The Best Panama Kayaking and Snorkeling with Fluid Adventures

In the quiet and charming town of Santa Catalina, at the end of the only road into town, lays the best surf and kayaking shop in the country. On a deeper level, it is the dream and lifestyle creation of Michael McKenzie, owner of Fluid Adventures Panama.

Coiba National Park first caught our attention because it is referred to as the Galapagos of Panama. It is linked by the underwater Coco Ridge mountain chain to the actual Galapagos. From 1919 to 2004 Coiba Island served as a penitentiary. As such, no one went there for fun or tourism. The result is an island roughly the size of England that is unspoiled. Other than the prison, the island was undeveloped.

We started researching ways to experience Coiba and that is how we found out about Michael and Fluid Adventures. We looked over the website, read some trip advisors reviews, which were overwhelmingly positive, knew the kayaking and snorkeling trip could be appealing to us (and maybe some of you) and thought, “This sounds so cool.”

After a handful of emails, we had the chance to collaborate with Fluid Adventures Panama and book our trip. I can’t imagine our life without a few nights spent out on Coiba Island. Among our group, we all generally commented that none of us really knew what to expect for the trip. But we all felt it seemed liked an awesome experience and all chose to take the time to find out. We were not disappointed.

What we weren’t quite prepared for was how well this trip was designed, and mostly, how we felt coming away from it.

I hesitate to go on with too many adjectives about how blissful our trip was, because ultimately every person will have their own individual experience. But when a customer can walk away from an experience with that feeling that makes one pause to say, “That was absolutely amazing,” something was done right.

So we wrote this post to hopefully help answer any questions you may also have about what the kayaking/snorkeling tour is like and share our experience. In the meantime, until you can go and do this yourself, here is a little teaser of what’s to come.

We met fellow adventure mates at the shop in the morning. Fluid Adventures intentionally keeps groups sizes small both to minimize impact and to allow for a more personalized experience. Our group had a couple from Colorado, France, Tiff&Chris and our stellar guide Adam.

From the town of Santa Catalina, the boat journey to Coiba Island can vary based on the conditions. The average time is 1.15 hours. This was us walking out to get in our boat.

Look for the two neon green shirts in the photo above. (Hard to notice – I know! They are little to the left of the middle.) That was the entrance to our camp kitchen area. This photo shows how secluded and beautiful our private beach camping spot was.

After having a wander around the Coiba Rangers Station we then got to do some Panama kayaking and paddled back to camp.

Adam then prepared us a wonderful lunch. Spoiler alert: yes there will be documentation of the meals! 😉

We spent the afternoon snorkeling around Machete Island. Look right at the start of this video for a turtle and then there were so many fish!

After a day of salt water, it was time for a rinse in the fresh water stream that is near by. We called this the coconut shower. You can take this coconut to have a good rinse off with fresh water which is so great.

Feeling refreshed, we got out the wildlife ID cards that Adam had to share with us. We studied up on what we had seen during the day. I loved that everyone in our group was into appreciating wildlife.

Then Adam summoned us for an amazing fish dinner.

As pink hues faded behind the mountains we sat in the crazy creek chairs and watched the stars come up.

I think this might be one of the most beautiful camp sites we have ever stayed at. Even in their “biggest” groups – which max out at eight people, you are still enjoying a small group experience. Each tent had a little area and if you were passing by the outside by boat and looking onto the island, you would never even know there was a tent set up.

Good Morning – talk about waking up with this sunrise view right outside your tent.

We loved the routine that coffee was ready by 7am and breakfast was ready at 7:45am. That was such a nice way to start the day. As you can see here we had a hug tub of pancakes!

Day 2 we loaded up snorkel gear, filled the water bottles and paddled off to Coco Island.

The underwater impressed with turtles, sharks, fish and corals. I loved the shadow cast by this young white tipped reef shark swimming by. So beautiful.

Having worked up a good appetite, Adam prepared us lunch on the beach.

<Pinch me – that was real life.>

After lunch we made the paddle back to camp. Those that wanted could snorkel around Machete Island again while others opted to find a spot to plop down on the beach and read a book.

We opted to snorkel again. We watched a fish chase a baby white tipped reef shark out of it’s little resting area. Watch the fish swim into the cave rock and then watch what got chased out!

Our group reconvened in our usual sunset watching spot while Adam made dinner. This evening we got to enjoy watching this beautiful tiger heron fishing.

We had another huge dinner…

…which we got to enjoy again on the beach while watching this pelican diving for his dinner right in front of us.

One aspect of this Fluid Adventures experience was the feeling of such peaceful remoteness. This was our last morning breakfast and we all gathered together not wanting it to end. This had really been a private island retreat.

We had a few last amazing snorkeling spots. Lunch was included on the last day.

All too quickly our blissful three day Panama kayaking and snorkeling adventure was coming to an end. Our small group was awesome and we left with more friends. Adam was an exemplary guide. He had perfected the art of guiding us in a fully professional manner in all terms of safety, logistics, catering to us while still able to balance being so friendly, funny and interacting with us as a group mate. Having worked in a variety of customer service jobs ourselves, we can understand how delicate and dedicated you have to be to achieve this. Adam just nails it.

Prior to going on this Coiba trip I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What I can say is I am so glad we decided to make the efforts to go. Now is the time to go to Santa Catalina and Coiba Island. There is small town charm and an isolated island retreat waiting for you.

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Need to Know Info:
You can read over the FAQ and click on the packing list and info sheet.

Here are a few additional suggestions/affirm what’s on the info sheet based on our group’s experience:

• No need to bring closed toed shoes. We all went barefoot most of the time. It is ideal to have water shoes like tevas or chacos for getting in and out of the the boats at low tide.
• No need to bring a mat or sleeping pad. On the info sheet they say they give you a ‘mat.’ We all brought our own sleep pads because we all envisioned a tiny, thin roll out mat. But they give you really nice therma rests or z foam sleeping pads which are great!
• Bring batteries fully charged and/or bring a battery charging pack. There is no electricity.
• Leave soaps and shampoos at home. There is no shower, other than the coconut rinse off shower. Especially for the two night trip, you will be fine. If you are going on a longer trip and do want to bring soap just make sure it’s biodegradable.
• Make sure you have swim shirts (ideally long sleeve) and shorts. The sun is hot and thankfully everyone in our group was well prepared. Hat and sunglasses are a must.
• Adam was aware and on the ball to making sure we all applied sunscreen at least 20 minutes prior to getting in the water. If you don’t wait, a significant amount of the sunscreen just comes off in the water. Ideally get some biodegradable sunscreen if you can. (That is another major bonus of the swim shirts = less sunscreen.)
• Fluid Adventures does do a good job of incorporating snacks. However if you are prone to being hungry, I was glad to have a granola bar at my disposal. It might be nice to have one bar per day to carry on your own person just in case you get a craving.
• Do bring that sleep sheet and I was glad I had long pants and long sleeved shirt as well. It can get a little breezy (in a good way) but I was glad I had the layers when needed.
• There are no stores or anything like that on the island. No one lives on the island full time. We have been in some situations where there has been some loose interpretation of what “camping” means. This tour is literally camping…albeit in a very posh way as your guide really looks after you.
• Without being over bearing, it was subtlety apparent that safety was at the forefront of every decision Adam made. We always knew our intended routes for kayaking or snorkeling. He would make soft suggestions such as checking into make sure everyone was drinking water and feeling well. This is a well organized tour and it felt like everything was well planned out and thought of.

Have you heard of the saying ‘take only photos and leave only footprints?’ Fluid Adventures does a great job of incorporating and exemplifying low impact camping skills. Absolutely no toilet paper is left anywhere on the island. They provide a bathroom bag for you to use. If you wish to have your own, bring a zip lock of clean toilet paper, a zip lock for used toilet paper and hand sanitizer. This is the standard for any outdoor activities. Traveling like we do, not all bathrooms have toilet paper or are clean, I always carry a small travel toilet bag with me in my day bag anyway. Personally I keep it discreet in one of these inexpensive dry sacks. I use the blue colored bag.

Other questions our group had:

How Physical is this Tour?
Our group all commented that none of us really knew how physical it would be. The three day kayak/snorkel tour is designed for almost anyone to be able to go and do. They have had a people who have never camped nor kayak be able to enjoy the tour. More experienced outdoor people also reported feeling satisfied with the tour.

If you are looking for more serious paddling, talk to Michael and see about the four day or more tours as those give more opportunity for longer days of paddling. Gather up your own group of friends and make this happen. 🙂

We thought this tour incorporated a lot of snorkeling and we were really happy about that. The waters are so warm and there is a ton of marine life to be seen out there.

Do you move camp every day?

Not on the three day tour. If you are going on one of the longer excursions, most likely that itinerary would have you moving camp.

How much kayaking & snorkeling do you do?

So first, there is no cut and dry answer to this. Every tour will be slightly different because of the conditions and various factors. Speaking solely for the 3D/2N tour that we participated in, we kayaked a 2-4 hours per day and snorkeled 2-4 hours per day. One of the highlights and biggest draws of spending time on and around Coiba Island is the wildlife, and particularly the marine wildlife. This tour does incorporate a good amount of time snorkeling, which we were very pleased with.

What if I want more kayaking?

Talk more in depth with Michael about the four, five or six day tours as those itineraries provide longer days of kayaking to see if that will be to your liking.

A note about the cost: I know many of us travelers when we’re sitting at home looking at stuff on our computers we wonder if something “is worth it” when planning our vacations. After spending time in Santa Catalina I understand now how expensive it is to operate services and get supplies there. These are small group tours and we had the feeling of having an island all to ourselves in one of the most relaxed remote adventures we have ever done. I know we all have to pick and choose what activities we’ll do on our trips. I can say we left this trip feeling like it was exceptional, and yes, definitely “worth it.”

Getting to Santa Catalina:
Some people we talked to expressed anxiety over getting to Santa Catalina because of the need to switch buses. I can tell you it was very easy and by far the cheapest option. We spent a month traveling all around Panama on buses with absolutely no problems. We always got charged the correct amount and everything was ok. You will almost always give your bigger luggage to the bus handler who will either put it on top the bus or underneath. Keep your day bag with fragile items like a camera on your person.

Get a bus to Santiago. From David this cost $9 and from Panama City this cost $10.

<Side note: If you are looking for a place to stay in David, Chambers en Ville was absolutely charming! We walked to the guest house when we first arrived via the bus. In the morning the owner called a taxi for us and it was $2 to go to bus station.

In Panama City Posada 1914 was also a charming boutique hotel. They have 24 hr reception so they can accommodate all arrival times.>

Bus from Santiago to Sona. $2 pp. This will stop and literally you just have to walk across the street to get on a bus to Sona or the bus will pull directly into the station. We were able to walk right onto a bus. If you have to wait, you won’t have to wait long.

Bus from Sona to Santa Catalina $4.65 pp. Santa Catalina is quite small, but our bus handler asked each person where they were staying and let them off in front of their accommodation. If you were staying out towards Oasis Surf Camp area, you may want to try and find the taxi to take you out there. Ask at the shop in town for the taxi truck if you need to. If you don’t have your own car, I would recommend looking at the map and staying in accommodation closer to town for the convenience.

Get all your internet chores down before you get to Santa Catalina. The wifi is not fast.

There is NO ATM in Santa Catalina. Make sure you bring plenty of cash. Many businesses will accept credit cards, however they will tack on a fee.

We stayed at Lodge Cool Inside in a bungalow. They also have dorms. The bungalows where much nicer than we thought and the pictures don’t do them justice. This place was not quite our style (a little bit too loud of party regge music – but fortunately we couldn’t really hear it in the bungalow.) If you can deal with a messy kitchen, I can recommend staying here. We extended an additional three nights. This was one of the better budget options in town with a kitchen. Most of the restaurants in town don’t open until 6 or 6:30 pm so having a kitchen was nice to make dinner whenever we felt hungry.

You can browse here for other accommodation listings in town.

Make your Booking!
Finally, check out the Fluid Adventures website, instagram and facebook page.

Fluid Adventures also offers surf camps, surf and sup, yoga, multi element and more. Give their website a good browse. If you have any questions, just send Michael an email and ask him.

This was a unique experience and we hope you get to recreate a little bit of this island paradise too. We certainly would recommend and repeat this experience.

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Have you been to Panama before? What are you planning to do?