Dive Review of
MV Coral Star in
Panama

California, Florida, St. Lucia, Martinique, Turks & Caicos, Curacao,
Aruba, Bonaire, San Salvador, Cozumel, Hawaii, Bahamas

Dive Conditions

130 feet max, most diving was on pinacles with a dive master  

Had to ask for fresh water cameera tub but wasn't a problem  

Overall Rating

This was my sixth trip on a Panamanian live-aboard.   I love watching the
big animals.  Lots of white tip sharks resting in caves and on the bottom. 
In addition to the large animals we saw frog fish, lots of lobsters and
eels, plus sea horses.  On one previous trip I spent my safety stop in the
middle of a school of dolphin.  The trip starts with the first night at the
Caesar Park Hotel Panama City.  Early the next morning we fly to David and
it's a short ride to the boat dock.  We board pursuits for a two hour ride
down river to the mother ship.  The ship has 8 cabins and each have baths
and air conditioning.  There is also a small personal fan in each cabin
also which worked well for me since I like a cool cabin.  

On this trip we had 3 fishermen (2 ladies, 1 man) and 9 divers.  The
fishermen leave early in the morning on 28 foot Pursuits.  Coral Star has a
fleet of  of ocean fishing/diving boats to take us to dive sites quickly. 
Fishing is an option during intervals.  The size of their fleet provides
the Coral Star with more than adequate backup should there be mechanical
failure on any of the support boats.  They even have a 56 foot LCM support
boat to bring fuel to the mother ship.  Most dive trips were on the 34 foot
Delta.  I used a 1.5mm wet suit with a vest.  One of the nice things about
diving in Panama is the opportunity to do exploration diving.  We tried a
site that had not been explored to date, unfortunately visibility was bad
but there was still the excitement of exploring new sites in addition to
the tried and true sites which don't see divers more than 10 times a year. 
This is a great trip for experienced divers due to the huge tidal changes
creating strong currents. 

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

What others have to say about Undercurrent
And get immediate access to ALL 23 dive reviews of Panama
and all other dive destinations immediately!