Coiba National Park
A UNESCO World Heritage Site — Panama's largest island is surrounded by the Eastern Tropical Pacific's most spectacular marine wilderness.
SYP · MPSA · Panama
Rubén Cantú Airport
Santiago — Veraguas — Coiba. 3 hrs boat to Coiba Island.
Runway
2200m
Surface
Asphalt
Elevation
77m
Hours
6am-6pm
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Airport at a glance
Santiago — Panama
Veraguas is the only province in Panama that touches both oceans. That geographical accident is the key to the place: from Santiago, its capital, you can reach the Caribbean in a couple of hours in one direction and the Pacific in about ninety minutes in the other, and between them lie highlands, cloud forest and the entrance to the finest marine park in the country.
Rubén Cantú Airport sits 2 kilometres southeast of Santiago, in Atalaya district, on the flat plain that carries the Pan-American Highway through the middle of the isthmus.
Runway 17/35, 1,207 metres, asphalt, at 83 metres elevation. ICAO: MPSA. Coordinates: 8°05′03″N, 80°56′43″W. Daylight operations. The Santiago VOR-DME (Ident: STG) serves the region.
Twelve hundred metres on flat, open ground is a comfortable field for the Cessna Caravan and light twin classes and for most business turboprops. Without scheduled airline traffic, SYP is quiet and flexible — a useful characteristic for charter operations that need short-notice slots or early departures.
Getting there
Rubén Cantú Airport — Getting there
Santiago sits almost exactly midway along the Pan-American between Panama City and David, which historically made it a stopping point rather than a destination. The charter network changes that: thirty-five minutes from Albrook puts Coiba, Santa Catalina and Santa Fe within a comfortable long weekend.
| Panama City | ~35 min | ~3.5 h |
| Río Hato | ~20 min | ~2 h |
| Chitré | ~15 min | ~1.5 h |
| David | ~30 min | ~3 h |
Nearby
Things to do near Santiago
Coiba National Park was inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage in 2005, and it exists in its current condition because of an unusual history: from 1919 until 2004 the island was a penal colony, and the prison kept everyone else away. Nearly 80% of its original forest survives, which on the Pacific coast of Central America is close to unique.
The marine park covers over 2,700 square kilometres. The diving is regarded as the best in Panama and among the best in the eastern Pacific — whale sharks, hammerheads, manta rays, whitetip reef sharks in numbers, and, from July to October, humpback whales. On the island itself there are endemic subspecies that diverged during the isolation, including a distinctive howler monkey and the Coiba spinetail.
Access is controlled and requires permits and authorised operators. The launch point is Santa Catalina, about 90 minutes southwest of Santiago by road.
Santa Catalina. Which is a destination in its own right. Playa Santa Catalina holds the best-known wave in Panama — a right-hand point break over rock that works most consistently from February to August on southern swells and is genuinely world class on the right day. Playa El Estero, next door, is the beginner beach.
The village is small, unpolished and built around surf and dive operations. It has changed less than any comparable break in Central America.
The highlands and the other coast. Santa Fe, an hour north of Santiago at around 500 metres, sits at the foot of the continental divide — waterfalls, orchid growers, coffee, rivers cold enough to be startling, and trails into the cloud forest of Santa Fe National Park. It is one of the most under-visited highland areas in Panama and one of the most pleasant.
North of that, the road eventually reaches the Caribbean coast at Calovébora and the Veraguas shoreline, which is remote to a degree that surprises people.
Closer to town, the Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís de la Montaña at Atalaya is one of Panama's most important pilgrimage sites, drawing tens of thousands each year, and the colonial church of San Francisco de la Montaña nearby holds baroque altarpieces regarded as the finest in the country.
World-Class Diving — Coiba
Coiba is ranked among the world's top five dive destinations — hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, giant manta rays and pristine coral in a protected Pacific ocean sanctuary.
Sportfishing — Coiba
Coiba's nutrient-rich Pacific waters produce legendary sportfishing — black marlin, Pacific sailfish and wahoo in a remote, protected marine environment.
Private Marine Expeditions — Coiba
Exclusive multi-day private expeditions to Coiba — live-aboard diving, snorkeling, kayaking and beach camping on uninhabited Pacific islands.
Santa Fe National Park
Panama's newest national park protects Veraguas Province's cloud forests — excellent birdwatching, waterfalls and indigenous Ngäbe communities.
Advanced Diving — Coiba National Park
Coiba is a UNESCO World Heritage dive site — whale sharks, hammerhead schools, giant Pacific manta rays and enormous fish biomass in the Pacific's most protected marine reserve. Liveaboard or private day charter.
Point Break Surf — Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina's right-hand point break is one of Central America's finest — a powerful, hollow wall that barrels on big swells. Private surf guide, exclusive peak access on dawn sessions before the crowds arrive.
Helicopter — Coiba & Pacific Veraguas
Private helicopter circuit over Coiba National Park — aerial views of the UNESCO island reserve, the surrounding atoll system, humpback whale feeding grounds and the wild Pacific coast of Veraguas.
Where to stay
Hotels near Santiago
When to fly
When to fly
Veraguas straddles the divide and gets both patterns. The Pacific side runs dry from mid-December to April and wet from May to mid-December, heaviest September to November. The highlands around Santa Fe and the Caribbean slope are wetter and less seasonal, with rain possible year-round.
Santa Catalina's surf season peaks in the wet half of the year — February to August — which means the best waves and the best flying weather do not entirely overlap. Morning departures are the norm.
FAQ
Rubén Cantú Airport — Frequently asked questions
What is the runway length at Santiago (SYP)?
1,207 metres of asphalt, runway 17/35, at 83 m elevation. ICAO: MPSA.
How long is the flight from Panama City to Santiago?
About 35 minutes from Albrook (PAC), against roughly three and a half hours by road.
How do I get to Coiba National Park?
Through Santa Catalina, about 90 minutes southwest of Santiago by road, with authorised operators. Access to the park is permit-controlled.
Why is Coiba so well preserved?
It was a penal colony from 1919 to 2004, which kept development away. Nearly 80% of its original forest survives, and UNESCO inscribed it as World Heritage in 2005.
When is the surf season at Santa Catalina?
Roughly February to August, on southern swells. It is the best-known break in Panama.
What is there in the Veraguas highlands?
Santa Fe, an hour north at around 500 m, with waterfalls, cloud forest, coffee and trails into Santa Fe National Park.