EXPEDITION COIBA PANAMA - SCUBA DIVING TOURD — Local services in Hicaco

We were a group of 3 licensed divers, 2 advanced, 1 open water all around 25 dives prior to Santa Catalina. All of us have been diving before in different continents and have experienced different diving shops and this has so far been the worst. First things first: we all came back safely and we saw many different local fauna and our guides were friendly. Pro: new wetsuits, well fitting goggles, beautiful lunch Pause on a small island with crocodiles

Con:

• the tank of my buddy wasn’t opened 2/3 times and it only became apparent because he checked the finimeter before going into the water.
• we didn’t mount our equipment ourselves and weren’t encouraged to do a buddy check, the space on the boat was so small, that it was hard to check anything properly
• the divemaster decided that the two advanced buddy up and the open water buddies up with the divemaster. During the dive the open water diver was always alone, no buddy system, only asked once how much air was left, instead he poked the go pro stick in every cavern and tried to get the best pictures. Sometimes when we arrived we then couldn’t see the animal anymore and weren’t explained what was going on.
• during the whole dive we only stopped once and the divemaster turned around to asked for the air pressure. Even though it was clearly communicated that we should tell him when 1500psi are left, the speed of the dive was so high, that we couldn’t just easily swim up to him to signal that half of our tank was empty. Even when we told him that only 750 were left (usually the amount you want to exit the water with) we continued on diving for several minutes before doing the deco stop and then exiting the water. So we decided to share my tank so that my buddy has enough air in his tank to safely do the deco stop in case that something happens like we get separated.
• second dive they gave my buddy a different bdc (jacket) without telling him that it is a different system and that one has to pull two emergency valves at the bottom to deflate the „wings“/Ala. that led to huge problems getting down during the first dive and an uncontrollable ascent during the deco stop when caught by a current.
• the deco stop not once during 3 dives happened at the rope but always in a current in open water. With exit times around 45 min this seems surprising to me, since one shouldn’t really plan with a longer diving time in a bigger group. Which made it a lot harder to actually stay on one height, so we constantly checked our finimeter. I mean one is risking a stroke if worst things considered and I feel like this is the basic requirement to guarantee a safe deco stop.
• we were constantly facing currents! The sign for current was repeated before (fist against flat hand) but it was said that we can use the sign in case that we meet current; that it would be a constant fact to dive with strongish currents was however not part of the prep talk. Maybe this was a translation problem, since our divemaster only spoke Spanish and an apprentice translated for him. But still it felt like this would have been a valuable information! The apprentice and another diver were constantly hitting the ground with their feet and touched everything without being corrected, which didn’t seem like the right thing considering it is a national park worth protecting.
• super small detail: lunch is super small (a Toast) so bring snacks!!! And water isn’t provided in bottles but only in cups during the lunch Pause do a water bottlebrush also definitely recommended.

Overall: we would go diving again in coiba, definitely. And we don’t regret going diving there at all. But for everyone who knows what can happen wrong during diving and wants to do it in a proper manner, we cannot recommend this diving shop! Everyone was super friendly and it took us several attempts to talk through our dive and experience with them to realize that we were actually really dissatisfied. This isn’t supposed to be a personal aggression but rather a warning sign for beginners/ or careless divers.

Well, where should I begin? Let's start positive. Coiba and it's islands are beautiful, and the sea life here is surely unique. After I did a Tour with "Mama," an excellent guide from "Ultimated Adventures Coiba," I made the decision for a dive tour with "Expedition Coiba Panama." For 190$ p.P. for three dives, including the entrance fee for Coiba (20$ p.P.). All the dives were fine, and we saw quite a lot of sea life.

One of the DM/Instructors was a real underwater veteran (>25K hours underwater!). Fernandez was 59y and a really nice guy, with enormous experience underwater. In each break, he was preparing the food and giving us history lessons about Coiba. I was really glad, that he was with us on the boat.

And then there was Fredy… I have no idea how someone with such a selfish personality can be a DM. First, it seemed he only liked to have females with him on board. After the first dive, he kinda hated me. Fair enough—I touched a puffing fish, not cool! At the lunch break, he had a blast (joint) with the captain. After that he gave is job, cause of headaches (I wonder why🐒) to Fernandez, thanks God.

He did a short dive, where I saw him once. He was kinda faster back in the boat than it took him to prepare for the dive.

Well, then there was the tip of the iceberg. On the way back, the captain made a U-turn after he spotted a whale shark! While we were asking if it's okay to go into the water to see the whale. Fredy was already in the water, with his mask and GoPro, "hunting" the whale. While my Italian buddy an I were searching for our diving goggles, which were conveniently packed away, the whale was gone. Cheers Fredy! Diving with you was a blast! If you're looking for a once-in-a-lifetime underwater "adventure" ask for him (I removed the PADI # for this Review)

Horrible company, dishonest, and disorganized! I organized diving with this company for 5 days when most other companies in Santa Catalina we’re full. When they confirmed availability that I could dive with them, I was told I would be sent an email with a payment link to make the deposit at that time. While waiting on the payment link, I booked and paid for an international flight and very expensive private transport from Panama City to Santa Catalina. After a few hours, I still had not received the payment link and the person said they were so busy with phone calls and would send me the link asap. The next day, I still had not received the payment link!!! How strange this is!!! When I inquired what is going on, the person said, “our system is down and the link isn’t working.” I said, ok, I will just pay in person in 3 days when I arrive. This person then said, “your diving and space on the boat is not confirmed until we receive your payment.” After me persistently asking to pay the deposit, now it was suddenly no longer certain if I’d even be able to dive with them!!! Horrible that they cannot manage their arrangements and keep my reservation honestly. I had booked an international flight and transport counting on going with this company, by no fault of my own- I did not get to pay the despisit yet. They did not even send an email with a link to try! Now anotheru 2 days have gone by and not a word from them! It is a scam and completely undependable. Frankly, probably a blessing, after I have read many reviews entailing compromising safety and dishonest practice, outside of proper diving protocols.