We Will Dive Again!

COVID-19 in Santa Catalina

On March 12, 2020, we received a statement from the Ministry of Environment of Panama, informing us that all the national parks in the country would be closed until further notice, including Coiba National Park. More than 130 days have passed since we were last in the water.

On March 22, ten days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the president ordered the cancelation of all international flights to and from Panama, for a period of 30 days. This time frame has been extended three times and now finally, on July 22, airlines are supposed to begin operating again, if they actually do is still to be seen. [Edit 21 July: it was confirmed that airports will remain closed another 30 days] Those tourists that did not manage to leave before lock-down, or, thinking this situation wouldn’t last long decided to stay put, had to patiently wait for their embassies to organize humanitarian flights to take them back home. Some of them are still here.

For the first three months after closing, Santa Catalina was submerged in silence.  Very quickly, lockdown regulations in Panama went from just a general curfew, to an extremely elaborate organization of people’s right to be in public: men were allowed to go grocery shopping on Tuesdays and Thursdays, women on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, full lockdown for everyone on weekends. What’s more, we were only allowed out for two hours a day and the exact time was determined by the last number on our national ID.For a long time, the only other people we would see, were those who “shopped” at the same time as us, which as you might imagine is not many in such a tiny town, with only two small shops.

Peace and tranquility settled over Catalina, this beautiful paradise far away from the city and we learned lessons in patience, acceptance and positivity. For many, the most frustrating aspect in some ways was not being able to go to the beach, surf, and that the government prohibited the sale of alcohol. Of course when facing reality, for most, the problem is much worse than that. People have had to return to fight to fulfill their most basic needs, without the additional income that tourism generates. Proximity to the ocean has given some the possibility of going out fishing and every now and then families have been receiving a few basic goods from the government, such as oil and rice. Needless to say, in a town nearly completely dependent on tourism, the financial impact has been huge and it is yet to be seen how much longer we all have to hold out.

Despite everything, there is a silver lining for us: while numbers are still rising in the country, to date (21 July), Panama has 54,426 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,127 deceased, there have been no cases in Santa Catalina. A ´sanitary checkpoint´ has been put in place by a group of volunteers from the community to regulate who comes into town, limiting the number of outsiders.  Also, two policemen are constantly on patrol, ensuring that everyone adheres to curfew, wears a mask and respects other safety regulations.

While admittedly we have often been annoyed about these seemingly useless restrictions, the result is that unlike in the city, here we have now regained some of our freedom. Curfew is from 7pm to 5am. On June 22, beach visits and surfing were finally permitted again, which has done a lot to help the mind and spirit. Hotels and restaurants remain closed and sadly, diving is still not allowed and what we expect to be an insane fist dive, still has to wait. We can only dream of all the creatures that must be frolicking away in the park since there has been no boat traffic or human activity there since March.

While diving is already allowed in many parts of the world  we dare not say by when we think we will be back in the game. Check out this map by PADI to see where you can already get wet. 

While we hope that we will be able to go out again in time for humpback-whale season in September, Panama has not yet defined how they will reopen the tourism industry and which protocols will have to be followed. Despite suggestions published by organizations such as DAN, as well as Bio-Safety Guidelines for the reopening of the  tourism sector published by the Ministry of Labour, there are many aspects to be taken into consideration in an industry of this nature. For example, some suggest that air sharing should not be allowed under any circumstances and that there should be no physical contact between staff and guests. As always, diver safety, both above and below water, must be our top priority, and if that means we need to wait a little longer before getting in back in the water, then so be it.

So that is where we are at. We would love to hear from you. If you’d like to share your COVID-19 diving (or non-diving) experience with us, have ideas, comments or questions, please send us an email or a message on Facebook. Aside from your health, we hope that both financially and emotionally all of this hasn’t been too hard on you and that sooner rather than later you can be on the road again, searching for new adventures under water.

Camilo & Sabina