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Published: December 1st 2012
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Every great diving trip…starts actually around a dive…somewhere else! Back in April, with my friends in Koh Lipe, we had this talk about where to dive in Latin America. Then, Sergi came with this…there is this place on the Pacific in Panama….I don’t remember the name, but it’s a Santa something…and they seems to have a lot of the big ones. Went on google once back home to find out that it was Santa Catalina, and the Island of Coiba…and yes, it looks fun….thanks Sergi, it was actually pretty amazing!
Santa Catalina was first known for the surf….than diving started here in 2003. This place looks like Asia must have been in the 60’s….way before I was born, when things were more…simple…
Most people have actually never heard about this place….specially in the diving world…and to be honest, I do believe this is the best diving all around Central America….well….meaning onshore diving.
The top list is pretty simple….Galapagos in Equator, Cocos for Costa Rica, Malpelo for Colombia and finally Socorro for Mexico. They are all deep in the middle of the Pacific…all done properly only through a diving liveaboard (aka a yacht!)…and
are all crazy expensive. I’ve been fortunate enough to dive Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos back in 2008….and next January…I’ll hit another of the four big….coming soon….
Reaching Santa Catalina is actually pretty easy, and cheap. It just takes time. I could have rent a car, but the bus was an easy option. You first start by the Panama City-Sona five hours bus, than transfer to a local bus for the two hours ride to Santa Catalina….the end of the road!
Being a surf place….you get a seriously surf vibe all around Santa Catalina. This translates in cheap prices…and very basic comfort. I stay at the Santa Catalina Inn….5 rooms, even with aircon, hot water…a nice terrace…but no internet.
Finding food was pretty interesting….finding proper internet was simply close to impossible. Two places are open for breakfast….La Buena Vida and La Panaderia, but only the first have super slow internet. So every morning I was up at 6am…for breakfast…and some attemps at email sessions.
Than 2km out of "town", on Estero beach, you’ve got Mama Ines…they have a nice terrace on the surf beach…not friendly service…and proper internet….but
they close at 6.30pm…so after diving, it was always a little rush…
Dinner was either at Jammys for nice pizza….either at the local Mexican place….but I did preferred that local place on the main road…no name, but great prawns, conchas negras and even langosta for my last dinner.
Diving wise, not much choice either…I went with Scuba Diving. I can only recommend them. They are the first here, since 2003, and I had a great time diving with Ben and Luca. Than there is Coiba dive center across the road…here since 2008….and further up…the Colombians….seems no real need to dive for them…and they have a lot of cash…you get the message…
Last week diving was in Cartagena, but this time it’s Isla de Coiba! We are out of the season for the whale…..but we still spotted one from the boat. They have a lot of dolphins, but these are the spinners ones…forget about even trying to dive or swim with them. They have the whalesharks, but this is not the season…well…you saw the pics, we’ve got them…twice!
Slight problem, Coiba is 58km from Santa Catalina. So you can
simply forget about cheap diving here…it takes one hour just to go there, full speed on a speedboat! The first two days were part of a big public holidays week-end in Panama. So I had six “fresh open water” young expats from Panama City. Beginners, but fun…they followed Ben…I took my liberties a little deeper.
First day, two dives…tens of white tip sharks…few turtles, hundreds of eels….thousands of fishes…and the whaleshark for 30 minutes….not a bad start.
Second day, we are back to Coiba. This time, it’s mobulas, more white tips and turtles…usual eels and thousand of fishes…and a frog fish.
Third day, it was only Ben the DM and me…so we went to the local dive sites. Well, that still a good 30 minutes ride….huge corals sea fans…37 meters deep dive (I had my camera with me, so don’t like to push it too deep). Local site means way cheaper diving….but not less great quality…turtles, white spotted eagle rays…and the hundreds of jacks….nice!
Fourth and fifth days, I was going to camp on Coiba at night. Great food, very spartian dorms…like years back for me….but the diving
was as great as always. We were only 3 divers for the five dives out of six, with a nice german couple. And yes, this time we saw two whalesharks for 30 minutes….always great fun, and only my fifth sighting under water in nearly 500 dives. You add to those the barracudas, the multiple frog fishes, the seahorses…and even a single nudibranch.
Coiba is clearly not your place for macro, neither for beautiful corals. Here it’s all about the small fishes, millions of them…who are bringing in the bigger ones! So many fishes also mean the visibility is never the best. We were on average between 15 to 20 meters….not bad…but not amazing…guess you will always have to choose…lower visibility for millions of fishes…or the opposite….once the whalesharks are there, the choice is pretty easy!
Each evening was pretty relax...and early in bed. The divers wake up early, the surfers….wake-up even earlier! Food was pretty amazing and cheap…and you bumped all the time in the same friendly people. Sad point, most will only stay here 2 or 3 nights, so with close to a week, I started to
belong to the place.
Trust me….come before the place changes! And at the end, it’s not that hard to come here….it’s just 7 hours from Panama City…an easy break on the way.
This is it for my diving in 2012…not that bad of a year…with Fiji, Pulau Weh (Indonesia), Pulau Tenggol (Malaysia), Koh Lipe to Phi Phi (Thailand), PNG, South West Rock (Australia), Puerto Madryn (Argentina), twice in Protea Bank (South Africa) and finally Cartgena (Colombia) and Coiba. Preparing now the diving for 2013…starting in less than 8 weeks in a place who could end up becoming the top of my list…we’ll see…
As you read this, I’m back on my way home. Leslie and Tiffany summer holidays are just a week ahead…on the road…we will be!
Santa Catalina and Isla de Coiba…come….before the fish is gone. Luca, one of the divemaster told me two interesting things….you are right to dive everything as fast as you can…with all those fishes disappearing…who knows what will be left in 10 years….and after that, he
asked me if I needed a dive buddy…I told him yes, but it was not urgent, and it won't be a guy...with a big smile!
Next entry…party in Lima….
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