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I just returned from a dive trip aboard the MV Coral Star out of David on the Pacific side of Panama and would like to share a few thoughts
First off, the potential for diving in this location is fantastic. The diving around Coiba, Montuosa and Contreras Islands offers possibilities for big pelagic encounters reef, bull, tiger, and hammerhead sharks, large schools of barracudas, jacks, pompanos and tunas, giant groupers and jew fish, mantas, eagle and cownose rays, whale sharks, humpbacks and pilot whales, and even orcas. The diving is mostly on deep pinnacles and reefs with challenging currents. This area receives little pressure from divers and the sites are pristine with many sites yet undiscovered. Visibility varies but is generally good and water temps are in the high 70s to mid 80s.
Dive operators in this area are few. We chose the one and only liveaboard available, the MV Coral Star. The Coral Star is a 115 foot vessel and, if I remember right, was built in the early 50s and used as a hospital ship for the Norwegian Navy. It has an ice-hull and is incredibly heavy - 230 ton displacement. The majority of its weight is below the water line affording her great stability and the round stern, while diver-unfriendly, offers increased safety in following seas. Shes slow 8 to 11 knots at best. She has an intriguing list that, if looking through a port side cabin window, gives one a feeling of being in a submarine.
The ship has been refitted and accommodates 16 passengers. There are two staterooms on the main deck each with a queen-sized bed and a full bath. Below, are two deluxe and four standard cabins, each with its own small head and shower. The rooms are air-conditioned though most folks on our trip were uncomfortably warm. On the main deck there is a salon with a couch and wet bar, TV and VCR and stereo. The galley is midship and aft is a dining room. The accommodations are somewhere between functional and comfortable but far from luxurious and while there are several areas above deck for lounging, they are not very inviting and saw little use from our group.
All of the diving is done from chase boats there is no diving from the mother-ship. These boats are fishing boats one had some bungies added to hold tanks while in the other gear was piled on the floor. A fifty gallon barrel was positioned for use as a camera rinse. These boats offered a quick ride to the dive sites and sometimes some fishing between dives or on the trip to and from the mother-ship.
It became increasingly obvious that this company catered to fisherman and was just trying to fill some open spots in their schedule with divers. I got my first suggestion of this prior to our first dive when I found our gear - gear for 16 divers - in a giant pile on the stern deck of the mothership waiting to be handed off to the dive boats. Next, was the revelation that the nitrox that had been promised would not be available. In addition to this, the ships main compressor was down and we had to use the small backup compressor which caused delays in tank filling. By this time I wasnt even surprised when I noticed that the ship did not have enough 80s and about a fourth of our group had to use 63s. Our second day out was met with a fire on one of our dive boats flames from the engine leaping 4 feet above deck. The rest of the week we squeezed everyone onto the smaller boat, huddled around our pile of gear.
The diving on the Pacific side of Panama is fantastic and is a must do. I might suggest, however, that you check out some of the land-based operators. I believe some offer stays on Coiba Island at the ANAM scientific station as well as local diving out of Santa Catalina. Id love to hear from anyone that has experience with these groups cause I sure want to go back!
First off, the potential for diving in this location is fantastic. The diving around Coiba, Montuosa and Contreras Islands offers possibilities for big pelagic encounters reef, bull, tiger, and hammerhead sharks, large schools of barracudas, jacks, pompanos and tunas, giant groupers and jew fish, mantas, eagle and cownose rays, whale sharks, humpbacks and pilot whales, and even orcas. The diving is mostly on deep pinnacles and reefs with challenging currents. This area receives little pressure from divers and the sites are pristine with many sites yet undiscovered. Visibility varies but is generally good and water temps are in the high 70s to mid 80s.
Dive operators in this area are few. We chose the one and only liveaboard available, the MV Coral Star. The Coral Star is a 115 foot vessel and, if I remember right, was built in the early 50s and used as a hospital ship for the Norwegian Navy. It has an ice-hull and is incredibly heavy - 230 ton displacement. The majority of its weight is below the water line affording her great stability and the round stern, while diver-unfriendly, offers increased safety in following seas. Shes slow 8 to 11 knots at best. She has an intriguing list that, if looking through a port side cabin window, gives one a feeling of being in a submarine.
The ship has been refitted and accommodates 16 passengers. There are two staterooms on the main deck each with a queen-sized bed and a full bath. Below, are two deluxe and four standard cabins, each with its own small head and shower. The rooms are air-conditioned though most folks on our trip were uncomfortably warm. On the main deck there is a salon with a couch and wet bar, TV and VCR and stereo. The galley is midship and aft is a dining room. The accommodations are somewhere between functional and comfortable but far from luxurious and while there are several areas above deck for lounging, they are not very inviting and saw little use from our group.
All of the diving is done from chase boats there is no diving from the mother-ship. These boats are fishing boats one had some bungies added to hold tanks while in the other gear was piled on the floor. A fifty gallon barrel was positioned for use as a camera rinse. These boats offered a quick ride to the dive sites and sometimes some fishing between dives or on the trip to and from the mother-ship.
It became increasingly obvious that this company catered to fisherman and was just trying to fill some open spots in their schedule with divers. I got my first suggestion of this prior to our first dive when I found our gear - gear for 16 divers - in a giant pile on the stern deck of the mothership waiting to be handed off to the dive boats. Next, was the revelation that the nitrox that had been promised would not be available. In addition to this, the ships main compressor was down and we had to use the small backup compressor which caused delays in tank filling. By this time I wasnt even surprised when I noticed that the ship did not have enough 80s and about a fourth of our group had to use 63s. Our second day out was met with a fire on one of our dive boats flames from the engine leaping 4 feet above deck. The rest of the week we squeezed everyone onto the smaller boat, huddled around our pile of gear.
The diving on the Pacific side of Panama is fantastic and is a must do. I might suggest, however, that you check out some of the land-based operators. I believe some offer stays on Coiba Island at the ANAM scientific station as well as local diving out of Santa Catalina. Id love to hear from anyone that has experience with these groups cause I sure want to go back!
