Bocas del Toro: Learning to Scuba Dive in Panama
I lurched forward under the weight of my scuba gear. With large swooping steps I made my way toward the edge of the boat, being careful to not trip over my flippers. Leaning over the edge, I placed the regulator in my mouth and fitted my mask. Then I took a long rattling breath, a large step into the air, and plunged into the Caribbean Sea.
The Place:
Bocas del Toro is an island archipelago in north eastern Panama, just south of Costa Rica. It is a stunning chain of lush green islands surrounded by the warm Caribbean Sea. After attending an annual general meeting for work in Panama City, I arrived on Isla Colon on a Friday afternoon. Isla Colon is the largest of the islands, and the location of Bocas Town, the capital of the Province.
The People:
Like I so often do, I had planned for my trip to Bocas del Toro to be a quick solo weekend break after a busy work week. It turned out some colleagues from work had made similar plans so I had company at the airport. On arrival, they made their way to Isla Bastimentos, another of the larger islands, while I settled in on Colon. The bulk of my three days in Bocas would be spent with my scuba instructor. A tiny twenty year old women from Wales, she had spent much of the last year in Bocas, obtaining six diving certifications in the process. A focused but cheerful and bubbly spirit above the surface, she personified calm below the water as she masterfully guided me through my Open Water Diver Certification.
The Plot:
Scuba diving is something I’ve always wanted to try but never thought I would. In 2014 I briefcased from Tegucigalpa to Roatan in Honduras for a (Canadian) Thanksgiving in October thinking I might try it there. I settled for a snorkel to explore the reef off the beach. Part of my hesitancy was the idea that I would be diving in the middle of a seemingly bottomless ocean. Nevertheless, motivated by thoughts of Cuba Gooding Junior’s portrayal of the relentlessly determined 1950s Navy Seal Diver Carl Brashear in Men of Honour, I strolled up to Bocas Dive Center on the Friday of my arrival in Bocas Town.
Day 1 – Scuba Diving in Bocas del Toro:
Arrival and Theory
After a night out, I set out for Bocas Dive Center on Saturday morning on an empty stomach. As I made my way south down the eastern side of Isla Colon I spotted a sleek looking cafe called Amaranto. A few minutes later, I strolled into Bocas Dive Centre sipping greedily on my chia-seed infused fruit smoothie. My Welsh scuba instructor greeted me on arrival and ushered me into one of several classrooms in the new and well organized building.
The Open Water Diver Certification began with a morning sipping earl grey tea and pacing around a room for four hours as I watched the training videos and took the quizzes. The videos quickly jostled fear of what lay in the ocean depths a few rows down the list of concerns I had for the dives that lay ahead. Surface too quickly, and the change in pressure could cause the air in my lungs to expand and my lungs to explode. Dive too long and nitrogen absorption may result in a potentially dangerous condition called decompression illness, or the bends. Never holding your breath while diving and appropriate safety stops while ascending are the straight forward ways to avoid these difficulties. But still.
Confined Water Training Session 1
After lunch at the dive center it was time to start the practical bit of the course. My instructor walked me through the process for setting up and testing my equipment. I hooked up my regulator (what you breathe from) to my oxygen tank and fitted the buoyancy control device (BCD). The set up was quite a bit more simple than I was expecting. Confirming the tank had the requisite 200 psi of oxygen, my instructor helped me lift it onto my back.
We leapt from the dock to the shallow confined bit of water that was an unnerving one meter below us. Soon we began a series of exercises to familiarize me with the basics: descending and ascending, buoyancy control, clearing water out of the mask, regulator, and snorkel. The focus then turned to everything that might go wrong. Perhaps the most uncomfortable involved flinging the regulator away from me and, while exhaling, recovering it and placing it back into my mouth to be able to continue breathing. Another harrowing exercise required me to remove my mask completely and become accustomed to breathing through the receptor with an exposed nose.
Day 2 – Scuba Diving in Bocas del Toro:
Confined Water Training Session 2
Day 2 started with more videos and another confined water training session in the morning. Practical skills included swimming without a mask, using the secondary regulator, dropping weights in the event of an emergency ascent, and completely removing the BCD and oxygen tank and then putting it back on. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to swim to a sunken airplane at about 5 meters depth. Here I learned what equalizing is all about. Every 10 meters below the surface and you are exposed to another surface atmosphere worth of pressure. So at 10 meters the pressure is 2x what it is at the surface, at 20 meters 3x, etc. The increased pressure can cause pain in the ears, a bit like when you descend in an airplane. Equalizing involves a range of techniques (plugging your nose and blowing, swallowing, wiggling your jaw) to clear air pockets and reduce discomfort.
Open Water Dive 1 – 10 Meters
On Sunday afternoon, the moment finally arrived. We loaded the gear onto Jumbo, the boat we’d be diving from. It had three levels, including a main cabin, an upper deck and a small area below equipped with a bathroom. The main deck outside of the main cabin was spacious and featured benches with built-in slots for oxygen tanks. We set off for “Grandma’s Garden“, my first ever dive site.
I lurched forward under the weight of my oxygen tank. With large swooping steps I made my way toward the edge of the boat, being careful to not trip over my flippers. Leaning over the edge, I placed the regulator in my mouth and fitted my mask. Then I took a long rattling breath, a large step into the air, and plunged into the Caribbean Sea. It was time to get S-O-R-T-E-D. Signal (thumbs down), Orientation (look below you), Regulator (start breathing from your tank), Time (check your watch), Elevate (raise the deflating device above your head), Descend (deflate your buoyancy device and start the dive).
We descended about 5 meters to the sea floor. Here we repeated some of the exercises from the confined dives. Being in the open water and a few meters deeper, the stakes felt higher. The idea of flinging the regulator away from me and removing my mask was met with some synaptic protests. To fend off the unease I thought to myself, “Carl Black, I am a Navy Diver”, recalling Cuba Gooding Jr. and my original inspiration for finding myself in this situation. I made it through. We followed a gradual declination along the sea floor to 10 meters, observing colourful fish and shy lobsters hiding in crevices of the reef along the way.
Day 3 – Scuba Diving in Bocas del Toro:
Open Water Dive 2 – 20 Meters
My last day of the Open Water Diver course started with another round of theory. I learned how to use a dive computer to plan and track my dive depth and length. Later that morning it was time to put down the dive tables and suit up again. Motoring out to sea in Jumbo, we readied our equipment. The boat was less crowded this time, with just four of us preparing to dive. We pulled into a shallow bay lined with thick vegetation. I practiced my new skills using my dive computer as we gradually descended.
At about 10 meters I saw them out of the corner of my eye. Two beady eyes. A sting ray had partially buried itself in the sand on the sea floor. I signalled to my instructor and hovered above the creature. Exhaling, I sunk closer. Knowing the gig was up, the creature stirred. Kicking up her sandy disguise she glided past me, disappearing into the darkness. Delighted by the encounter, I hardly noticed how deep we had gone when my instructor stopped to show me her dive computer; 20 meters! We ascended back up to explore a sunken ship, smiling at two fish that had made a home out of a submerged toilet.
A Final Thought:
Nearly three-quarters of the world is ocean. Until recently my pursuits were limited to the remaining quarter. No longer. After passing the final exam of the Open Water Diver course in Bocas del Toro, my instructor rang a bell and I was handed a beer to celebrate. Overcoming fears, confronting uncertainty, and constantly learning has been an integral part of my experience briefcasing around the world. In leisure as in work, I continue to challenge myself during the course of my ceaseless pursuit.
