night729
Registered
Hello everybody.
Just got back from Parque Nacional Coiba and Santa Catalina, Panama. From Panama city my father and I spend half a day taking buses to Santiago, then to Sona, then to Santa Catalina, not a bad trip if you don't mind riding in crowed buses. It helps if you know Spanish, but we didn't and it wasn't too much of a problem. They use the American Dollar there and have the same type of electrical system as in the States, so those aren't problems.
Santa Catalina is a very nice little village with great accommodations and food. Not including the surfing places there are maybe 4 or 5 hotels that you can stay at, some of which have air conditioning and at least one has satellite TV, not that you would need it. Santa Catalina is a very safe area, we felt very comfortable walking around at night.
The food is excellent, there are maybe 5 restaurants in Catalina. One place called Buena Vista, I believe, serves an excellent breakfast, but is not open for dinner. Pizzeria Jamming, only open for dinner, serves some of the best pizza I have ever had and has a great variety. There is also an Argentine place that serves good burgers. There is a seafood place too. And there is also the pink building that serves all meals I believe, although they do not have an English speaking employee, most of the other places do. Also, when we stayed on Coiba, Herbie brought along a chef for us, so we certainly didn't suffer from lack of good food!
We went through Scuba Coiba(scuba diving in Coiba in Panama - bucear en Coiba en Panamá - tauchen in Coiba in Panama) and we were very satisfied. The owner and dive instructor Herbie and Jeremy his other instructor seemed very knowledgeable. On Monday we went to Coiba for a day trip, Tuesday we stayed around Santa Catalina. Both dive areas were similar and full of life. For Wednesday through Friday we stayed at the ranger station on Coiba, which although not luxurious, was comfortable enough and I would highly recommend staying there.
The diving is not for beginners, as there is significant current on some of the dives, and it did not seem to be too predictable. You go out on a small (25 ft) boats, as thats pretty much the only type around there. When we were there we never had a problem with rough seas, but it might be difficult if you did, as there are no ladders and you have to climb over the side of the boat. The amount of fish was amazing, there was hardly a time that when I looked around I didn't see a large school of fish swimming around. There were hundreds of puffer fish all over the place on every dive site. Lots of starfish too, especially Crown of Thorns. You are almost guaranteed to see white tip reef sharks on every dive. We were there in March when the Manta rays are in the area and we saw them on at least half of our dives. You see different things at different times of the year.
pictures
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/226935-coiba-national-park.html
Picasa Web Albums - Mark - Panama Select
Just got back from Parque Nacional Coiba and Santa Catalina, Panama. From Panama city my father and I spend half a day taking buses to Santiago, then to Sona, then to Santa Catalina, not a bad trip if you don't mind riding in crowed buses. It helps if you know Spanish, but we didn't and it wasn't too much of a problem. They use the American Dollar there and have the same type of electrical system as in the States, so those aren't problems.
Santa Catalina is a very nice little village with great accommodations and food. Not including the surfing places there are maybe 4 or 5 hotels that you can stay at, some of which have air conditioning and at least one has satellite TV, not that you would need it. Santa Catalina is a very safe area, we felt very comfortable walking around at night.
The food is excellent, there are maybe 5 restaurants in Catalina. One place called Buena Vista, I believe, serves an excellent breakfast, but is not open for dinner. Pizzeria Jamming, only open for dinner, serves some of the best pizza I have ever had and has a great variety. There is also an Argentine place that serves good burgers. There is a seafood place too. And there is also the pink building that serves all meals I believe, although they do not have an English speaking employee, most of the other places do. Also, when we stayed on Coiba, Herbie brought along a chef for us, so we certainly didn't suffer from lack of good food!
We went through Scuba Coiba(scuba diving in Coiba in Panama - bucear en Coiba en Panamá - tauchen in Coiba in Panama) and we were very satisfied. The owner and dive instructor Herbie and Jeremy his other instructor seemed very knowledgeable. On Monday we went to Coiba for a day trip, Tuesday we stayed around Santa Catalina. Both dive areas were similar and full of life. For Wednesday through Friday we stayed at the ranger station on Coiba, which although not luxurious, was comfortable enough and I would highly recommend staying there.
The diving is not for beginners, as there is significant current on some of the dives, and it did not seem to be too predictable. You go out on a small (25 ft) boats, as thats pretty much the only type around there. When we were there we never had a problem with rough seas, but it might be difficult if you did, as there are no ladders and you have to climb over the side of the boat. The amount of fish was amazing, there was hardly a time that when I looked around I didn't see a large school of fish swimming around. There were hundreds of puffer fish all over the place on every dive site. Lots of starfish too, especially Crown of Thorns. You are almost guaranteed to see white tip reef sharks on every dive. We were there in March when the Manta rays are in the area and we saw them on at least half of our dives. You see different things at different times of the year.
pictures
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/226935-coiba-national-park.html
Picasa Web Albums - Mark - Panama Select