Costa Rica Diving
- Thread starter gglaze
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LiquidDivingAdventure
Contributor
I was in Manuel Antonio about 3 years ago, stayed at the Si Como No resort. Loved it. We too hit in the rainy season and the one dive shop in town had their boat out of the water for annual dry dock for a month. I later learned that better diving is way further north on the west coast. We found a lot to do, but no dives.
Costa Reefing
Registered
I believe Oceans Unlimited is the only shop in that area, there is another called Mad About Diving but its about an hour south of Manuel Antonio. Oceans Unlimited runs a decent shop with good equipment but terrible student Dive Masters that are more concerned about enjoying their own dive rather than being a guide and helping. As for the dives themselves, Ive really tried giving the area a chance since it is a national park after all. Ive gone during the rainy season / dry season, morning and mid day dives and at most I would call this place practically void of life. Personally I would say save your money.
For much better diving you need to go south to Drake Bay, or north into the Guanacaste area.
For much better diving you need to go south to Drake Bay, or north into the Guanacaste area.
Costa Reefing it's a shame to hear you had such a "bad experience" repeatedly. I'll be honest void of life is a bit extreme I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBXgO_OlFbo Here's a video from last month that is clearly not void of life. It is rainy season yes and therefore it can affect the visibility but current report from today was 15m viz and happy divers. Yes there are students here but you are guided by a qualified divemaster or instructor. Sorry that there are students on the boat that affected your dive. gglaze, if you are in the area anyway, best thing to do is to ring up close to the date to get a viz report, we'll tell you honestly how it is. BEst diving this time of year is in Caño island about an hour and a half south, was there last week with Mantas and sharks. We can help you arrange the tour or you can arrange with either costa rica dive and surf in Dominical or Mad about diving in Uvita. Best time of year for diving in this area is December through to May. Have a great vacation and hopefully some good dives!
Costa Reefing
Registered
You're right and I apologize, void of life is in fact a bit harsh. Without a doubt though of all the other dive areas CR has to offer, Manuel Antonio has the least concentration of life in summer or winter. This comparison includes the areas of, Golfo Dulce, Caño, Uvita, Herradura, Santa Teresa, Isla tortuga, Somara,Tamarindo, Catalinas and even unmarked areas up until the Nicaraguan border (I wont mention the Limon area since its not fair to compare diff oceans). In all these areas one can see different types of environments and their niches with life, the little hard coral that was present in MA was bleached, sea fans, gorgonians, and other soft coral that flourishes in the plankton rich winters were absent as well.
Bob is an excellent guide and his previous experience (military from the looks of it) makes safety a priority which was great. I was fortunate he guided our tour once, the other times he had OW students which he was teaching and once I believe he was teaching the captains daughter to dive at one point. The qualified dive masters I've had the bad luck with were just plain bad. Once, a dive was cut after 25min even though nobody signaled they were low on air nor were the conditions bad, once on the boat the dm started complaining to the other dm how he shouldnt have drank so much last night since he was still hungover. On another occasion with another dm, our group got split due to some surge, long story short I went back and brought back a lost teenager that had just finished his OW course. Why me? because not once did our dm look back, he had his route which he followed straight, everybody followed and that was that. I do not mind helping at all but the fact the DM never even noticed he lost a person spoke a great deal. Looking online I find im not the only one with these opinions on your intern DM's.
No worries gglaze, have any questions just let me know 
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dolesorchard
Contributor
Mad About Diving in Uvita is good and Isla Del Cano is usually outstanding. Lots of white tips, rays and big fish with plenty of smaller fritters mixed in. On our last trip I finally got to see my first frogfish at Devio's Rock.
DjDiverDan
Contributor
Out of curiousity, is there any quality diving on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica?
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