Wreckdiver in Panama

[wreckdiver1715]

I'm not sure who makes up these rules. But apparently, even though a tourist visa is good for 180 days, a visa for your vehicle and your foreign drivers license is only good for 90 days. In order to stay in Panama and drive a car any longer, you have to take yourself and your vehicle out of the country for at least 72 hours. Then you can return and start the process all over again. That or you have to get a Panamanian drivers license and pay import taxes and register you vehicle in Panama. So, with that being the case I'm packing up my dive and metal detecting gear and heading up to Costa Rica for the week.

 

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[Red_desert]

I'm sure a 'one and only' find for us for sure. Thanks Bob

Yeah, I can remember seeing that ring before on the Internet. Also, thanks for joining my new forum that was created recently, as you can see I've added a shipwreck exploration board.

Home | Radiesthesia Archaeology & Locating

 

[doc-d]

Here in Ecuador your license is valid for 90 days also, but it does not seem to be enforced much if at all…..

It is always nice to have a second license, one out of a jurisdiction where nobody can screw with it……so getting a second drivers license would be a good idea……
Obtaining a license here is not easy though……but for me, seemed a good idea getting a second license……..
Vaya con Dios, Viva Christo Rey

 

[ScubaFinder]

I've been following along Tommy, great stuff. You are visiting half my bucket list for me. :-) BTW - I still have my old '99 Blazer as well. Great vehicle, mine has seen the better part of 3 countries in the 15 years I have owned it, our Blazers should have passports of their own. Safe travels my friend.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I've been following along Tommy, great stuff. You are visiting half my bucket list for me. :-) BTW - I still have my old '99 Blazer as well. Great vehicle, mine has seen the better part of 3 countries in the 15 years I have owned it, our Blazers should have passports of their own. Safe travels my friend.

Thanks ScubaFinder, I'm having a blast exploring and treasure hunting in Central America, and the ol Blazer keeps on taking a beating on these roads down here. Just got back down into Panama from Costa Rica. I only have one Central American Country that I have not yet visited and that is Salvador.
I had to take my passport to the embassy to get more pages added, each boarder crossing I get two visa stamps, one for me and one for the Blazer.

Here are a few snapshots from my journey to Drakes Bay. Though their are legends of treasure located here I was not able to locate any. I also shot a bunch of underwater video and I am trying to edit it down to 5 or 10 minutes. Once I've added it to my Youtube page I will post a link here as well.

 

[ARC]

WD1715...
Ahhh alas... you are back !
So... hows the Excal treating you ?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Hola ARRC, yep made it back in one piece. The Excal is doing very well. However, I think I will need to replace the battery pack again very soon. I noticed a bunch of stress fractures in the housing. I have a re-order pending with the folks at Kellyco that I will process just prior to my next visit back home to Florida.

 

[ARC]

You should have them throw in the AA pack...
I forget how much they are now.. less than a hundo...
Love it for back up.
Any good finds ?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I have the AA battery Pack, but I don't believe it's rated for diving. No shipwrecks in Drakes Bay that I am aware of, and did not find anything searching the beaches. The good news is that the beaches there are very pristine, so I was not digging allot of trash.

 

[ARC]

I have the AA battery Pack, but I don't believe it's rated for diving. No shipwrecks in Drakes Bay that I am aware of, and did not find anything searching the beaches. The good news is that the beaches there are very pristine, so I was not digging allot of trash.

Now that is a good thing...
Welp... try cranking your sens up... test it hard.
On clean beaches ... I crank my sens... if tolerable try riding at 12ish... then adjust higher if poss.
IF high min false... you know what to do.

 

[ARC]

OH and yeah you can use the thick quality electrical tape... wrap super tight around whole lip and down 1 inch overlapping top...
Stretching as pulling slightly and tightly... make several passes overlapping each pass... tis simple SHALLOW fix.
Works for me... but just for shallows... and surf/breaks.
use your silicone as normal.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

We have been continuing our exploration of the Las Cruses Trail from the Old Panama City or Panama Viejo to to the lost town of Las Cruces on the Rio Chagres, and up the Chagres river to Fort San Lorenzo where the river meets the Caribbean.

In other news we are still working on permission to re-enter the Darien Gap to search for lost Spanish settlements

 

[old man]

Great pictures. Thanks for posting them. Good Luck down there.

 

[Red_desert]

Lost Spanish settlements, all sounds very interesting....did you find those cannons?

 

[Smithbrown]

Nice cannon, and they even look to be in splendid condition!

 

[dieselram94]

Looks like an adventure of a lifetime, please keep the pictures and stories coming!


Sent from a empty soda can!

 

[doc-d]

Senor Wreckdiver…….the Darien Gap would be a great adventure but if I recall correctly, it is used by narco's and smugglers often……

 

[Mackaydon]

IMO, the Darien Gap is no place today for anyone with good intentions.
Don.....

 

[ARC]

WD ! wb...
I have heard many stories/rumors of the DG.
I am jealous.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

While the Darien Gap is a formidable place to explore, and Narco Traffickers and Colombian guerrillas can often be the least of your worries in this rugged jungle. I have made the trip once before about six months ago and survived the adventure. We have identified several locations that are worthy of exploration that at least some may not have had a human visitor in nearly two to three hundred years.

With everything else that we have been doing down this way, we have scheduled the trip for beginning of May since I am heading back to Florida for the Treasure Hunters Cookout, and back in Panama on the 24th. Then I have to take my Blazer out of the Country to re-set the Visa, and that requires a couple days up in Costa Rica.

In the mean time we have been continuing to follow the Panama Treasure Trail, we moved on over to Portobelo on the Caribbean side of Panama, This was the main Spanish port for Panama, and a major stop for the Treasure Fleets on their way back to Spain. Even with it's strong fortifications, this port saw lot's of Pirate action, and on several occasions was overrun and destroyed. A fleet of six British warships also took the fort, and Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea just outside Portobelo Bay in a lead coffin.