Snorkeling & Diving in Panamá

Panama’s Coiba Ridge is a chain of submarine mountains considered exceptional geological formations with high biodiversity, which is why the park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The park resides on the same marine corridor as the Galapagos Islands, offering more than 30 authorized sustainable diving spots. The park is only accessible by boat. The quickest ride is a journey of an hour and 15 minutes from Santa Catalina in the Veraguas province. You’ll need a permit, which you can obtain with the assistance of tour operators offering diving and snorkeling tours.

Featuring crystal clear and warm waters inhabited by hawksbill turtles, white-tip reef sharks, and a myriad of brightly-hued fish, the protected park consists of 38 islands, including Coiba Island (Panama’s largest island) and the surrounding areas in the Gulf. Before its national park designation, it served as a penal colony. Access to the island was restricted, which allowed wildlife to flourish. 

Some reefs around the park are over 5,000 years old, including the Bahia Damas Reef, making Coiba a world-class diving destination. The Bahia Damas Reef is the largest of its kind on the western coastline of the American continent and the second-largest in the Eastern Pacific. The waters are teeming with 760 species of fish, including the largest fish in the world, the whale shark that can measure up to 20m / 65ft, 33 species of sharks and rays, and over 20 species of marine mammals, like the humpback whale.

One of Panama’s most popular diving sites is Drake Island due to its exotic marine life and even more engaging story. The island is named after Sir Francis Drake, a 16th-century sailor and navigator, who was buried at sea in 1596. His coffin is believed to be somewhere off the Panamanian coast near where ship remains were discovered in Portobelo Bay. Drake Island just so happens to have one of the most colorful reefs in the area with an abundant amount of sponges and colorful fish.

Another popular diving site, Buenaventura Island, is home to the wreck of a B-45 airplane in 21.3 m (70 ft) of water. This site has three dive sites to choose from: One Rock – a great place to find sand sharks – and for experienced divers – Salmedina and Tres Hermanas with deeper and with stronger currents.

Most of the islands are uninhabited, so there are a lot of beaches, shore lines, and shallow waters perfect for scuba diving. The archipelago gets its name from the Spanish Conquistadors, who found a lot of pearls there. 

The opportunities for diving are diverse and many islands shield the waters from the ocean, which makes them better for a calmer dive. Any diving site that faces the ocean will have rougher waves; the currents from the ocean stir things up and make for great drift sites. Most days you can wade into the azure water, pop on a mask, and see schools of tropical fish and Manta rays swim by.