SCUBA DIVING IN PANAMA: scuba dive the Portobelo & Coiba national Parks. Divers’ Reviews

Due to its privileged geographic location, as a land bridge for two continents and two oceans, Panama has immense biodiversity. Although the recommended scuba diving areas are Portobelo National Park and Coiba National Park, the San Blas archipelago has some good dives and superb snorkeling as well as Bocas Del Toro on the Caribbean side.

CLIMATE

The rainy season lasts from May to November and the average water temperatures are in the mid-80s, which makes it possible to dive year around. The recommended time to dive in Panama is from April to December.

PANAMA CITY, PORTOBELO NATIONAL PARK

Panama City is on the Pacific Ocean’s entrance to the Panama Canal and thus a center of international commerce. From Panama City, you can visit several of the diving spots both in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The town of Colón, on the Caribbean side, and an hour away from Panama City, is home of the biggest duty-free trade zone in Latin America.

Colon’s main dive site Portobelo National Park is a World Heritage Site with very rich coral reef. The highlight dive spots include Drake’s Island (just outside the Bay of Portobelo) Salmedina Reef, the Tres Hermanas and Playa Blanca. A lot of spotted drumfish can be expected!

Preferably visited in a liveaboard, Terry’s Reef is a spectacular spot for deep diving.  Terry’s Reef wreck is over one hundred years old, covered in lobsters and soft and hard corals; also a good place to see the whitetip sharks. The Portobelo Forts are unique, some of its buildings date back to the 1600’s.

The Royal Customs House is intact and has a very professional visitor center. Fort San Fernando is surrounded by beautiful forests and it´s a great place to go bird watching.

Most visitors come to Panama to visit the Panama Canal. The Miraflores Locks, visitor center and museum is a good place to start. Colonial Panama is picturesque; one of the few Latin American cities with colonial architecture right by the ocean.

The Panama Canal, a continental hub for commerce, offers great shopping deals in malls around the capital.

Panamanian jungles and forests are thick and colored in sharp greens. Bird watching aficionados must visit Soberanía National Park, quite simply, bird watching heaven and a great hike.

You might have the opportunity to spot harpy eagles, the biggest and most dominant raptor in the Americas. A boat drive in the Gatun Lake is highly recommended, and it´s part of the Panama Canal crossing.

COIBA, PRISTINE WATERS & LARGEST ISLAND IN CENTRAL AMERICA

Coiba Island, just off the Azuero Peninsula, is quite possibly Panama´s best diving area, recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.The archipelago of Coiba is one of the most extensive marine reserves in the world and the largest island of the Central American Pacific.

The island’s native population, the Coiba Cacique Indians, was conquered by the Spanish in the mid-16^th century, and the island has been populated on and off, more recently it served as a prison island which was abandoned in 2004. And that is probably the reason why it´s waters are impeccably pristine.

Underwater, you’ll see whitetip reef sharks swimming around Coiba’s dramatic rock formations.

Granito de Oro is a beautiful dive site, where you can expect to see blue and gold snappers, spotted eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, Pacific barracuda, whitetip reef sharks (lots!) and rockmover wrasses.

The recommended dive sites include Mali Mali, El Porton and El Cholo are some of the good dive sites here. Keep an eye out for the Pacific Goliath groupers.

Whale sharks, hammerheads and bull sharks are constantly reported by the national park rangers and dive operators. There are also reports of Oceanic whitetip sharks.

Coiba Island is far from the mainland and mainly visited by liveaboards. The land base is Santa Catalina and dive centers offer tours from there.

Coiba is strictly a scubadiving destination, although snorkeling in the smaller islands around is allowed and recommended. Hiking tours through the island are available and you can even organize them through your dive operator. You will see families of monkeys in the trees, some endemic. Coiba is covered by primary tropical rainforest.

If you´re based in Santa Catalina and feel like surfing, Santa Catalina’s surf break is a hotspot. Otherwise you can stroll through this small fishing village’s relaxing atmosphere. Be advised, most businesses do not accept credit cards, so prepare to bring along  make sure you bring enough cash.