ABOUT US
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Scuba Coiba is a dive company specializing in diving trips to Coiba National Park in Panama.
Founded in 2003 by Austrian Dive Instructor Herbie Sunk, it was the first dive center to offer professional diving services in the park. Coiba National Park is a world-renowned diving destination known for its abundance of marine life. Divers can expect to see sharks, rays, whales, turtles, dolphins, and a variety of fish species. The park is also home to colorful coral reefs teeming with marine life.
Scuba Coiba offers a variety of dive trips to suit all levels of experience. Most recommended are multi-day trips for experienced divers who want to explore the park in all its depth. Day trips are available for those who want to experience the underwater world of Coiba and are travelling on a tighter schedule.
Learn more about
Our Story
Scuba Coiba was founded by the Austrian Dive Instructor Herbie Sunk in 2003 as the first dive center offering professional services for divers at Coiba National Park. After travelling and working as dive instructor in several countries in South-East and South Asia, and Egypt, Herbie crossed the Atlantic and landed on the Caribbean coast of Panama, where he fell in love with the country and his people. Looking for more fish and bigger fish, than the Caribbean has to offer, he discovered the prison island Coiba and heard about the plans to convert it into a National Park. So, he decided to have a look and he chose Santa Catalina, on the pacific coast of Panama’s Veraguas province, what was – and still is – the only village with road access, electricity and the basics to offer adventurous divers accommodation and an easy to organize boat access to Coiba.
When he arrived with one of the 2 daily buses in July 2003 and saw the shear number of fish and size of fish offloaded from local fishermen, he knew, that this is THE place, what waited for him to open the first dive center.
Well, Coiba became a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage site, the road has been paved, phone networks reach Santa Catalina now, credit cards are accepted, the hospitality sector improved a lot in quantity and quality and the boats became larger, better, faster – and safer. But Santa Catalina still offers the best option in Panama for divers (and no divers) to access and experience Coiba.
And we are still here and invite you to experience the BIG FISH paradise Coiba with us – THE ORIGINAL.
Our Diving Area
Panama is an indigenous word meaning abundance of fish, butterflies, and trees, and not a lot other places in the world offer more fish and more amazing diving than Coiba National Park. The park’s 38 islands offer great ecological and marine diversity, white sand beaches, hardwood tropical forests and wildlife found nowhere else in the world making these islands breathtaking.
Coiba is the northern column of the huge Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor, which is formed by Coiba, Galapagos, Cocos, Malpelo and Gorgona, an important protection zone for migrating mega fauna and one of the world’s most productive marine areas.
In June 2021 Panama has declared another 62.000 km2 of the Coiba Cordillera as a protection zone and is now connected to Malpelo Protection Areas in Colombia.
Most of our trips for certified divers are going to Coiba National Park, which has been declared a national park in 1992 and an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005; the park covers an area of 270,125 hectares (667,493 acres), of which more than 80% is ocean. The park also contains the largest coral reef in the tropical Eastern Pacific. Just a short distance off the park’s west coast, at Hannibal Bank and Jicaron, the sea drops down much deeper to several thousand meters. Montuosa, located at the west tip of the National Park’s Special Marine Protection Zone, is the only pelagic island of Panama, rising to the surface from several thousands of meters of deep ocean. Divers can see an incredible abundance of fish and other marine life due to the upwelling of deep seawater and the mixture of different Pacific currents along the rising seafloors.
Coiba is a destination for divers who like to meet the real BIG ocean animals: sharks, rays, whales, turtles and dolphins and PLENTY of hunters in schools of fish (tunas, jacks, snappers, barracudas, spade fish…..) plus COLORFUL reef life (morays, butterfly-, angel-, surgeon-, frogfish, pufferfish, blennies, lobsters…). Some animals are resident, some are migrating with the currents, but there is always a lot going on underwater.
Our Experienced Team takes you to the best Spots
Our team of professionals is local. We use local boats of the village, – equipped for scuba diving, owned and operated by local captains and experienced boat crews, what have been trained by us for years, most of them are also certified divers, nature guides and trained in First Aid. Our team of instructors is also local (Panamanians and resident foreigners, who chose to stay here). During the high season it is enhanced by a seasonal instructor or divemaster (if possible someone who comes down seasonally for years). We all speak English and Spanish, Herbie speaks German and during high season we usually speak also French.
In addition we offer “on the job” training for ongoing divemasters, who also are a great asset to our team and are always happy to assist our divers.
Herbie Sunk
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and owner
- Austrian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2003, married in Panama with 2 children
- Languages: German, English, Spanish
- PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 1998
- 3.500 dives, 300 certified divers (Europe, South and South-East Asia, Egypt, Caribbean)
Jose L Smith
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Nature Guide
- Panamenian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama with 1 child
- Languages: English, Spanish
- PADI professinoal since 2008
- 2.000+ dives, 100+ certified divers (Central America, Caribbean, Panama)
Cory Coates
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- Canadian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama
- Languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2012 (Divemaster since 2002)
- 4.000 dives, 200+ certified divers (South-East Asia, Central- and South America, Mexico, Florida)
Ben J Harris
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- English, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2008, single
- Languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Divemaster since 2002, Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2008
- 5.000+ dives, 400 certified divers (Europe, Turkey, Southern Africa, South-East Asia, Polinesia, Australia, Antarctica, South-America)
Herbie Sunk
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and owner
- Austrian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2003, married in Panama with 2 children
- languages: German, English, Spanish
- PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 1998
- 3.500 dives, 300 certified divers (Europe, South and South-East Asia, Egypt, Caribbean)
Cory Coates
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- Canadian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2012 (Divemaster since 2002)
- 4.000 dives, 200+ certified divers (South-East Asia, Central- and South America, Mexico, Florida)
Jose L Smith
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Nature Guide
- Panamenian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama with 1 child
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI professinoal since 2008
- 2.000+ dives, 100+ certified divers (Central America, Caribbean, Panama)
Ben J Harris
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- English, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2008, single
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Divemaster since 2002, Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2008
- 5.000+ dives, 400 certified divers (Europe, Turkey, Southern Africa, South-East Asia, Polinesia, Australia, Antarctica, South-America)
Herbie Sunk
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and owner Austrian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2003, married in Panama with 2 children languages: German, English, Spanish PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 1998 3.500 dives, 300 certified divers (Europe, South and South-East Asia, Egypt, Caribbean)
Cory Coates
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- Canadian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2012 (Divemaster since 2002)
- 4.000 dives, 200+ certified divers (South-East Asia, Central- and South America, Mexico, Florida)
Jose L Smith
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and Nature Guide
- Panamenian, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2015, engaged in Panama with 1 child
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI professinoal since 2008
- 2.000+ dives, 100+ certified divers (Central America, Caribbean, Panama)
Ben J Harris
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
- English, resident in Santa Catalilna since 2008, single
- languages: English, Spanish
- PADI Divemaster since 2002, Master Scuba Diver Trainer since 2008
- 5.000+ dives, 400 certified divers (Europe, Turkey, Southern Africa, South-East Asia, Polinesia, Australia, Antarctica, South-America)