Aquamor? Caribbean coast Costa Rica?

[jnalaska]

I am going to Puerto Viejo Costa Rica in Feb and was wondering if anybody has gone out with Aquamor in Manzanillo (I think that is spelled right) on the Caribbean side. I have done a lot of searching and all I find is the "caribbean side is no good for diving" or similar negative response to the diving here. I have found some reviews on reefrunners in PV (most of them bad) but can't find any firsthand feed back regarding Aquamor. also if you have had a positive dive expierence on the Caribbean side please share the dive operation info and what the dive was.
Thanks in advance
jnalaska

 

[jnalaska]

Wow I am surprised no one as seen this thread that has dived the Carribean side of Costa Rica. Well I guess I will be the first and right a review of the Diving when I get back.

 

[ALaskowski]

Please post your experience, I too am looking at the caribbean side of Costa Rica and can find very little info.

 

[cappyjon431]

While I can't give first-hand reviews of the diving on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, we are located on the Caribbean side of Panama (Bocas del Toro) and only 20 miles from the Costa Rican border and the diving is very similar. What I can tell you is that the diving in this area gets some unfair knocks. It is true that visibility in this area is not as good as elsewhere in the Caribbean (we average 40 feet of visibility) and there are not a lot of big critters. That being said, we have very healthy reefs (bleaching and black band disease are almost non-existant), calm seas (most of our dive sites are protected-on the leeward sides of islands), and have little, if any, current. We offer diverse coral, sponge and tropical fish life. If you are intent on seeing big critters (sharks, turtles, rays) on every dive, you should consider diving in another area of the Caribbean. If you are happy with observing macro life, the diving here is excellent. I have over 3500 logged dives throughout the Caribbean, and I never tire of the dives in this area of the Caribbean.

 

[dlemmons]

Jon,
How are you?
Reefrunners was 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 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

give me a shout!

david

 

[cappyjon431]

Jon,
How are you?
Reefrunners was 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 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

give me a shout!

david

Hi David,

Your web site looks great. I understand about the shop having a rough time. We've spent the last six months buying new dive gear, replacing outboards, hiring new staff (although we kept our old staff too), painting, advertising, etc. Best of luck with you shop!

Cheers,

Jon

 

[dlemmons]

Thanks very much, we're back up and 100% operational again.
I forgot to mention the best thing about diving here! the 82 degree waters!

 

[x1x2x3x4]

I am going to Puerto Viejo Costa Rica in Feb and was wondering if anybody has gone out with Aquamor in Manzanillo (I think that is spelled right) on the Caribbean side. I have done a lot of searching and all I find is the "caribbean side is no good for diving" or similar negative response to the diving here. I have found some reviews on reefrunners in PV (most of them bad) but can't find any firsthand feed back regarding Aquamor. also if you have had a positive dive expierence on the Caribbean side please share the dive operation info and what the dive was.
Thanks in advance
jnalaska

Aquamor is no longer in business since two years ago (I had to drive 400 miles from Panama City, PA, to Manzanillo, CR, to know that). They have only kayaks and snorkel rental (very very old kayaks). Even the air compressor is broken and they have no plans to buy a new one. I asked them if they rented scuba equipment to dive by my own means and they did not. I am trying to find, in Internet, the owner of the Aquamor website to ask him to shutdown the webpage, or to ask him to change the information they show.