Amazing diving in Panama - We were lucky enough to get a ride to Pixvae with Kevan’s charming son Will who met us in Sona, I wont lie the journey was hot and... read more bumpy but the scenery was stunning. It was a long nearly 2 hour trip on a bumpy dusty track (only to be done by a 4x4).

The journey was so worth it, the village of Pixvae is charming with a fantastic beech. When you are this far off the beaten track don’t expect 5 star luxury. There is no mains electricity and your mobile won’t work.

We were shown to our accommodation which was a basic hostel where we had a twin room with shared bathroom, lighting was provided by solar powered lights. The only other guests were also there for the diving and we quickly discovered the nearby bar for a well earned cool beer.

We met Kevan a few hours after arriving, as he had been working away for five days on a scientific trip. He was tired from a days technical diving and probably just wanted to get his head down for a sleep, but he made us feel so welcome and gave us an introduction brief and made arrangements for the following days diving.

The first day diving was on a quiet site, there were five divers including the pair of us and the abilities were mixed from newly qualified to very experienced. So Kevan did the right thing and took the newbies for a check out dive first, then a slow gentle dive. He is extremely safety conscious and his attention to detail is to the highest standard I have seen in a dive company.

For the next two days diving it was just the pair for us, we had some wonderful dives seeing all the beauty the ocean had to offer. Big and little together. My highlight was to witness loads and loads of Diamond Rays so close up, I have never seen so many Rays together. The diving was great, Cobia is fantastic and our dive guide was brilliant. Kevan is one of the nicest passionate and professional people we have had the pleasure to meet. He is so knowledgeable, funny and has great stories to be told. The food was lovely and plenty of it, Luc is a great cook.

We happened to be there in very peculiar times, at the start of the coronavirus spreading world wide, with us in Pixvae oblivious to the quickly changing outside world, after news did drip through, Kevan looked after us so well, Kevan even shared his rum!!! On a serious note he made sure we were able to get out and was always in contact with us after leaving Pixvae until we made it home safely to the UK.
When the world returns to normal, we will be back to Panama and we look forward to diving again with Kevan, if he will put up with us again.