Reactivate Our Community
Donation protected
This fund-raising campaign is to save a mission that started over 8 years ago, which was to change people’s lives through the experience of diving in Coiba National Park and contributing to sustainable tourism and a stronger economy in our little town. Panama Dive Center is located in Santa Catalina, a small remote village of about 400 residents, on the Pacific coast of Panama. Coiba National Park is a hidden gem, not as well known among divers or nature lovers as it should be. Expanding over 503 square kilometers, this protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to around 760 species of fish, 97 species of birds, 36 species of mammals and countless reptiles and insects.
More and more, our community has begun to move to earning a living through sustainable tourism rather than through fishing. Many have realized that nature is worth protecting for both its incredible beauty, and as an important means to earn a living. Panama Dive Center is an educational center, where people learn not only to dive, but also to love and respect marine life. This learning and appreciation happens for the tourists that come to visit, as well as for the locals many of whom now completely depend on tourism. Thousands of divers have already been taken to see one of the most magical places and return home changed, touched by the raw beauty of their experience in Coiba. Among them are our long-term volunteers, many of whom are now dive professionals or marine biologists, who have fallen in love with nature and decided to dedicate their lives to protecting it.
Our mission is to continue doing just this. Changing lives AND our chance on this planet by teaching people to dive, showing people how wonderful the oceans are, protecting marine life and the environment through private initiatives, education, and creating jobs in the sustainable tourism sector. In the last 8 years, all our energy and of course a lot of funds, especially in the last 2 years, have been used to do this, including the investment in dive gear, compressor and equipment maintenance, furthering the education of staff and volunteers, beach clean ups and ghost-net removals. By March 2020, over 20 families were directly or indirectly involved in these ventures, starting from our permanent employees and the owners of the boats we rent, who have been forced to start fishing again, all the way to the restaurant that prepares the sandwiches for our trips and the hotels in which visitors stay.
On the 12th of March, we had to press pause as Coiba National Park was closed by the authorities. Seven and a half months later, as things begin to reawaken, we realize that too much time has passed and that, since the situation is still not under control, we are unable to meet the objective of keeping our mission alive. The restrictions that have been put in place to try to prevent a further spread of the virus and the foreseeable lack of visitors in the upcoming months, completely discard any chance we have to restart, since we would be running Panama Dive Center, together with its mission into the ground. The income that can be generated at this time will in no way cover the cost, and the only other option is to lay low and keep waiting in the hopes that something like “normality” returns sooner rather than later. This is why we are asking for your help: to bridge that gap until the world gets back on its feet.
With your donation, we can un-press pause right now. With the funds raised through this campaign all 20 families will have an income again, we will carry on with our volunteer program, continue cleaning the beaches, finish teaching our pending courses and say “yes” to every person who wants to come and dive here so they can stay at a hotel, eat in a restaurant and buy something from the tiny vegetable store. We want to keep our mission of sharing this little piece of heaven and a passion for the ocean with as many people as possible and thus, keep Coiba safe and the people of Santa Catalina hopeful.
More and more, our community has begun to move to earning a living through sustainable tourism rather than through fishing. Many have realized that nature is worth protecting for both its incredible beauty, and as an important means to earn a living. Panama Dive Center is an educational center, where people learn not only to dive, but also to love and respect marine life. This learning and appreciation happens for the tourists that come to visit, as well as for the locals many of whom now completely depend on tourism. Thousands of divers have already been taken to see one of the most magical places and return home changed, touched by the raw beauty of their experience in Coiba. Among them are our long-term volunteers, many of whom are now dive professionals or marine biologists, who have fallen in love with nature and decided to dedicate their lives to protecting it.
Our mission is to continue doing just this. Changing lives AND our chance on this planet by teaching people to dive, showing people how wonderful the oceans are, protecting marine life and the environment through private initiatives, education, and creating jobs in the sustainable tourism sector. In the last 8 years, all our energy and of course a lot of funds, especially in the last 2 years, have been used to do this, including the investment in dive gear, compressor and equipment maintenance, furthering the education of staff and volunteers, beach clean ups and ghost-net removals. By March 2020, over 20 families were directly or indirectly involved in these ventures, starting from our permanent employees and the owners of the boats we rent, who have been forced to start fishing again, all the way to the restaurant that prepares the sandwiches for our trips and the hotels in which visitors stay.
On the 12th of March, we had to press pause as Coiba National Park was closed by the authorities. Seven and a half months later, as things begin to reawaken, we realize that too much time has passed and that, since the situation is still not under control, we are unable to meet the objective of keeping our mission alive. The restrictions that have been put in place to try to prevent a further spread of the virus and the foreseeable lack of visitors in the upcoming months, completely discard any chance we have to restart, since we would be running Panama Dive Center, together with its mission into the ground. The income that can be generated at this time will in no way cover the cost, and the only other option is to lay low and keep waiting in the hopes that something like “normality” returns sooner rather than later. This is why we are asking for your help: to bridge that gap until the world gets back on its feet.
With your donation, we can un-press pause right now. With the funds raised through this campaign all 20 families will have an income again, we will carry on with our volunteer program, continue cleaning the beaches, finish teaching our pending courses and say “yes” to every person who wants to come and dive here so they can stay at a hotel, eat in a restaurant and buy something from the tiny vegetable store. We want to keep our mission of sharing this little piece of heaven and a passion for the ocean with as many people as possible and thus, keep Coiba safe and the people of Santa Catalina hopeful.
Fundraising team (4)
Sabina Schreck
Organizer
Andres Consuegra
Team member
Bronwyn MacRitchie
Team member
Camilo Consuegra
Team member
