Divalicious
Registered
Hey all 
My hubby and I went to Costa Rica for a few days over Thanksgiving. We only spent 1 day diving, but it was worth it.
I spent a lot of time looking at where to dive and searching dive operators, so I figured I would post a trip report, and I have seen the one we went with, Ocotal mentioned here.
Originally, since my family owns a farm on the north atlantic side, we were going to try the caribbean coast. However, it was pouring rain, so we ended up going to the Pacific side in Guanacaste.
Top-side:
We rented a car and drove to Ocotal from the capital, San Jose, via Puntarenas. The roads on the western side are WAY improved since I was here last in 2005. I chalk it up to a bunch of US / Canadians retiring to the Guanacaste region. As a caveat, though... CR doesn't really have addresses such as we think of them, so if you do drive, GET A GPS!
Ocotal resort is beautiful. It is located on a private hillside with good security and spectacular views. I have decently luxurious tastes, so I would give it about 4 out of 5 stars.
It was low season, so there was a special of $110 / night + breakfast incl. We splurged an extra $50 and got a private bungalow. Basically, the resort is set up with a pool / private beach / harbor at the base of the hillside when you come in. Then private bungalows go up the hill to the lobby / restaurant / main hotel building at the very top.
The bungalows were pretty cool, with 2 rooms to a stand alone bungalow/house and a driveway to accomodate rental cars. Our bungalow room had a private pool with a view that could not be beat. And there was a path down the hill to the dive shop / private beach. See:
I only had 2 complaints, but they were relatively minor:
1) the food is bleh and quite expensive (+$25USD pp). You can go local, but we didn't really have the time and one would probably need a car to do that as an FYI.
2) the hillside makes for awesome views, but it was a trek up and down to the beach, and we ended up driving our scuba equipment (since we brought our own) down, off-loading it at the dive shop, and driving back to the room.
Diving:
Ok... so in terms of the diving, it was worth it!
The dive shop operators were really nice. They are the resort's dive staff, I think. Their English was so-so, but they were very friendly. It is a bare bones dive shop, as pictured above, so open-air and not a lot of gear for sale for example. We rented our gear, but it looked like they stocked decent stuff - like Scubapro.
We only dove 1 day. The boats are kept in their private harbor, and they ferry us out to the boats. They were in good condition and seated 8 divers. We had 7 divers on our boat and 2 snorklers.
My husband and I requested a private DM / instructor. I was glad we did! Carlos was really cool. He spoke a little English and came along with us at no charge, and he dove with us while another DM / instructor led the others.
I was glad I had a private DM because it was Mr. D's first time on a boat and in the open ocean. It meant Mr. D and I could move a little slower, stray a bit from the group and we also had someone local who pointed out cool stuff to us.
The dive shop guys were also very cool about tending our gear and cleaning it afterwards.
Visibility was not as good as it is in summer, but was about 30-40 feet? That's still awesome compared to what I would get lake diving in Texas
We made 2 dives, and the water HAD been flat as glass the few days before, but on our day there was a chop / swell of 2-3 feet.
The dive sites were pretty close reefs, about a 20 min. boat ride. First dive was to 62 feet, with a mooring line. Second was free descent to about 50 feet. This is a bull shark heavy area, but fortunately we only saw some small white tip sharks. Mr. D hates sharks We also saw a cool moray eel, a tiger snake eel, a couple of spotted rays and some typical reef fish. So, here are some pics of those:
Overall, for 1 day of diving, it was really cool! I would definitely say that Costa Rica is a place to go to do things other than dive, and dive on the side... but it was worth it
My hubby and I went to Costa Rica for a few days over Thanksgiving. We only spent 1 day diving, but it was worth it.
I spent a lot of time looking at where to dive and searching dive operators, so I figured I would post a trip report, and I have seen the one we went with, Ocotal mentioned here.
Originally, since my family owns a farm on the north atlantic side, we were going to try the caribbean coast. However, it was pouring rain, so we ended up going to the Pacific side in Guanacaste.
Top-side:
We rented a car and drove to Ocotal from the capital, San Jose, via Puntarenas. The roads on the western side are WAY improved since I was here last in 2005. I chalk it up to a bunch of US / Canadians retiring to the Guanacaste region. As a caveat, though... CR doesn't really have addresses such as we think of them, so if you do drive, GET A GPS!
Ocotal resort is beautiful. It is located on a private hillside with good security and spectacular views. I have decently luxurious tastes, so I would give it about 4 out of 5 stars.
It was low season, so there was a special of $110 / night + breakfast incl. We splurged an extra $50 and got a private bungalow. Basically, the resort is set up with a pool / private beach / harbor at the base of the hillside when you come in. Then private bungalows go up the hill to the lobby / restaurant / main hotel building at the very top.
The bungalows were pretty cool, with 2 rooms to a stand alone bungalow/house and a driveway to accomodate rental cars. Our bungalow room had a private pool with a view that could not be beat. And there was a path down the hill to the dive shop / private beach. See:
I only had 2 complaints, but they were relatively minor:
1) the food is bleh and quite expensive (+$25USD pp). You can go local, but we didn't really have the time and one would probably need a car to do that as an FYI.
2) the hillside makes for awesome views, but it was a trek up and down to the beach, and we ended up driving our scuba equipment (since we brought our own) down, off-loading it at the dive shop, and driving back to the room.
Diving:
Ok... so in terms of the diving, it was worth it!
The dive shop operators were really nice. They are the resort's dive staff, I think. Their English was so-so, but they were very friendly. It is a bare bones dive shop, as pictured above, so open-air and not a lot of gear for sale for example. We rented our gear, but it looked like they stocked decent stuff - like Scubapro.
We only dove 1 day. The boats are kept in their private harbor, and they ferry us out to the boats. They were in good condition and seated 8 divers. We had 7 divers on our boat and 2 snorklers.
My husband and I requested a private DM / instructor. I was glad we did! Carlos was really cool. He spoke a little English and came along with us at no charge, and he dove with us while another DM / instructor led the others.
I was glad I had a private DM because it was Mr. D's first time on a boat and in the open ocean. It meant Mr. D and I could move a little slower, stray a bit from the group and we also had someone local who pointed out cool stuff to us.
The dive shop guys were also very cool about tending our gear and cleaning it afterwards.
Visibility was not as good as it is in summer, but was about 30-40 feet? That's still awesome compared to what I would get lake diving in Texas
We made 2 dives, and the water HAD been flat as glass the few days before, but on our day there was a chop / swell of 2-3 feet.
The dive sites were pretty close reefs, about a 20 min. boat ride. First dive was to 62 feet, with a mooring line. Second was free descent to about 50 feet. This is a bull shark heavy area, but fortunately we only saw some small white tip sharks. Mr. D hates sharks
We also saw a cool moray eel, a tiger snake eel, a couple of spotted rays and some typical reef fish. So, here are some pics of those: Overall, for 1 day of diving, it was really cool! I would definitely say that Costa Rica is a place to go to do things other than dive, and dive on the side... but it was worth it
