Staying Home Sucks, home
Old Bank, Bastimento, Panama - panoramio (10)
Bastimentos, the nearest town, 9 km away. Photo: hh oldman, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Polo Beach Wall

Dive site · Panama

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

73Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

3 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 70 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
9 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
27°C

Tue 3 · 72 out of 100

Sea
0.3 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
27°C

Wed 4 · 73 out of 100

Sea
0.2 mflat
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
27°C

Thu 5 · 74 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
28°C

Fri 6 · 73 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
27°C

Sat 7 · 74 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
28°C

Sun 8 · 74 out of 100

Sea
0.1 mflat
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
29°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 170, good
  2. Mon 270, good
  3. Tue 372, good
  4. Wed 473, good
  5. Thu 574, good
  6. Fri 673, good
  7. Sat 774, good
  8. Sun 874, good
  9. Mon 974, good
  10. Tue 1074, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 20 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 29 °Crash vest or 1 to 2 mm
  • Faces SWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at Polo Beach Wall
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov70, good0.3 m9 kn12kn27°C
Mon 2Nov70, good0.3 m9 kn12kn27°C
Tue 3Nov72, good0.3 m4 kn8kn27°C
Wed 4Nov73, good0.2 mflat3 kn6kn27°C
Thu 5Nov74, good0.1 mflat1 kn7kn28°C
Fri 6Nov73, good0.1 mflat3 kn7kn27°C
Sat 7Nov74, good0.1 mflat3 kn8kn28°C
Sun 8Nov74, good0.1 mflat3 kn10kn29°C
Mon 9Nov74, good0.1 mflat4 kn10kn28°C
Tue 10Nov74, good0.1 mflat4 kn10kn28°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovLow 00:21 −0.3 mHigh 06:51 +0.0 mLow 10:57 −0.1 mHigh 17:40 +0.2 m
  • Mon 2 NovLow 00:58 −0.2 mHigh 07:33 +0.1 mLow 12:08 −0.1 mHigh 18:32 +0.2 m
  • Tue 3 NovLow 01:36 −0.2 mHigh 08:19 +0.1 mLow 13:26 −0.0 mHigh 19:31 +0.1 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More diving near here

4 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Polo Beach Wall

A cave dive. It goes down to 20 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces SW: swell from the SW reaches it, and wind from the NE blows out to sea. No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off. The sea is about 28°C in January, its coldest month (3 mm wetsuit), and 30°C in September, its warmest (rash vest or 1 to 2 mm). The town to stay in is Bastimentos. Within 5 km we also list 1 dive site.

  • What it is Cave.
  • How deep Down to 20 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 50 km on the map: book a liveaboard or a boat from further off.

Water about 29°C: rash vest or 1 to 2 mm. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 6 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Mar and May (about 15 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$683–US$1,300 each

about US$683–US$1,300 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to SJO, estimated from distance and season, 2 airlines on the route, with a hold bagabout US$295–US$610
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$74–US$127
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$147–US$248
Food7 days eating outabout US$167–US$315
Totalabout US$683–US$1,300

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Bastimentos

Closest

Bastimentos

15 min by car · 18 places to stay

about US$54/nightcountry average

See 18 places to stay in Bastimentos · Booking.com

About Bastimentos its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$54 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 13h 25m

About 13h 25m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → SJO, direct, then 4h 25m by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

No dive centre mapped within 50 km.

Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 6 m, about usual for the month (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.