Costa Rica Report - Just Returned

[SFScuba]

Hi all,

A lot of people were helpful when we were planning our Costa Rica trip so I thought I would post an update for others who may be heading down:

Location: Off Playa Flamingo area, 2 days/5 dives. Catalina Island (West Side), Dos Sombreros, Las Tetas, Dirty Rock, Elephant Rock.
Visability: Not the greatest - under 40 feet for both days, but satisfactory for us.
Current: Light - though our reference point for surge is shore diving in Monterey,CA (strong)
Dive Operator: AqauCenter out of Flamingo Marina

We enjoyed the diving a lot. Definitely not the Carribean or Hawaii in terms of clarity, but we saw a lot of sealife over the course of 2 days. Dives were usually 60-80 feet.

Spotted Eagle Rays (multiples each dive), lesser Devil Ray, schools (similar to a flock of birds) of Cow Nosed Rays, White tipped reef sharks, a bull shark, swam with a school of barracuda, dolphins doing flips out of the water, and of course the usual eels and fish galor.

I was comfortable in a 3mm shortie, my wife who gets colder wore a full. Half the group on our boat dove with a rash guard or nothing. It's fairly warm in the water.

AquaCenter was great - the guides were professional. The number of people on the boat ranged from a max of 8 to just 2 (my wife and I) on an afternoon dive. Ana was the one I coordinated with before heading down. The equipment is the basic BCs, Weight belt, depth and air guages - no computers, but we brought our own.

Overall, a great trip.

 

[dwardtxusa]

I am trying to plan a trip for Dec/Jan. Wanted a little help from someone who has been there. I would like to dive and surf. Got any recommendations.

 

[kent_1848]

Thanks for the report, we are headed down at the end of July. I hope that we get to see as many rays as you did! I still haven't seen one, I must have the worst luck at seeing them of anyone in the world. There have been plenty of them on our dives, but I just never see them.

We will be in Playa Del Coco, I think. We are going to try the Catalina Islands as well. Would you say they would be worth the extra expense? Did you do anything else while you were there?

 

[Scuba65]

Kent: I would recommend Catalina Island & Bat Island if you can. My friend just returned from 10 days there and he said that the diving was awesome...the viz so so but, at Bat Island he got to see Bull sharks among other stuff, at Catalina he dove with giant manta rays etc. I've been there many times and didn't get such luck as he did. so, with that in mind i highly recommend it.

 

[SFScuba]

We will be in Playa Del Coco, I think. We are going to try the Catalina Islands as well. Would you say they would be worth the extra expense? Did you do anything else while you were there?

Because we stayed at Playa Flamingo, the Catalina Islands were really only a 20 minute boat ride and no extra cost. I don't have a reference point for what the other diving is like to say whether it is worth the extra cost or not.

Out of our 5 dives, I would say 3 saw a lot of big sea life (rays, sharks, etc). The other 2 were mostly just fish and eels. So for us, it was kind of 50/50 in terms of seeing lots vs just the usual.

Also, one of the familes that was with us mentioned they had some great snorleling in Playal Conchal - some sharks, rays, turtles, and an octopus. I'm not exactly sure where they were snorkeling to see all that.

 

[H2Andy]

nice report

sounds like it's not your average reef diving (a good thing!)

 

[fungi3001]

i went to costa rica last x mas,

dived all the time in the catalina islands, saw a few sharks and plenty of little sting rays, (saw what i assume was a devil ray flap about on the surface, this was while on the beach, but it sent plenty of people screaming out the water he he )

dived with costa rica divers http://www.costarica-diving.com/ who were really friendly and, if you like animals go there, they have about 15 cats a dozen dogs, a parrot, mice terrapins and a toucan who is stunning.( even if you dont dive go and see the toucan). they also have a whole bunch of other animals but i forget what.

diving was fairly good, warmish water, i was in a 3mm steamer, but didnt really need it, just a little more comfortable and i am quite skinny. some people dove with a just t shirts. loads of fish and other usual creatures etc.

guy

 

[ToddMH]

Hey SFScuba, I think we were on the same dive boat one of the days. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip. I learned a lot from this site as I was planning my trip, so I'll throw my comments in too. I dove for five days in May-June.

I agree on all the basics: ~40 foot visibility (though my visibility estimates aren't very well calibrated), water temps in the low 80s, mild currents and surge. I wore a full 3mm, no hood and was fine on all the dives, though occasionally we'd hit a thermocline that would make me think twice about leaving my hood up top.

Although I don't have much to compare it to, the wildlife was amazing. We saw a 9-10 foot long bull shark (but apparently that's the first one they'd seen in > 4 years at Catalina), schools of 50 or more eagle rays, devil rays, cow nose rays, tons of white tip reef sharks, and enormous schools of fish. I think descending through a school of jacks and watching them swirl around me was one of the highlights of the week. We also saw a half dozen sea turtles or so over the course of the week, including one who swam by nonchalantly at 70 feet.

Most of the diving was along volcanic rock outcroppings in the 40-80 foot range. Although people seem to compare the volcanic rock negatively to coral reefs, I thought it was quite beautiful. And we saw tons of moray, zebra and spotted eels in the cracks, as well as lobster, sea stars, scorpionfish, and countless other species.

I can't recommend the diving there enough. And AquaCenter was a fantastic shop. They're happy to arrange pick-ups at your local hotel. The dive boats were excellent and they didn't hesitate to take a second boat out when things got crowded. And the dive masters were professional, fun, and had great eyes for wildlife.

On our trip I also went whitewater rafting on the Rio Pacuare, spent 6 days in Drake Bay at Jinetes de Osa (but didn't dive there) and spent 4 days at Arenal. Feel free to PM me (or post here) if you're planning a trip and I'm happy to share my experiences.

-Todd

 

[ToddMH]

I am trying to plan a trip for Dec/Jan. Wanted a little help from someone who has been there. I would like to dive and surf. Got any recommendations.

I'm not a surfer myself, but my brother is and he's dying to get down there so I had my eyes peeled.

Sounds like you're going to want to be in the same general area that SFScuba and I were in. Flamingo (where we dove) and Tamarindo are both near the Catalina Islands. And Tamarindo beach is a popular surf spot, though crowded with beginners. If you're a bit more adventuresome, the Nicoya Peninsula immediately to the South apparantly has some incredible surf spots though many are accessible only by 4WD (and even that is debatable in the rainy season). I also saw some of surf shops offering to boat or tow surfers into nearby popular breaks as well.

-Todd

 

[ToddMH]

Also, one of the familes that was with us mentioned they had some great snorleling in Playal Conchal - some sharks, rays, turtles, and an octopus. I'm not exactly sure where they were snorkeling to see all that.

My girlfriend and I snorkeled there one of the days. It's a beautiful beach (our favorite of the ones we saw in the area) so I would recommend going even if you decide not to snorkel. Playa Conchal means "Shell Beach," so named because its Northern portion is covered with shells instead of sand. We didn't see quite the diversity of life that the other family did, but we did see a school of needlefish, some eels, and plenty of spotted puffer and porcupine fish. If you go, you'll want to stick to the Northern side near the rock outcroppings. If you venture too far from them the visibility tanks (because the beach is sand instead of shells and the surf is rougher).