Scuba Diving Bocas del Toro Dive Sites Costa Rica

Dive Sites / Panama

The reefs in Bocas Del Toro have some the best preserved hard and soft coral in the world. The waters are inhabited by a wonderful variety of tropical reef creatures including nurse sharks, sting rays and many species of crab and lobster. Diving conditions are excellent year round, especially for training, with the best times to visit being March, April, May & September and October – during these months sea conditions are flatter allowing access to our more remote dive sites.

Hospital point

Just minutes by boat from the town of Bocas, this island point has some of the areas best snorkeling and scuba diving. There is a 45ft. wall that hugs the point, which goes all the way down to the channel that separates the point from Isla Carenero. Along the side of the wall are several small holes, where lobster and moray eel can be found. The water is normally clean, warm and shallow, however, the best months are during the dry season which extends from August to October. Sea urchins, sea cucumbers, Angel fish, Parrot fish and other colorful tropical fish are common sightings. Most tours include Hospital Point as part of their full day tour, usually saved for the end of the day.

Buoy Line

Buoy line is also situated at the northern end of Isla Solarte and slightly to the mainland side. A deep water channel marker buoy serves as a convenient descent point to begin the dive. Flat sand at seven meters slopes gradually to a reef starting at twelve meters and falling away to more than twenty. This is the inshore site where you are most likely to encounter slightly stronger currents and therefore, also the most likely site to find pelagics and larger marine species.

Manuel’s Wall

Discovered by one of Starfleet’s very own Divemasters, Manuel’s Wall lies just inside the deep channel off Isla Solarte. The site consists of two walls, the first at fourteen meters and the second at twenty two meters. This is one of the deepest inshore sites where depths in excess of thirty meters can be reached.

Coral Garden

Coral Garden lies on the westerly side of Isla Solarte. This site boasts some of the best Coral in the region and is a must-see for all visiting divers. Depths range from four to eighteen meters.

The Log

The Log get it’s name from the bough of an old tree which used to break the surface of the dive site, but now lies on the bottom at around nine meters. The site itself features one of the widest variety of coral formations in the area, which stretch along a two kilometer run with depths from six to eighteen meters.

San Cristobal

Situated twenty minutes from Starfleet, this dive site lies between Isla Colon and Isla San Cristobal. It centres around marker nineteen on the deep shipping channel, where the sea bed crests towards the surface creating a circular reef. Depths range from nine to twenty meters.

The Whorehouse

The bad news is that this is actually a dive site. The good news is that the site lies in the lea of Isla Colon and is adjacent to the airport runway. The water here is usually the calmest of all dive sites and covers a sloping reef which stretches around the base of the island. Ask for Miss Kitty….

The Wreck

The wreck in question is that of an old landing craft which was intentionally sunk in 2000 to create an artificial reef. It lies above the reef which surrounds Isla Colon’s most southerly point. Divers can explore the wreck at the beginning of their dive and hopefully meet its resident nurse shark before dropping onto the reef below to continue their exploration.

Playground

A circular reef in the bay in from of Bocas town forms the Playground. This site has more soft coral formations than most others in the area and turtles can often be sited here. Maximum depth sixteen meters

Diving Offshore

When the sea is flat enough during the months of March & April and September & October, a series of additional dive sites are accessible from Starfleet. These sites offer much deeper water, strong currents, caves & swim-throughs and larger species of marine life. Please ask us about our trips to these sites. They include:

Dolphin rock

Wash rock

Polo Beach

The Zapatillas

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