pick us up.

Our deepest dive at Coiba was 80 ft, with most dives between 60 and 70 ft. All of them were around rock pinnacles and reefs.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

I agree with Xcalak, Banco Chinchorro and XTC Dive Center. Another off the beaten path might be Little Corn Island.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . Another off the beaten path might be Little Corn Island.

Oh good one! It's been on my radar for years and was under consideration when I opted for the Coiba trip.