PANAMA - DIVING PORTOBELO

Central America Caribbean
December 27th 2016

Published: January 26th 2017

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Never too old

COLORFUL CORALS

Amazing diversity.

PANAMA

DIVING PORTOBELO

Wow! Was I ever ready to go diving? I thought I might sleep on the two hour drive to Portobelo; pick up was at 7:30 a.m. but I was busy sewing some darts in my shorts so they would stay up. Peter, a Russian from Seattle, and Alex talked politics non-stop. When I got to the hotel/dive shop, Panama Divers/Octopus Garden Hotel, I had to rush to set up my camera and assemble my dive gear. We did two dives. I dove with Alex’ daughter, Anika. She was a good diver, calm and capable and Raphael was a good dive master. The guys hurried through their air but Anika and I had two long, slow dives. Toward the end of the second dive the dive master left us on the reef in the shallows. Anika and I just putted around, and finally came up so we wouldn’t make the group wait too long. We had a good lunch between dives. After the last dive I went to my room and got settled in. It was a bare-bones hotel, more like a hostel, but I was thrilled to be getting wet so I adapted. It was right

SPONGE

I like these dreadlock whiskers against the dark background.

on the water and I was on the second floor with a small balcony, so I had a great view. I took a long nap. When I woke there was no one around and no food so I ate some crackers, nuts and dates and called it a night. I felt like I was the only resident in the hotel, although there were people in the cabanas on the other side of the property.

The next day I was up at 8 a.m. ready to eat and dive. I had a good American breakfast. The dive master didn’t get there till after ten. Finally he was ready to dive…and the manager of the shop decided I should pay for the dives…now, before the dive?? It took forever. We got in the boat and to the dive site, at last. It was a retaining wall in front of a dive shop. The water was really polluted, the corals shaggy with silt and unhealthy. Really bad visibility, maybe five feet. After lunch during the second dive I was taking photographs and I found my first nudibranch since Costa Rica. I was so excited. I had been having such a problem with

COLONIES OF CREATURES

Great textures.

my camera, but I got five amazing photos of the nudibranch. Didi, the dive master shot me a thumbs-up sign…I indicated thumbs-up, "I got a good photo"…and he went UP!! It was such a beautiful reef and I still had 1900 pounds of air, almost two-thirds of a tank left. He was cold, he said. Again I took a nap after we were through diving, but I set my alarm so I could look about for a restaurant. I started walking on the highway, asking people about a restaurant. I had my dive light with me and it was nice and bright and I listened for cars because people drive really fast around here, and they pass on curves. I walked and walked and walked and every restaurant I came to was closed. Finally I came to a police station and there was a young policeman sitting on a bench outside. I asked him about a restaurant and he said there weren’t any except in the little town of Portobelo…much too far away to walk. I must have shown my dismay for then he said, in Spanish, that there was a Pizzeria down a dim road leading to the water.

NUDIBRANCH

Nearly camouflaged...I was lucky to spot him.

I followed the road and came to a quaint little pizza place with several groups of people eating there (and a cat, a lizard, and a mangy dog in residence). I ordered a soft drink and a small pizza. It took a while, but it was delicious, maybe better than in Monroe, my home town. Or maybe I was just glad to see food tonight after the long walk and a day of diving. I wrapped up the left-overs for who knew when I would eat again and started back to the hotel. And my dive light flickered off. Dang! It was really dark now and the traffic, although not quite so heavy, was still speeding. Luckily I had my cell phone with me. I would hear a car coming and use my cell phone as a headlight or tail light depending on the direction it was coming from. My phone does not have a flashlight app so I had to rely on the slightly dim reading light, but it sure was better than nothing. I greeted the people along the way who had encouraged me with, “walk just a little farther” and I was totally relieved to get back

EYE-CATCHING SIGN

You really can't miss this advertisement for Octopus Gardens Hotel and Dive Shop.

to the hotel in one piece. And I hadn’t been locked out, either.

The final day I complained about the short dives. It was again, really bad visibility but the camera was working so I was excited. My buddy was a new diver, but very thin which meant he didn’t use much air because he had smaller lungs. But he and Didi raced around so fast I spent all my time trying to find them. It was so frustrating. On the second dive the visibility was even worse and I lost my partner and the dive master almost immediately. I felt like just continuing my dive without them, but since there were two groups I began to worry that they might come up to look for me and I might mess up their dives. So I did my safety stop and came up, with more than two thirds of a tank of air. And swam back to the boat. Didi and the boat captain were shooting the bull. They hadn’t even looked for me. I definitely do not recommend Panama Divers. They are unsafe and just want to lead a group of divers on a short, fast swim around

REPRIEVE

Glad they weren't hunting this invasive specie, The Lion Fish.

the reef and collect their money. People were complaining about the terrible diving. None of them had a light or a camera. Neither did the dive master. And he wasn't stopping and showing the others things to look at. I guess they just expected critters to jump out of the gloom and wave them over to titillate them. These reefs were some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen, but you must slow down and look close, particularly when the visibility is limited.

I wrapped up the diving. We ate lunch and I loaded my luggage and dive gear into the van for the return trip. The driver, he was very nice, did a quick stop in Portobelo so we could photograph one of the old fortresses and the small town. There was a nice church and a few souvenirs to buy.

As you probably imagine, I have mixed feelings about diving Panama. I suggest you spend days more than I did (two or three) to research dive shops and resorts. I should have given DAN, the safety network for scuba diving, a call for some referrals.

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