The original dive center of Coiba – Scuba Coiba – was founded in 2003
by Austrian dive instructor Herbie Sunk in the small fishing village of Santa Catalilna. Herbie was exploring several locations to set up a dive center for Coiba. In 2003 Coiba was still a prison island and access was restricted. But Panama was creating new laws to close the prison and convert it into a National Park. As one of the pillars of the Eastern Pacific marine migration zone it was known for its megafauna of BIG fish and its enormous numbers of marine life.
So why there was no dive center?
Santa Catalina was known by a few hard-core surfers for its spectacular waves. There was a daily bus service connecting it to the district capital of Sona, a mud road, electricity, water supply, one restaurant, one hostel and a few basic surf camps a bit outside the village above The Point swell, and one telephone. The minimum to bring in tourists was already available.
And it was a fishing village, so there were boats and more important THERE WAS FISH – PLENTY of fish and BIG fish.
Driving down in July 2003 by bus to the village beach, sipping a cold beer at the cantina on the beach, Herbie watched fishermen unloading their daily catch and the amount and size of fish were breathtaking. Coiba could be seen on the horizon. I found THE PLACE.
After finishing the legal process of founding a company, looking for a place to start a dive shop, a place to live and ordering the first 6 sets of rental gear, a small compressor and 20 scuba tanks, SCUBA COIBA started on the 3rd of November 2003. I trained a family member of the dive shop landlord as Open Water diver and we started to explore dive sites with the help of local fishermen, local dive sites first, in December we started to explore Coiba.
The fastest boats had 40 HP motors and it took 2 1/2 hours to cross the almost 60 kilometers to Coiba. So our first dive trips with customers were to local sites, our first trip to Coiba with customers was a 2 day trip with one night on Coiba, sleeping and eating at the Coiba Ranger Station because of the long travel time.
Time has changed since 2003. Scuba Coiba has moved its dive center directly on the beach, more tanks and gear has been bought, more and bigger compressors have been installed, Nitrox is being re-installed till end of 2022, there are hotels and restaurants for every taste and wallet, the road has been paved, and of course the boats are bigger, more comfortable and a lot faster.
It takes now only 50 to 60 minutes to go into the National Park from Santa Catalina and daily dive tours are the most sought after services. The ranger station on Coiba has been closed, but we still offer Multi Day trips using alternate locations up the coast much closer to the National Park. Diving Coiba and Coiba tours for snorkelers is the main economy for Santa Catalina. 86% of all visitors of Coiba are embarking from Santa Catalina. Now Santa Catalina has 5 dive centers and a handful of snorkel tour providers operating.
Other things have not changed. Scuba Coiba, a PADI 5 Star Resort since 2016 is still the oldest dive base in town, with the most senior crew of instructors, diving and living here for many years, offering “real” dives for up to 60 minutes with relaxing surface intervals on virgin beaches without rush (this is the reason we are often one hour or more later back than the rest of the crowd).
To celebrate our 20 years anniversary we will offer some upgrades and new services next year. I will present them in this series of blogs. So please subscribe to the blog if you want to know before you go.
Just the headlines:
- Finishing our new, larger and more modern dive center in Santa Catalina
- More capacity for Nitrox fills
- Offering dive trips and courses out of Pixvae (when the road is finished) in cooperation with our partners Dive Base Coiba – Pixvae
- Upgraded and much more comfortable accommodation for Multi Day trips
- new possibility to dive Coiba for (still) uncertified divers
- and more