That was the opinion of a fellow traveler in Cerro Punta, and
that's all it took to rotate our heading from the Caribbean, to the Pacific.
The Island of Coiba and its surroundings is a national
park, famous for large marine animals.
At this time of year, whale sharks are the star attraction. They are the largest fish, reaching a length
of 15 meters. Being a meditating diver, I
arrived at the hamlet of Santa Catalina without any expectations, or at least
that’s what I told myself.
“They come and go,” said the girl at the dive shop “they
follow the plankton, and for the last few days, they have not been sighted.”
Since I was still suffering from a nasal congestion, I decided to rest a day before diving.
‘Maybe by then they will come back’ I
thought.
Santa Catalina is also one of Panama’s best surfing breaks,
and I spent the day in the company of bored surfers, whose rest was
imposed by the lack of waves. The
absence of swells seemed to overlap with the absence of the whale sharks, and I
formed a neat nautical theory connecting the two. As if to confirm my theory the dive-boats returned without a sighting.
Towards the end of our first dive, two in our group
sighted a whale shark, but the low visibility prevented me from seeing it.
“It was an interesting dive anyway” I told myself
The second dive location featured many white-tipped sharks,
but not the stars. Before the third dive,
a couple of people felt tired and stayed on the boat.
“This is a known feeding spot,” said the dive master,
“just sit back and look”
He was right.
There was nothing to do. The
water was unpleasantly cold, and the cold current brings with it plankton and low
visibility. The underwater scenery was
dull, and the overcast sky made it dark and gloomy.
'What a waste!' I thought while hugging myself, and after a pang of guilt, I relaxed into my mantra 'No expectations.'
And then suddenly, a blurry shape materialized out of the darkness. It was huge and it came closer. One at a time they swam up to the surface, lingered a bit displaying
their spots, and then disappeared in the murky depths. They swam slowly, ignoring our presence, and I
grew bolder, approaching one within 2 meters. Judging from the photos, the
biggest shark was at least four times my size.
‘They only eat plankton, but a side swap could hurt.’
Just as suddenly, they left. Back on the boat, we did not have to speak. Our smiles said everything.
Just as suddenly, they left. Back on the boat, we did not have to speak. Our smiles said everything.
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