Bocas Del Toro Panama
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dktexas54
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was in panama in may. haven't been to bocas but hear its shallow diving reef diving. i went with a group and stayed at carribean jimmys in nombre de dios. we had several people get to panama early and did a few dives in portebello with a local operator. they had planned three dives but said vis and operator were terrible. jimmy dives an area east to the san blas islands. he is only person who takes scuba divers to the san blas.(it alone worth the trip). we had a week of excellent diving with reef caps at 40-50 ' sloping off walls to 120 and deeper. vis was from 45' to 80'. coral was extremely healthy, soft and hard. lots of crabs, lobster. jimmy lets you catch all you want and his wife letti will cook up that night for you. we ate lobster everynight. jimmy has a 32' with twin outboards. very nice setup. jimmy can handle up to 10 divers. cabins are very nice and comfortable, ac, private bath,.etc. everyone was real friendly. jimmy loves to dive and if you love to dive you will have a blast with him. he takes no winers so if your the 4star, all inclusive, want a dm to lead you by the nose, stay away, jimmy sizes you up pretty quick and if you are a for real diver, he lets you do your thing. typical dive is from 4-10 miles off shore, gps marks a spot, a concrete block is thrown over with red bouy. jimmy tells you where to generally go and thats it. off you go, back flip and you adventure begins. i have spoken with several divers who have dove all over panama and they all agree this is by far the best. jimmy only operates may thru october. best time is from june -september. Caribbean Jimmy's
I was there a few weeks ago for a few days. There are three dive shops I am aware of on the island, starfleet scuba, bocas water sports (i believe these guys are on this board somewhere), and la buga. I made a dive with la buga. Nice reef dive, though it was a night dive, so I can't really make an accurate assessment of the complete diving area. I do know that if you want deeper dives now is not the time for that area. Farther offshore the currents are just too strong right now. Around the islands there seems to be a lot of dive sites available.
I am sorry that no one wanted to help. I know that we pride ourselves on answering emails within one hour or less (except for the ones we receive late at night). We are always eager to help, please PM me with any questions you may have or email us directly at BWS@bocaswatersports.com.
Our shop is the longest operating dive shop in Bocas del Toro (since 1990). Our instructors have 25+ years of combined teaching experience. We are also proud to hire and train local Panamanians as captains, DMs, and instructors (although they are all bilingual). We also actively participate in the Bocas Earth Day Clean-up (free diving for divers willing to help clean our local reefs), the mooring buoy initiative, and the Sustainable Tourism Alliance.
Check out BOCAS DEL TORO - Ecotourism in this Panama Caribbean region for general info on Bocas, Bocas del Toro, Panama | Hola Guide -- Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Real Estate for info & suggestions on where to eat, stay, and dive, and Bocas Water Sports for info on our shop.
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