Finally was able to take a scuba trip recently (June 10-17) and I had chosen Cocoview due to seeing nothing but amazing reviews/TRs here.
Sharing some details as I feel you cant beat trip reports to see how a destination is and what goes on there.
Booking
I stopped being lazy and gave them a call to see what their availability was and as it turns out, the week that worked best they did have an opening. This was maybe 3ish weeks before the arrival date. The receptionists are super nice and helpful. They put me on the Coco Casa waitlist (or so I thought). Also got asked for my flights details that I hadn't purchased yet. I always prefer booking my staying accommodations before the plane ticket. Got them to add the single supplement since Im a bachelor and got the purchase taken care of. Booked the plane tickets right after and sent the details over to them.
A few days later when reading even more on Coco view I noticed the "waitlist" term on their site a few times and started thinking about that and decided to call them just to verify. As it turns out, all the normal rooms were fully booked so I got put into CocoCasa beach house with the caveat that if a normal accommodation cancelled then they would just move me to that room.
It seems I had luck on my side, a few days before the trip I gave them a call and was informed I will get the beach house. Nice!
Flight
Burned 2 choice benefits on the flight because why not to upgrade to first class even though it is a short flight. I was actually surprise that worked since it is international when the benefits say domestic. I was on the Delta ATL-RTB flight leaving around noon-ish. Had a few beers then it was time to board. At the gate I could tell it was basically nothing but a scuba trip plane. So many Coco view and anthonys key bag tags.
We landed on time and got my bag and passed through security. Outside I saw a lady with the Cocoview sign so I checked in with her.
The heat/humidity was pretty stifling as it has been almost a year i havent been in that kind of heat. Luckily there is the bar right past security so I enjoyed a couple of those while waiting for the rest of the flight.
Arrival
After a quick minibus ride to the dock and then the short boat ride we have finally arrived! They took care of the bags from the airport so im glad i didnt have to drag that suitcase around.
Check-in was quick and painless. I had already printed all the documents and filled them out digitally because my handwriting is bad.
We had a small group of us together for the introduction and showing us some of the main buildings. Stopped by the bar to have a refreshing cold one in the heat while chatting with someone. I think it was around lunchtime and there was food ready so i ate something.
I went to my beach house after that to get somewhat unpacked and to get my gear ready.
The coco casa beach house was a 3-5 minute walk down the beach or trail and once I got there my suitcase was on the porch (yay). It was basically a 2 bedroom and a living room apartment on stilts. I think there was a nest of birds somewhere in the attic due to hearing noise through the walls sounding like chirps. At least it wasnt loud
Cranked the AC down real low since the temp display didnt seem right.
Loaded up all my scuba gear to take down to the dock and find my boat. I was assigned to Coco IV with Dave and Kirk. It seems I went there before most others and wasnt quite sure what/where to put things. Thankfully someone from my boat gave me the run down on what the process was for the dive locker.
We had the orientation video and dinner afterwards. After that the dive locker made more sense since they explained everything in the video as opposed to me just showing up with my gear early to get that taken care of.
Orientation dive
Went to bed early Saturday night after dinner and socializing since I woke up pretty early that morning.
Had a quick breakfast Sunday morning w/ coffee. They had the usual breakfast items along with some fruit. Stuck to that for breakfast mostly.
The orientation guide gave us a detailed briefing of the planned dive. Some stuff about both walls and which side to keep them one along with the price albert with the chains/buoys back to the resort.
We made our way in the water to this floating dock thing and we did a buoyancy check and headed out. We stopped by the prince albert to see the sign/chain and the boat. Felt great to get back in the water.
More Diving
All diving was nitrox ~31-33% and we had to fill out the nitrox log noting the serial/%/Name down in the booklet. They had the allen wrench for removing the insert for DIN regs which was nice.
The water was a toasty 30-31c every day. Not a single drop of rain.
Before getting here i had changed my bwp setup that i got from dive gear express. Originally i had the slidey thing on one side but finally decided to replace it with a static triglide. It seems i had adjusted it just about right and worked nicely in the sea and no more drooping weight pocket on that side. Can only test so much in a 12ft pool.
We had a boat dive Sunday afternoon where I finally met my group I would be diving with all week along with Dave/kirk. All awesome people welcoming me as part of our new crew.
All were couples of some sort with me being the solo odd man out heh. Being a solo traveler it was nice to be included off the rip as soon as i set foot on the dive locker/boat.
I only ended up doing 12 dives over the week (2/day, 1-2 drop-off dives). Usually the morning and afternoon boat dives. I know I could have done a ton more, but I was enjoying relaxing/napping and not doing a single thing nor any worry in the world.
Spent the first 2 dives getting used to being back in the water after almost a year. It felt amazing getting back under again.
On Monday, my first AM boat dive did not go as well as planned. A few meters under I started to having some issues with my mask and leaking. I tried clearing my mask a few times which worked ok mostly but started breathing way to fast sucking down air. I felt myself hyper-ventilating/panicking. I was thinking to myself innn and outttt, in and outttt to try and calm myself down but that didnt really work. I realized that i was only a few meters down and decided best to call my dive. Signaled to the dm i was going back up. Ive never called a dive for myself before but i felt it was the most prudent course of action. I would rather panic at 5-10 meters compared to 20+. Did the safety stop and got back onto the boat.
I believe I was exhaling a bit through my nose loosening the seal on the mask against the water. I think there is also some part related to the new camera i had brought with me and task loading along with the 1 year no scuba. Hadnt even really used it yet. My next dive was much better once i realized this.
Thankfully once i got a handle on the above, all the remaining dives over the week were simply amazing. I was able to get used to using my tg-6/housing and dealing with my mask properly when i needed to clear it and the proper way.
The pictures i took were night and day compared to the old go-pro i used previously.
Our DM, Kirk found lots of thing i never would have seen had he not pointed them out. We saw seahorses, nudis, jumbo lobsters, flamingo tongues, mantis shrimp and some spider looking things among others.
1/2 more below.
Sharing some details as I feel you cant beat trip reports to see how a destination is and what goes on there.
Booking
I stopped being lazy and gave them a call to see what their availability was and as it turns out, the week that worked best they did have an opening. This was maybe 3ish weeks before the arrival date. The receptionists are super nice and helpful. They put me on the Coco Casa waitlist (or so I thought). Also got asked for my flights details that I hadn't purchased yet. I always prefer booking my staying accommodations before the plane ticket. Got them to add the single supplement since Im a bachelor and got the purchase taken care of. Booked the plane tickets right after and sent the details over to them.
A few days later when reading even more on Coco view I noticed the "waitlist" term on their site a few times and started thinking about that and decided to call them just to verify. As it turns out, all the normal rooms were fully booked so I got put into CocoCasa beach house with the caveat that if a normal accommodation cancelled then they would just move me to that room.
It seems I had luck on my side, a few days before the trip I gave them a call and was informed I will get the beach house. Nice!
Flight
Burned 2 choice benefits on the flight because why not to upgrade to first class even though it is a short flight. I was actually surprise that worked since it is international when the benefits say domestic. I was on the Delta ATL-RTB flight leaving around noon-ish. Had a few beers then it was time to board. At the gate I could tell it was basically nothing but a scuba trip plane. So many Coco view and anthonys key bag tags.
We landed on time and got my bag and passed through security. Outside I saw a lady with the Cocoview sign so I checked in with her.
The heat/humidity was pretty stifling as it has been almost a year i havent been in that kind of heat. Luckily there is the bar right past security so I enjoyed a couple of those while waiting for the rest of the flight.
Arrival
After a quick minibus ride to the dock and then the short boat ride we have finally arrived! They took care of the bags from the airport so im glad i didnt have to drag that suitcase around.
Check-in was quick and painless. I had already printed all the documents and filled them out digitally because my handwriting is bad.
We had a small group of us together for the introduction and showing us some of the main buildings. Stopped by the bar to have a refreshing cold one in the heat while chatting with someone. I think it was around lunchtime and there was food ready so i ate something.
I went to my beach house after that to get somewhat unpacked and to get my gear ready.
The coco casa beach house was a 3-5 minute walk down the beach or trail and once I got there my suitcase was on the porch (yay). It was basically a 2 bedroom and a living room apartment on stilts. I think there was a nest of birds somewhere in the attic due to hearing noise through the walls sounding like chirps. At least it wasnt loud
Cranked the AC down real low since the temp display didnt seem right.
Loaded up all my scuba gear to take down to the dock and find my boat. I was assigned to Coco IV with Dave and Kirk. It seems I went there before most others and wasnt quite sure what/where to put things. Thankfully someone from my boat gave me the run down on what the process was for the dive locker.
We had the orientation video and dinner afterwards. After that the dive locker made more sense since they explained everything in the video as opposed to me just showing up with my gear early to get that taken care of.
Orientation dive
Went to bed early Saturday night after dinner and socializing since I woke up pretty early that morning.
Had a quick breakfast Sunday morning w/ coffee. They had the usual breakfast items along with some fruit. Stuck to that for breakfast mostly.
The orientation guide gave us a detailed briefing of the planned dive. Some stuff about both walls and which side to keep them one along with the price albert with the chains/buoys back to the resort.
We made our way in the water to this floating dock thing and we did a buoyancy check and headed out. We stopped by the prince albert to see the sign/chain and the boat. Felt great to get back in the water.
More Diving
All diving was nitrox ~31-33% and we had to fill out the nitrox log noting the serial/%/Name down in the booklet. They had the allen wrench for removing the insert for DIN regs which was nice.
The water was a toasty 30-31c every day. Not a single drop of rain.
Before getting here i had changed my bwp setup that i got from dive gear express. Originally i had the slidey thing on one side but finally decided to replace it with a static triglide. It seems i had adjusted it just about right and worked nicely in the sea and no more drooping weight pocket on that side. Can only test so much in a 12ft pool.
We had a boat dive Sunday afternoon where I finally met my group I would be diving with all week along with Dave/kirk. All awesome people welcoming me as part of our new crew.
All were couples of some sort with me being the solo odd man out heh. Being a solo traveler it was nice to be included off the rip as soon as i set foot on the dive locker/boat.
I only ended up doing 12 dives over the week (2/day, 1-2 drop-off dives). Usually the morning and afternoon boat dives. I know I could have done a ton more, but I was enjoying relaxing/napping and not doing a single thing nor any worry in the world.
Spent the first 2 dives getting used to being back in the water after almost a year. It felt amazing getting back under again.
On Monday, my first AM boat dive did not go as well as planned. A few meters under I started to having some issues with my mask and leaking. I tried clearing my mask a few times which worked ok mostly but started breathing way to fast sucking down air. I felt myself hyper-ventilating/panicking. I was thinking to myself innn and outttt, in and outttt to try and calm myself down but that didnt really work. I realized that i was only a few meters down and decided best to call my dive. Signaled to the dm i was going back up. Ive never called a dive for myself before but i felt it was the most prudent course of action. I would rather panic at 5-10 meters compared to 20+. Did the safety stop and got back onto the boat.
I believe I was exhaling a bit through my nose loosening the seal on the mask against the water. I think there is also some part related to the new camera i had brought with me and task loading along with the 1 year no scuba. Hadnt even really used it yet. My next dive was much better once i realized this.
Thankfully once i got a handle on the above, all the remaining dives over the week were simply amazing. I was able to get used to using my tg-6/housing and dealing with my mask properly when i needed to clear it and the proper way.
The pictures i took were night and day compared to the old go-pro i used previously.
Our DM, Kirk found lots of thing i never would have seen had he not pointed them out. We saw seahorses, nudis, jumbo lobsters, flamingo tongues, mantis shrimp and some spider looking things among others.
1/2 more below.
