By Carl
Where is the best snorkeling in Panama and Costa Rica? We are considering a vacation which includes those two countries, and are going primarily for the experience of navigating the Panama Canal. We are avid snorkelers. Any recommendations as to where the best marine life for snorkeling, in the months of January through March, would be appreciated.
We just returned from Raja Ampat and saw more marine life than we have ever seen, so we are not expecting that, but we are interested in experiencing the best snorkeling in Panama and Costa Rica. Any spots that stand out?
Thanks for your time.
Hi Carl, we do have some older information on the site about both locations, Panama snorkeling on this page and this page, and Costa Rica snorkeling here.
Also we came across this recent news about coral bleaching in the San Blas Islands, or Guna Yala Archipelago in Panama.
Hopefully you will get some useful answers from recent visitors.
Thank you for the information. Any information from recent visitors to Costa Rica would be most appreciated.
We took a day trip to snorkel out at Caño Island off the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica in February and found it to be just okay. We left from Uvita using a company called Bahia Aventuras. Our expectations were pretty low and it was nothing compared to snorkel spots we’ve been in Thailand, for instance. The highlights for us were seeing some very cool sea turtles – I think four varieties. The visibility was so so and the coral is pretty much bleached out but a nice amount of fish. It was a nice boat ride and they took us out of the way to potentially see humpback whales on our return trip – alas we did not.
Best snorkeling in Panama is Isla Coiba, on the Pacific side of Panama. It is affected by the Humbolt Current, the same as the Galapagos. We saw lots of beautiful fish, big schools. You can take a day trip from Santa Catalina.
The Pacific side of Costa Rica is not known for its snorkeling – we had a similar experience to JB. I have not been to the Caribbean side, which might be better. I hope someone can answer for that side of Costa Rica.
A month or so ago I went snorkeling in Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica, south of Limon on the Caribbean side. It was not especially impressive, the coral is very bleached. I did see some large schools of small fish. The land portion of the park is lovely, just be sure to take the warning about no food very seriously — the monkeys are aggressive around food and very very fast.
We recently did a snorkeling trip off a boat in Cahuita National Park on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. It was excellent. Also agree about Isla Coiba in Panama, taking a boat from Santa Catalina.