I decided to go diving in Cano Island. Just wondering if anyone in scubaboard has been diving there: can I expect to see nudibranch or critters there?
Indiedive don't give up on nudis. There are not as many species or individuals in Costa Rica as in SE Asia but if your eyes have been trained in SEA, you should be able to find several local species.
I haven't dove Cano, but I did dive the Catalina Islands, the Bat Islands and local Ocotal sites in Dec 2014.
I started with the nudipixel Costa Rica page for a list of which species can be seen in the region:
http://www.nudipixel.net/location/costa_rica/
I am a macro lover, so that was the primary focus of my trip. In addition to the species listed on NP I found a tiny
Chromodoris sphoni, a sea hare, several
Tylodina corticalis , an apple green snail or elyssa (I have not IDed it yet) and I think another
flabellina sp. Most of the animals I found were tiny but some of that may be due to the time of year or local conditions. I did not manage to find a
Tambja abdere, nor did anyone else in the time I was there, but perhaps you will.
Some of the species were much more common than others (e.g.
Glossodoris sedna ). In the Ocotal area,
Tambja eliora is usually only seen at the Bat Islands (a different habitat than most 'fuzzy rocks' sites we dove).
Other critters to keep your eyes out for include seahorses, hairy crabs, harlequin shrimp, juvi angelfish and they have a small pipefish as well as several nice blennies.
Have a great time and hope you'll post a report when you get back! I looked seriously at Cano but decided on Ocotal for that trip. I would love to hear your assessment of the macro and pelagics in Cano.
ETA: The sea hare was
Stylocheilus striatus.
