Just returned from a awesome 7 night LOB trip to Coiba National Park on the Yemaya LOB in Panama. This was our first trip there and enjoyed it very much as it is very beautiful both below and above the water.
The Yemaya ran by Coiba Expeditions is a first rate LOB and carries 16 passengers and crew in style, all the cabins are comfortable and the food cooked by its Cuban chef is some of the best we have had anywhere.
Coiba offers Pacific style diving and it topography consists of of rocky formations, pinnacles and some blue water dives. Coiba is known for its Pelagic encounters though nothing is guaranteed it is common to see numerous types of sharks such as hammerheads and Mantas. We dove in huge schools of jacks, snappers etc. and saw the biggest bait ball we have ever seen with fish numbering honestly in the thousands and were also surrounded in a tornado of hundreds of barracudas, saw schools of devil rays and and large yellow fin tuna. Though not like Fiji Coiba also offers some nice hard and soft corals as well as some macro sightings such as frog fish,seahorses and and even some nudi branchs for those with a keen eye.
Coiba is also a great place to see the Humpback whales from June thru Sept. and we saw lots of dolphins.
Though we recommend this trip for anyone it is especially good for those residing on the east coast to experience something totally different from Caribbean diving without having to make a long haul and in a one week format as it is only 2.5 hours from Miami. Tough the avg temp was 80F there can be some very cold thermals so we suggest a 5mm suit and the viz can be quite variable at times between 30-70 ft. The Yemaya is very good priced for its caliber and if you come with a open mind you will not be disappointed. The Yemaya also does trips out to Cocos and is the best option now for trips to Malpelo. For more info on bookings please PM us.
