Costa Rica Caribbean Side

[dhappens]

Hi all-

I will be in Puerto Viejo on the caribbean side of CR in March. I am going with a friend that surfs and have been told that good surfing can mean bad diving and vice versa. Anyway she has friends in San Jose that will be joining us for a few days and they told us that Puerto Viejo is their favorite beach. I would like to hear from anyone if they have any experiences, good or bad, with any dive shops or operators near there.

Thanks

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

Hi there,
I received this message, but just in case. The only one there is reef runners. That side of the country is net the best for diving. Go to the national park in Cahuita, that's awesome, lots of wildlife. Walk towards the point (there is a pick nick table) take a small walk on the beach and then turn around, don't continue, because there is nothing to see and it gets very quiet there.
You can find a guide around the park and I would reccomemnd it, they find more than we do!
Have fun

 

[dlemmons]

How are you?
Reefrunner Divers is also on the Caribbean. They were having a rough time. It was sold to three americans who promptly messed it up.
I'm the old owner and I've just taken it back 2 weeks ago.
We're a PADI shop (#19897) again and doing things right!
We're also a Costa Rica ICT member...

Check out our website reefrunnerdivers.com

We're located in Puerto Viejo, South of Limon and Cahuita.

Our cell phone is 011.506.8329.7850


All of our dives are reef dives and the water is always 80 degrees!
give me a shout!

 

[SantaClaus]

Hi there,

We are going to Cahuita and Tortuguero in Christmas week and we would to scuba dive in Caribbean waters too. Do you know that are Reefrunners or other diving centers open in Christmas time? We are coming to Cahuita maybe 21st of December. We are probably heading to Tortuguero National park too.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BaaBee D]

We just got home from a trip to the Southern Caribbean coast. (Oct) We had ~ 20-30 ft visibility. The variety of fish was very nice - but the numbers were on the low side. The reef looks like it is coming back ~ mostly soft corals, and small patches of new hard coral. We were a bit disappointed (as Fodor's stated that it was "high quality" snorkeling) maybe taking a boat to reefs further out are better. We snorkel from the shore. We heard that the wave action is fairly intense later in the year. // rip currents can be a bear. Be careful.

Snorkeling off of Manzinillo was the best the places we went. Others were eeh.

You MUST visit the Jaguar Rescue in Cocles, south of PV // You can see howler monkeys from the road...if you see bikers stopped and looking into the trees, that is a good indication // Cahuita park is great. We walked the stretch from the south to the the point - we saw 2 types of monkeys and sloths, lizards. ENJOY yourselves !!!!!

 

[SantaClaus]

We just got home from a trip to the Southern Caribbean coast. (Oct) We had ~ 20-30 ft visibility. The variety of fish was very nice - but the numbers were on the low side. The reef looks like it is coming back ~ mostly soft corals, and small patches of new hard coral. We were a bit disappointed (as Fodor's stated that it was "high quality" snorkeling) maybe taking a boat to reefs further out are better. We snorkel from the shore. We heard that the wave action is fairly intense later in the year. // rip currents can be a bear. Be careful.

Snorkeling off of Manzinillo was the best the places we went. Others were eeh.

You MUST visit the Jaguar Rescue in Cocles, south of PV // You can see howler monkeys from the road...if you see bikers stopped and looking into the trees, that is a good indication // Cahuita park is great. We walked the stretch from the south to the the point - we saw 2 types of monkeys and sloths, lizards. ENJOY yourselves !!!!!

Hi!
Thanks for your reply We will take our snorkeling gear with us. Did you found any scuba diving centers near the area? I found these diving centers with Google -> scuba diving center loc: 36, Costa Rica (Cahuita National Park) - Google Maps . Do you guys have any idea that are these diving centers ok?

We are heading to the Cahuita, Tortuguero with bus from SlothRescue (Sloth sanctuary) and we are propably taking travelling with bus. Did you rent a car or did you used bus?

 

[SantaClaus]

Oh, this place looks awesome too -> http://www.jaguarrescue.com . We will go there too to see those adorable baby animals

 

[dolesorchard]

We dove with Reef Runners several years ago, with the American owners, not great. The diving there is very iffy. If it doesn't rain for several days, it can be good, but if there is any heavy rain its hopeless as there are large rivers dumping lots of sediment.

 

[dlemmons]

Thank god they don't own it anymore! I've taken it back over, with great new staff, and we're doing well again... as far as visiblity goes, it is weather dependant, but if you know where to go, there are sites where the visibility is good in almost any conditions!

david

 

[BaaBee D]

@ Santa
we had a car the entire time (Poas rental car is the only one with an office in PV) I imagine the bus would be the way to go since there are other travel logistics to coordinate to go to Tortuguero. If you like to bike ride, MANY tourists were on bikes...PV and south. Have a blast!