SANTA CATALINA
SANTA CATALINA
Travel Information
GETTING TO SANTA CATALINA
From Panama City, David, and Lagartero
The main airport in Panama is Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport, with an airport code (PTY).
BUS – From Panama City:
Take a bus at the Albrook Bus Terminal directly to Soná. From Soná, there are buses to Santa Catalina at 4:30 am, 5:30 am, 8:40 am, 11:20 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. This is a 7-8-hour adventure. Approx. $ 15 total. If you miss the last bus in Sona, you can take a taxi to Santa Catalina for around $ 40 (approx. one hour).
CAR – From Panama City:
Assuming you rented a car at the airport, follow signs for Panama Centro and later Punta Paitilla on the Corridor Sur highway. Once you enter the city, you want to exit on the coastal road Avenida Balboa and follow signs to Avenida de Los Martires, which eventually leads you out of the city on the Bridge of the Americas (Puente de Las Americas). Stay on the Inter-American highway until Santiago (about 240 k, 3 hours). The only place you may question which fork to take on the highway is a sign “Autopista / Chorrera.” stay left here and merge into the main highway again.
Navigating through downtown Santiago can be tricky. We recommend you continue through Santiago on the highway, another 6/7 kilometers towards David, and take a left at the sign pointing towards La Peña / Santa Catalina / Soná. Drive slowly here as there is a school, a police station, and a beautiful stone church. You come to a T and take a hard right towards Soná. Continue on this road until the Delta gas station BEFORE Soná. Take a left. This road is new from La Peña to Santa Catalina. About 40k in, there is another sign at the “El Tigre” junction where you take a left. This is well-marked. There is a final right at the police station in Hicaco, ten kilometers from Santa Catalina. The only questionable “Y” in the road where you may not be sure is pointing the way to Ya Ya. DO NOT go to Ya Ya. Stay left. This trip is approx. 5-6 hours by car.
BUS – From David:
From the Bus Terminal in David, take a bus to Santiago. From Santiago to Sona ‘- see above. Approx. 6 hours from David.
CAR – From David/Bocas:
There is a shortcut, turning right off the Inter-American Highway in Guabalá directly after the main police check. It takes you through Puerto Vidal to Soná along the coast without going to Santiago. It’s a brand-new asphalt road, and the scenery is beautiful. Take a right after the town of Soná, just before the Delta gas station. Follow the directions above from Panama City. This route is approximately 3.5 hours from David. It saves you 1.5 hours not going to Santiago.
CHARTER FLIGHT – Through Lago Bay:
A new option is a charter flight through Lago Bay. The flight time is around 45 minutes (depending on the aircraft). There are charters with various sizes of planes, depending on the needs and size of your group. Lago Bay provides the 15-minute shuttle from Lagartero to Santa Catalina. For more information, visit their website at: www.lagobay.com/airstrip
TRIP INFORMATION
Passport and Visa Requirements
Panama divides tourists into two groups – those that need a tourist visa, and those that only need a passport. Citizens of the following countries only need a passport to enter Panama:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.
It is important to note, however, that this list can change. Check with your home embassy for the current requirements before traveling. All travelers entering Panama must have a return or onward ticket out of the country.
All guests of Discover Coiba must bring a valid passport on the boat. Once we are inside the park, the rangers will check the date of the stamp in your passport to make sure you are in the country legally. You will not be permitted to board the boat without a valid passport (or cedula for Panamanian citizens and residents).
Best Time to Visit
All year long you can experience warm, tropical weather in Panama. There are two seasons here, a wet season and a dry season.
Dry Season – falls between December and April/May and is the highest time for tourism. This is also the time that the water is cooler and rich with plankton, bringing the manta rays, whale sharks, and large pelagics. (The only time we offer overnight trips to the islands where we sleep in tents/hammocks is during the dry season.)
Whale Season – July through November is whale season when humpback whales come to Coiba to give birth to their calves. Whale season lasts until the beginning of November. (During whale season we do not offer trips for camping on the islands because this is also the wet season, but you can join our overnight trips in a hotel close to Coiba National Park)
Weather
Our expeditions put you close to nature and this includes the tropical weather. There are two seasons here, a wet season and a dry season. The dry season is from December – April/May. The wet season is from May – November, and October is the month with the highest amount of rainfall. We do not offer trips during the month of October for this reason. If you are traveling during the wet season, we recommend that you bring a light rain jacket to protect you from the windchill. Just because it is the wet season does not mean that it will rain every day. Sometimes there are weeks of uninterrupted sunshine during the wet season. It is common to have sunshine during the morning and light showers late in the afternoon. We use the local weather advisory to check the daily weather and are always prepared for any kind of weather.
Scuba Diving
We do not offer scuba diving on our trips, but we highly recommend if you are a diver that you do some diving before you leave Santa Catalina. Coiba National Park has been described by many as the “New Galapagos” and offers world-class diving. There are 5 dive shops in the village, and we recommend making a reservation with one of them before you arrive. Spots on the boats can fill up quickly, especially between December and April.
Santa Catalina Hotel Recommendations
- Catalina’s Hideaway (catalinashideaway.com) is a beachfront resort located in Lago Bay that offers a free shuttle service for drop off and picks up to the Discover Coiba Panama office.
- Casa Brava Ventura (CasaBravaVentura) is a private 3 bedroom/3 bathroom house above Santa Catalina with an ocean view.
Camping Amenities
There are several base camps located around the islands that we sleep on. There are proper showers and toilets at one of the base camps, so this is where we will sleep unless ALL members of the group decide to adventure to one of the other base camps.
Departure and Arrival Times
We will meet at our office on the main street of Santa Catalina (next to Yolo pizza, across from Bodhi hostel) at 7:30 am. We will return on the last day of the trip sometime in the late afternoon. Come in and see us in the office between 3-6:30 pm before the day of your scheduled trip to check-in. Please present a valid ID (passport, driver’s license, cedula) upon check-in. If you are arriving late in the evening and are unable to check in before 6:30 pm, please let us know in advance.
Cash in Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina is a small village and currently, there is only one ATM machine. The last bus stop before Santa Catalina is the town of Sona, where there are ATM machines and a bank. While some of the restaurants in Santa Catalina accept credit cards, others do not. There are frequent power outages and when this happens you will not be able to use your credit card.
Health, Safety, and Environment
Dietary Restrictions
Our menu is based on traditional Panamanian cooking using fresh seafood, chicken, vegetables, fruits, and rice. If you have a food allergy, please let us know in advance. The chef and staff will try their utmost to respect these requests, but due to the remote location and nature of the trips – we can not guarantee that they can be met. If we cannot meet your dietary requirements, we are happy to prepare food that you bring from a place with a larger selection than what we have in Santa Catalina. We stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables before we leave, so vegetarians and vegans will enjoy numerous healthy dishes.
Protecting Yourself
We recommend that all travelers have their own travel insurance.
We are an adventure company traveling through the remote areas of Panama, so we try to avoid accidents as much as we can. Our crew are trained in response to emergency situations and will look out for dangers, but it is also up to our guests to do their part in taking care of themselves. Before boarding, you will be given a safety briefing by your expedition leader where you will be shown the location of life-preserving equipment. Please notify our crew if you are not a strong swimmer so they can look out for you.
There are small jellyfish in the tropical waters that can sting you. We recommend wearing a rash guard while swimming or snorkeling. Guests are not permitted to touch any marine life, no matter how big or small it may be. It’s a good idea to wear reef shoes and not to stand, touch, or pick anything up off the reef.
Your skin will burn quickly in the tropics, especially if you are coming from winter in Europe. Pack plenty of sunscreen (30+ SPF) and apply often throughout the day. Sunscreen is quite expensive in Santa Catalina, so it’s a good idea to buy it before you come. Our crew will look out for guests that may be exposed too much to the sun and could recommend that you cover up if you are at risk. A hat and sunglasses are highly recommended.
Dehydration can cause you to feel sick if you don’t drink enough water. All persons joining our overnight trips are required to bring their own refillable water bottle. There are large containers of purified drinking water on the boat and at the base camps where you can fill your water bottles. Please avoid drinking too much alcohol. Tropical hangovers can be a nightmare and you won’t want to miss out on the next day’s activities.
Protecting the Environment
Guests are not permitted to touch or feed any marine life or land animals, no matter how big or small they may be.
Animals are highly susceptible to diseases from human hands. They can die from bacteria transferred from your hands that have no ill effect on you. They can react badly to your perfume, shower gel, and even worse BUG SPRAY. Insect repellent is toxic to many animals (including you, ironically) and you can end up killing them. Frogs, dolphins, whales, starfish, and reptiles are particularly susceptible to human bacteria passed from your hands.
Human contact with animals encourages them to think that we’re safe. Contact with humans facilitates poaching and the trade in illegal wildlife.
We love Coiba National Park and all of the amazing wildlife that can be found there. Our guides and staff members at Discover Coiba take the conservation of the park and the protection of the wildlife very seriously.
PAYMENTS, CANCELLATIONS & RE-BOOKING POLICY
Payments, Cancellation & Re-booking Policy
Payments – We require a full payment to confirm your reservation. This is payable by PayPal or Bank Transfer. Please be advised that there is an additional 5.5% charge for PayPal payments. You do not need to be registered with PayPal to make a payment. Instructions on how to pay will be included in your booking e-mail.
Cancellation – We only cancel a trip if there is a severe weather warning or the Coast Guard does not give us clearance to leave. If our trip cannot proceed on the scheduled departure date, we will reschedule in the next two days. If you cancel, we will not refund your payment as we were able to move the trip. Make sure that your Travel Insurance will cover this in case it happens. We will only issue a full refund if we are the ones who cancelled the full trip.
If you wish to cancel a trip, you will be charged a cancellation fee of 50 USD, 45 EURO or 40 GBP per person. Also, 50% of your full payment will be forfeited if notice is given less than 30 days before your scheduled trip. This also applies to cancellation or reducing the number of person/s.
No refunds will be made if you do not show up for your scheduled departure and we will not refund any amount if you have cancelled 14 days before your scheduled departure.
Making Changes to Your Reservation – Re-booking and/or changes are possible up to 30 days before your scheduled departure but subject to availability.
- A re-booking fee of 40 USD, 35 EURO, or 32 GBP per person will apply.
- Reservation is also transferable to another person for a fee of 40 USD, 35 EURO, or 32 GBP per person.
- If you decide to re-book your 4 days 3 nights trip to a 3 days 2 nights trip or a trip with any number of less days, you will not be entitled to a refund equivalent to the difference in the number of days. Moreover, you are still required to pay the applicable re-booking fee to make changes.