The beautiful green & lush village of Santa Catalina, Panama (300 inhabitants) has been my home for the past few weeks. This hidden gem is quite in the middle of nowhere on Panama’s Pacific south coast. The nearest international airport is about 7 hours away. According to Lonely Planet “the fishing village has a laid-back feel, with limited dining and non-existent nightlife”. Except for the dining, this is quite an accurate description. More on my life in Santa Catalina, Panama & things to do below.
Santa Catalina
Tiny Santa Catalina basically consists of two asphalted roads connected through an intersection. It has a with few small shops with basic items. There are no banks or ATMs and no doctors/hospital. Basically, there are two main things people come to Santa Catalina for: world class surfing and scuba-diving.
Video: Down Santa Catalina’s main street filmed from my bike
Surfing and Scuba
There’s some seriously wicked surf around at Santa Catalina with the “La Punta Break” being one of Central America’s top surf spots. For beginners there is the black sand beach at el Estero. Scuba-diving mostly takes places at Isla Coiba National Park, about 1,5 hours away by boat. Since I drop of more of a surfboard than I am on it, I better stick with the scuba diving. More on scuba diving later in another post, let me first take you through the village highlights.
Local entrepreneurship
Many foreigners started tourism related businesses here in Santa Catalina, mostly Americans and Italians. There are about 5 scuba diving centres and about a dozen restaurants and hotels and guesthouses. One of my favourite restaurants is Iguanito, run by the Spanish/French couple Juan & Chris. They arrived in 2010 in Santa Catalina starting a bakery, selling it and opening hotel & restaurant Iguanito in 2013. Their chicken curry and also fresh-caught teriyaki tuna are just heaven. I frequently have a beer at their bar getting the latest travel & diving tips.
Another local business is the Panama Dive Center, easily the most professional dive center in town. Run by enthousiastic Colombian owner Camilo Consuegra & German Sabina Schreck, they make sure you get the best diving experience possible. In February 2012 Camilo came to Santa Catalina to run the dive center he bought in 2010. He now employs 2 instuctors, a divemaster, 2 assistants and 4 interns (one of which is from the Netherlands. She has so much luck when diving it is not funny anymore…dolphins, whalesharks, unbelievable). I frequently drop by in the dive shop for a chat and to hear the latest sightings.
Other things to do in Santa Catalina
Although diving and surfing are the two main attractions here, there are a lot of other things you can do in Santa Catalina. There are two short hiking trails, you can go sea kayaking, for example to uninhabited Santa Catalina Island with its white sand beach, or you can do paddleboarding, big game fishing, horseback riding, go to a joga class, rent a bike and cycle around or do a bird watching tour with birding/eco-tour guide Javier Elizondo from Bird Coiba.
My life in Santa Catalina, Panama
I think the best way to describe my life in Santa Catalina is through pictures (see gallery below), but in general my days look like this: I wake up in the morning with the sound of the waves and the most amazing seaside view possible. I make myself a coffee, peanut butter sandwich accompagnied by some fresh fruit, usually pineapple or melon (or have a breakfast at the Italian bakery in town).
Then, I usually find a good place with fast enough WIFI (a serious issue here….as are the frequent electricity cuts, but this I think is also part of the charm of being out here). This to do some work on the new website for Coibahouse guesthouse, follow online courses or upload/edit pics & videos of my local “adventures”. Usually in the morning this is at Sugarmama or at La Buena Vida hotel and in the afternoon at the Santa Catalina hotel with its infiniti pool and lovely seaside settting.
Since I am a Dutchman after all, I bought a bike to move around (better than paying 10 dollars each day to rent one). In the afternoon I watch the sunset at Coibahouse from my hammock and have a chat with the other guests around and usually go somewhere to have dinner with them. In the evening I read books in my hammock on the porch. So that is about a standard day, alternated with diving trips or local travel. See the gallery below for the story in pictures.
Foto gallery of my life in Santa Catalina, Panama
Map of Santa Catalina, Veraguas, Panama and my home away from home (Coibahouse)
It is a great little gem! Will go back someday! Great diving for sure with Panama Dive Center, highly recommend this dive shop! The host (Darcy) at Coiba House Guest Suite is a great guy, and the views are to die for!