gb_williams
Contributor
For years, I wanted to dive Coiba. My wife and I have been visiting Panama at least once a year for over ten years, and we have dove Bocas del Toro, Portobelo and Isla Grande on numerous trips. But, we never felt we had the time to make the long trek to Coiba. That is, not until this last February, when we finally decided to stop wishing about it and dive Coiba.
The drive from Panama City is long a full day and the Autopista to Santiago is rough in places bone jarringly so. Cops line the highway like vultures, at least every 4 kilometers or so, under the shade of scrubby trees, standing by their dirt bikes, lurking for the next speeder or gringo to shake down. I got nailed just outside of Anton. He told me I was doing 82 kph in a 60 kph zone. There was no 60 kph sign, but that was immaterial. He said the ticket would cost me $200 but he would take care of it for just $100. We settled on $40 and I was on my way.
Santa Catalina is the base camp or the trailhead to Coiba. A tiny town at the end of a long road from Santiago. Its an expat community of surfers and divers who got this far and never left. They have built a coffee shop, a few small cabañas and hotels, and three or four dive shops. One dive operation is just a large, colorful sign beside the road next to a pick up.
After checking in at Scuba Coiba, we spent the night at the Santa Catalina Inn which has a total of eight rooms. Theyre clean, neat and have running water. They also offer a special price to Scuba Coiba divers of $38 per night. That night, at the little cantina next door, we watched the Super Bowl in Spanish, projected onto a bedsheet.
The next morning, we met Scuba Coibas owner/manager, Herbie Sunk, our divemaster and the two other divers, one from The Netherlands and the other from France. A word about Herbie: he is probably one of the most responsive dive shop operators currently in Panama. He responded promptly to my emails prior to our arrival. He also sent a very detailed email with recommendations on what to bring and how to prepare for our stay on the island. Most Panamanians dont like to address potentially negative issues, such as chitras and bunk rooms. The result is usually an unpleasant surprise for the the unprepared visitor. Herbie is, thankfully, much more upfront and proactive.
Coiba itself is a beautiful, but rustic adventure. The accommodations are clean but spartan. There are six concrete block cabins surrounding the ranger station and maintained by the national park service. A cabin consists of two barracks-type rooms, each holding six beds. Each room has one bathroom with one sink, toilet and shower to be shared by all. The water has only one temperature -- invigorating. Electricity (and air conditioning) is provided to the cabins each night beginning at 7:30pm (its pitch dark by 6:30) and cuts off promptly at 6:00am (its already hot and humid, but not light until nearly 7:00am). Although he cant always guarantee that it will happen, Herbie does try to put couples in their own bunk room.
However rustic the sleeping arrangements are, the meals provided by Herbies crew were very tasty much better than I expected. We had Panamanian style pork chops one night and fish the next. Entertainment was provided by the local monkeys and vultures that hang around for the scraps from the kitchen, and by the shy ñeques (guinea pigs on steroids) on the lawn.
Diving off Coiba is also an adventure. It is definitely not for inexperienced divers. In nine dives over three days, we encountered current on every dive site. On one dive, it was so strong we pulled ourselves from rock to rock. Kicking provided no motion through the water. The visibility ranged from just a few feet to perhaps as much as 60 feet. On most sites, the max viz was between 30 and 40 feet.
The water is also cold, especially if youre used to Caribbean diving where I wear only a skin. Passing through thermoclines, the temp dropped into the low 70s. My wife, who gets cold easily, wore a sealed 5 mm full suit and gloves, and in spite of constantly kicking against the current she was still cold on a couple of dives. In my 4/5 mm full suit well, well get to that soon.
What makes Coiba spectacular are the large schools of fish and the number of sharks. Descending the mooring line on our first dive, I looked down and the first fish I saw was a large whitetip reef shark, directly below me. Youll see lots of sharks around Coiba. I counted 10 adult whitetips together at one site. I could only get six in the frame of my camera. (BTW if you bring a camera to Coiba, bring your own rinse tank, as well. Herbie warned me that the only fresh water on the boat was in bottles for drinking. So, I brought a large, soft padded cooler and filled it with fresh water each morning.)
Being in the center of a massive school of jacks is an incredible experience. We also saw a large school of barracuda swimming just over our heads. There are plenty of smaller and more colorful reef fish; king angelfish, neon yellow frog fish and red and green wrasses along with morays in a variety of colors and patterns and turtles nestled in the rocks. Coiba is also a seasonal home to whale sharks and manta rays. But, we didn't see any -- not for lack of trying.
What did we not like about diving Coiba? The dive master, Sebastian. He and my wife did not get along from nearly the start. She had to argue with him to get the weights she needed. After a couple of dives where she was too buoyant to stay down on a safety stop (and no mooring line to hang on) we insisted on the additional two pounds and he begrudgingly relented. After that, she was able to complete a full safety stop.
On the first day of diving, she got seasick as we were returning to the ranger station. While she was dashing from bed to bathroom, Sebastian came into our room while I was out and accused her of drinking. That did not especially endear him to her.
I have never been with a divemaster who didnt want to know the status of the divers air, especially in strenuous conditions. Sebastian didnt, and chewed us out for motioning to him when we were down to half a tank. Fighting a particularly strong current on another dive, she was down to 700 psi when I signaled Sebastians assistant that we were low on air, we were going to ascend, stay above the group, and do our safety stop. She motioned, No. Keep going. When Marthas air got down to 600 psi, I insisted. As we ascended over the group, the assistant swam off to tell Sebastian. Sebastian saw us overhead, but for some reason, sent her back to find us. Later, he chewed us out for surfacing on our own. (On the surface, Marthas tank went completely dry.) Sebastian insisted that at our depth of 50 feet, 400 psi would last 15 minutes. To me, Sebastians math is just downright dangerous.
The other issues I have with Scuba Coiba are the condition of the rental gear and the way they care for scuba equipment -- or don't. I requested a rental wetsuit. There were just two XL full suits when we arrived. One was 3mm. The other was a 4/5mm suit with a hole in the seat. That was the one that fit. After a couple of dives, the hole developed into a tear that ran from seam to seam. It made going through a thermocline very invigorating.
On our last dive, those of us returning to Santa Catalina were put on another boat with another couple. The rental regulator on a female diver had an air leak in the inflator hose that kept us bobbing on the surface for some time prior to the dive while the divemaster, Jeff, and the crew on the boat tried to fix it. On the descent, it blew out completely, causing the diver and her buddy to immediately abort. When we returned to the boat at the end of the dive, we discovered there was no ladder. Bellying up over a high gunwale is not the way my wife and I like to end a dive.
Based on what we saw of the rental gear, I was glad we took our own to Coiba. But, I wasnt happy that there is no place on the island to rinse it. Instead, the crew simply changes out the tanks and let the BCDs and regs lay out in the open with no protection from salt or sun. When we returned to the shop at Santa Catalina, we found one small, 4 x 4 rinse tank. Unfortunately, the water ran out before I could rinse our gear.
That night, we stayed at Cabañas Time Out, a very nice cluster of duplex cottages with a small restaurant, bar and pool on a bluff overlooking the ocean. They had plenty of water and I spent the evening thoroughly rinsing our gear.
Would we dive Coiba again? Absolutely. Will we dive with Scuba Coiba? Probably not. Certainly not as long as Sebastian is there.
The drive from Panama City is long a full day and the Autopista to Santiago is rough in places bone jarringly so. Cops line the highway like vultures, at least every 4 kilometers or so, under the shade of scrubby trees, standing by their dirt bikes, lurking for the next speeder or gringo to shake down. I got nailed just outside of Anton. He told me I was doing 82 kph in a 60 kph zone. There was no 60 kph sign, but that was immaterial. He said the ticket would cost me $200 but he would take care of it for just $100. We settled on $40 and I was on my way.
Santa Catalina is the base camp or the trailhead to Coiba. A tiny town at the end of a long road from Santiago. Its an expat community of surfers and divers who got this far and never left. They have built a coffee shop, a few small cabañas and hotels, and three or four dive shops. One dive operation is just a large, colorful sign beside the road next to a pick up.
After checking in at Scuba Coiba, we spent the night at the Santa Catalina Inn which has a total of eight rooms. Theyre clean, neat and have running water. They also offer a special price to Scuba Coiba divers of $38 per night. That night, at the little cantina next door, we watched the Super Bowl in Spanish, projected onto a bedsheet.
The next morning, we met Scuba Coibas owner/manager, Herbie Sunk, our divemaster and the two other divers, one from The Netherlands and the other from France. A word about Herbie: he is probably one of the most responsive dive shop operators currently in Panama. He responded promptly to my emails prior to our arrival. He also sent a very detailed email with recommendations on what to bring and how to prepare for our stay on the island. Most Panamanians dont like to address potentially negative issues, such as chitras and bunk rooms. The result is usually an unpleasant surprise for the the unprepared visitor. Herbie is, thankfully, much more upfront and proactive.
Coiba itself is a beautiful, but rustic adventure. The accommodations are clean but spartan. There are six concrete block cabins surrounding the ranger station and maintained by the national park service. A cabin consists of two barracks-type rooms, each holding six beds. Each room has one bathroom with one sink, toilet and shower to be shared by all. The water has only one temperature -- invigorating. Electricity (and air conditioning) is provided to the cabins each night beginning at 7:30pm (its pitch dark by 6:30) and cuts off promptly at 6:00am (its already hot and humid, but not light until nearly 7:00am). Although he cant always guarantee that it will happen, Herbie does try to put couples in their own bunk room.
However rustic the sleeping arrangements are, the meals provided by Herbies crew were very tasty much better than I expected. We had Panamanian style pork chops one night and fish the next. Entertainment was provided by the local monkeys and vultures that hang around for the scraps from the kitchen, and by the shy ñeques (guinea pigs on steroids) on the lawn.
Diving off Coiba is also an adventure. It is definitely not for inexperienced divers. In nine dives over three days, we encountered current on every dive site. On one dive, it was so strong we pulled ourselves from rock to rock. Kicking provided no motion through the water. The visibility ranged from just a few feet to perhaps as much as 60 feet. On most sites, the max viz was between 30 and 40 feet.
The water is also cold, especially if youre used to Caribbean diving where I wear only a skin. Passing through thermoclines, the temp dropped into the low 70s. My wife, who gets cold easily, wore a sealed 5 mm full suit and gloves, and in spite of constantly kicking against the current she was still cold on a couple of dives. In my 4/5 mm full suit well, well get to that soon.
What makes Coiba spectacular are the large schools of fish and the number of sharks. Descending the mooring line on our first dive, I looked down and the first fish I saw was a large whitetip reef shark, directly below me. Youll see lots of sharks around Coiba. I counted 10 adult whitetips together at one site. I could only get six in the frame of my camera. (BTW if you bring a camera to Coiba, bring your own rinse tank, as well. Herbie warned me that the only fresh water on the boat was in bottles for drinking. So, I brought a large, soft padded cooler and filled it with fresh water each morning.)
Being in the center of a massive school of jacks is an incredible experience. We also saw a large school of barracuda swimming just over our heads. There are plenty of smaller and more colorful reef fish; king angelfish, neon yellow frog fish and red and green wrasses along with morays in a variety of colors and patterns and turtles nestled in the rocks. Coiba is also a seasonal home to whale sharks and manta rays. But, we didn't see any -- not for lack of trying.
What did we not like about diving Coiba? The dive master, Sebastian. He and my wife did not get along from nearly the start. She had to argue with him to get the weights she needed. After a couple of dives where she was too buoyant to stay down on a safety stop (and no mooring line to hang on) we insisted on the additional two pounds and he begrudgingly relented. After that, she was able to complete a full safety stop.
On the first day of diving, she got seasick as we were returning to the ranger station. While she was dashing from bed to bathroom, Sebastian came into our room while I was out and accused her of drinking. That did not especially endear him to her.
I have never been with a divemaster who didnt want to know the status of the divers air, especially in strenuous conditions. Sebastian didnt, and chewed us out for motioning to him when we were down to half a tank. Fighting a particularly strong current on another dive, she was down to 700 psi when I signaled Sebastians assistant that we were low on air, we were going to ascend, stay above the group, and do our safety stop. She motioned, No. Keep going. When Marthas air got down to 600 psi, I insisted. As we ascended over the group, the assistant swam off to tell Sebastian. Sebastian saw us overhead, but for some reason, sent her back to find us. Later, he chewed us out for surfacing on our own. (On the surface, Marthas tank went completely dry.) Sebastian insisted that at our depth of 50 feet, 400 psi would last 15 minutes. To me, Sebastians math is just downright dangerous.
The other issues I have with Scuba Coiba are the condition of the rental gear and the way they care for scuba equipment -- or don't. I requested a rental wetsuit. There were just two XL full suits when we arrived. One was 3mm. The other was a 4/5mm suit with a hole in the seat. That was the one that fit. After a couple of dives, the hole developed into a tear that ran from seam to seam. It made going through a thermocline very invigorating.
On our last dive, those of us returning to Santa Catalina were put on another boat with another couple. The rental regulator on a female diver had an air leak in the inflator hose that kept us bobbing on the surface for some time prior to the dive while the divemaster, Jeff, and the crew on the boat tried to fix it. On the descent, it blew out completely, causing the diver and her buddy to immediately abort. When we returned to the boat at the end of the dive, we discovered there was no ladder. Bellying up over a high gunwale is not the way my wife and I like to end a dive.
Based on what we saw of the rental gear, I was glad we took our own to Coiba. But, I wasnt happy that there is no place on the island to rinse it. Instead, the crew simply changes out the tanks and let the BCDs and regs lay out in the open with no protection from salt or sun. When we returned to the shop at Santa Catalina, we found one small, 4 x 4 rinse tank. Unfortunately, the water ran out before I could rinse our gear.
That night, we stayed at Cabañas Time Out, a very nice cluster of duplex cottages with a small restaurant, bar and pool on a bluff overlooking the ocean. They had plenty of water and I spent the evening thoroughly rinsing our gear.
Would we dive Coiba again? Absolutely. Will we dive with Scuba Coiba? Probably not. Certainly not as long as Sebastian is there.
My wife uses a lot of air, and when she got low, Sebastien signaled to us to shoot an SMB and ascend, and that's what we did. No problem at all.
