Diving in Panama & Costa Rica in July & August

[Chris_D]

I'll be in Panama City and San Jose in July and August, and am trying to arrange 1-2 day dive excursions from both cities.

Can anyone recommend dive operators? I've contacted several (including Panama Reef Divers and Rocket Frog) who are fully booked.

I'm travelling with my non-diving wife, who (for reasons I cannot fathom ) is not keen on 7-hour bus rides.

Can anyone recommend car services operating between PC/SJ and dive destinations?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RyanT]

I've been working and diving in Panama for nearly 20 years, so here's my suggestion. First, your best bet traveling between Panama City and San Jose would be to fly. Driving in this part of the world can be tough. In addition, there are some protests going on right now in Panama and there is more than a small chance that you could encounter a road that is completely blocked by protestors.

I don't have any recommendations for Costa Rica, but I highly recommend Golden Frog Scuba in Portobelo, Panama. You have to be careful with many of the operations in Panama, they are commonly non-responsive or bit shady. I've been diving with Golden Frog for about 6 years and they are consistently reliable and honest and they can help arrange transportation to Portobelo. They are a small operation, and my buddy and I commonly end up diving with just the owner as a guide. They operate out of a small hotel, so you can stay in there if you want to do an overnight. The hotel is clean and has a nice restaurant on site as well; try the red curry! The only down side to diving on the Caribbean side of Panama is the rainy season. It's been exceptionally wet this year and that has the visibility down in the Caribbean. We've canceled a couple of dives so far this year because the viz has been bad. That's never happened before, so it's just one of those weather things. It is entirely possible that the rains could let up in the coming weeks though and the viz will improve.

Scuba Diving in Portobelo, Panama

Golden Frog Scuba provides excursions and certifications with PADI certified instructors and other services such as snorkeling, hiking and kayaking.

www.goldenfrogscuba.com

 

[Chris_D]

I've been working and diving in Panama for nearly 20 years, so here's my suggestion. First, your best bet traveling between Panama City and San Jose would be to fly. Driving in this part of the world can be tough. In addition, there are some protests going on right now in Panama and there is more than a small chance that you could encounter a road that is completely blocked by protestors.

I don't have any recommendations for Costa Rica, but I highly recommend Golden Frog Scuba in Portobelo, Panama. You have to be careful with many of the operations in Panama, they are commonly non-responsive or bit shady. I've been diving with Golden Frog for about 6 years and they are consistently reliable and honest and they can help arrange transportation to Portobelo. They are a small operation, and my buddy and I commonly end up diving with just the owner as a guide. They operate out of a small hotel, so you can stay in there if you want to do an overnight. The hotel is clean and has a nice restaurant on site as well; try the red curry! The only down side to diving on the Caribbean side of Panama is the rainy season. It's been exceptionally wet this year and that has the visibility down in the Caribbean. We've canceled a couple of dives so far this year because the viz has been bad. That's never happened before, so it's just one of those weather things. It is entirely possible that the rains could let up in the coming weeks though and the viz will improve.

Scuba Diving in Portobelo, Panama

Golden Frog Scuba provides excursions and certifications with PADI certified instructors and other services such as snorkeling, hiking and kayaking.

www.goldenfrogscuba.com

Thanks, Ryan. That's very helpful. And we're definitely flying between Panama City and San Jose!

 

[globetrotter]

I've been working and diving in Panama for nearly 20 years, so here's my suggestion. First, your best bet traveling between Panama City and San Jose would be to fly. Driving in this part of the world can be tough. In addition, there are some protests going on right now in Panama and there is more than a small chance that you could encounter a road that is completely blocked by protestors.

I don't have any recommendations for Costa Rica, but I highly recommend Golden Frog Scuba in Portobelo, Panama. You have to be careful with many of the operations in Panama, they are commonly non-responsive or bit shady. I've been diving with Golden Frog for about 6 years and they are consistently reliable and honest and they can help arrange transportation to Portobelo. They are a small operation, and my buddy and I commonly end up diving with just the owner as a guide. They operate out of a small hotel, so you can stay in there if you want to do an overnight. The hotel is clean and has a nice restaurant on site as well; try the red curry! The only down side to diving on the Caribbean side of Panama is the rainy season. It's been exceptionally wet this year and that has the visibility down in the Caribbean. We've canceled a couple of dives so far this year because the viz has been bad. That's never happened before, so it's just one of those weather things. It is entirely possible that the rains could let up in the coming weeks though and the viz will improve.

Scuba Diving in Portobelo, Panama

Golden Frog Scuba provides excursions and certifications with PADI certified instructors and other services such as snorkeling, hiking and kayaking.

www.goldenfrogscuba.com

Hi Ryan,

Apologies for the necropost, but we are traveling to Panama at the end of May and I am curious about Golden Frog Scuba. Do you know if they are still in business? The website looks pretty outdated. Do you still recommend the diving in/around Portobelo? Also, any opinions about Coiba? My kids are 12 and 14, confident in the water, but only certified since last May. Is Coiba suitable for them?

Thank you,
Carl

 

[RyanT]

Hi Carl:

"Necropost," love the term! Ok, first, the owner of Goldenfrog Scuba (Rey) is not much of a webmaster, but he is still in business and he runs a great operation. We'll be there diving with them again in mid June, so sounds like we'll just miss you. I really love diving there. I will say that if you've been to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel, etc., and that's your idea of how you want to dive, you'll probably be disappointed with Portobelo. The vis is not as good, and the reefs are not quite as healthy. But, I still very much enjoy the dives, and I especially enjoy diving in the small group that Goldenfrog runs. They dive from small boats and a "crowded" day is 6 or 7 divers on the boat. On a lot of days, it's just my buddy and me diving with Rey or his divemaster (Lola). Rey and Lola are really low key and they're great with kids. The dive sites are super close and your surface interval is spent on a pretty little beach where they feed you the best pineapple you've every had! Rey is fluent in English and he's really responsive and helpful. I can assure you, this is a rarity in Panama!


Without seeing your kids in the water, it's hard to say if Coiba would be appropriate, but my guess would be no. It is definitely colder and has hard thermoclines. The seas can be big and strong currents are common. Coiba is a pretty amazing place, but definitely more difficult diving and getting there is also more difficult. It's a 6+ hour drive from Panama City.

If there's anything else you'd like to know about diving there or Panama in general shoot me a DM.