Amazing Kayak Adventure in Stunning Panama with Fluid Adventures

Panama is making its mark as a wildlife and adventure destination. The secret is slowly getting out that among a friendly, easy to navigate, affordable country lays pristine beaches, amazing bodies of water, forests and…an amazing kayak adventure in stunning Panama.

Those lucky enough to have found their way to the tiny town of Santa Catalina have come to call themselves the lucky ones. Quietly nestled at the end of the only road into town lays the best surfing and kayaking shop in Panama: Fluid Adventures.

Fluid Adventures is the lifestyle creation of Michael McKenzie. Calling to surfers, kayakers, snorkelers, and nature lovers, this outfitter offers some of the best and unique water-based adventure activities in the country.

We coordinated to spend two blissful nights and three days camping, kayaking, and snorkeling around Coiba. This was one of the most enjoyable overnight camping excursions we have ever done.

If you are at all thinking of wanting to embark on this dreamy journey, I highly recommend it. In the meantime, here is a preview of what our experience was like.

Location

The great thing about Santa Catalina is it can be reached by an easy day’s bus ride from Panama City. (See details at end of this post.)

Coiba National Park is an ecological gem. It was declared a national park in 1992 and a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005.

The island has a dark past. During the dictatorship rule of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, the island housed a brutal prison. Those sent there were known as “Los Desapararecidos” or the disappeared. This National Geographic article talks more about the history.

Fast forward to current and happier times, what this means is that almost by accident, about 80% of the islands natural habitat has remained untouched. Researchers can get giddy because much is still being learned about both Coiba’s land and marine wildlife.

Wildlife

Coiba Island has a number of animal species that are endemic and found only there.

The Smithsonian Tropical Institute has been able to document and observe the white faced capuchin monkeys using stone tools. In the world of science, this documentation was huge news. Outlets like the Washington Post, Fortune, and The Royal Society were all creating quite a buzz about it.  

There is an agouti species that is uniquely endemic to Coiba Island.

We saw a variety of beautiful birds during our time around the island. The tiger heron is one of my all-time favorite birds. We got to enjoy watching this one foraging for his dinner while we sat on the beach eating ours.

Pelicans were swooping around and we loved seeing them dive down into the waters for fishing.

Discreetly sitting in the trees, this kingfisher kept itself ready to dive for its next meal.

Kayaking

One of the biggest unknowns about being around Coiba National Park is never knowing what you might see while out there. The underground topography is linked by the underwater Coco Ridge mountain range to the Galapagos. The unique location of Coiba National Park protects it from the damaging wind effects of el Nino.

One of the wild cards to spending time around Coiba, particularly in the water, is there is a wide variety of migrating marine wildlife. Whale sharks, various species of sharks, large schools of rays and fish are swimming their way around the currents. Coiba is surrounded by one of the largest coral reefs on the Pacific coast of the Americas. This all helps to make for the best kayak adventure in stunning Panama.

These charging tadpoles were neat to see. This is in a freshwater stream near the camp that was ideal for rinsing off after a day in the ocean.

Nature

Prior to going on this tour, I did not realize how peaceful and relaxing this excursion would be. Each night we got lulled to sleep by the waves. The setting was so peaceful and I reflect on it often.

Another remarkable aspect of spending time around Coiba National Park was how clean the environment was. It’s no secret the plastic in the ocean is a major problem. It was refreshing that as we kayaked around the ocean was so clean there.

Low impact camping skills were also in place and upheld to an exceptionally high standard.

A delightful surprise was realizing we had such a remote campsite. No one lives on the island full time. The rangers come and go from the park on two-week shifts, making it so that no one actually lives there full time. The public used to be able to stay at the ranger station, but not anymore. All of this had us feel even more special being the only ones camping on the island and that aspect was pretty cool.

Small Group Advantage

Fluid Adventures prides itself on high customer service and small group adventures. Our group consisted of a total of six people and our guide, Adam. Having a small group like this allows for a more connective, inclusive, and private experience.

I loved the pacing of this trip. It was not required to get up and see the sunrise or stay awake late into the night if you didn’t want to. Coffee was ready at 7 am for anyone who would like it and breakfast was at 7:45 am. I found this timing to be so wonderful to allow for recharging.

Overall

The serenity and peacefulness creating this to be a top-notch experience was my biggest takeaway. After our time on the island, I was so relaxed yet energized by all we had seen and done. This amazing kayak adventure in stunning Panama with Fluid Adventures is not something I will soon forget.

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I wrote another article about this amazing kayak adventure in stunning Panama with Fluid Adventures HERE. Don’t miss reading that article with more useful tips, info and dreamy food pictures like this one below. 🙂

Logistics

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, many 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!

If you are needing gear for this trip, we wrote this detailed post with a lot of our favorite gear we have personally used and recommend.
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 kayak adventure in stunning Panama many times over.