My wife and I are going to Costa Rica in February and we're debating whether to stay on the Pacific side or the Caribbean side. The book we have makes is sounds like there is only one good dive on the Pacific side, which is Cano island off the coast near Drake Bay. It also mentions a coral reef on teh Caribbean side near the town and National Park of Cahuita. Does anyone have any recomendations?
Suggestions for Diving in Costa Rica
- Thread starter ehemmer99
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Hi ehemmer99,
We had a great time staying at Ocotal Beach Resort and diving with Ocotal Divers in the summer of 2006. We had great adventures on non-diving days also. I wrote a review on Undercurrent.
Costa Rica Beach Hotel & Resort - Ocotal
Good diving, Craig
We had a great time staying at Ocotal Beach Resort and diving with Ocotal Divers in the summer of 2006. We had great adventures on non-diving days also. I wrote a review on Undercurrent.
Costa Rica Beach Hotel & Resort - Ocotal
Good diving, Craig
Pacific Side in Guanacaste Province. Liberia Airport (LIR) is easy to fly in & out of. If you're comfortable driving in a foreign country, rent a car and save the hotel transfer fees. Flamingo Beach and north to Coco Beach/Playa Hermosa area are beautiful. If you go in February, It is the dry season and everything is brown and dry. Temps are sunny and 90's everyday. Diving was great.
I went with Aquacenter Diving in Playa Flamingo. Visit Marie's Restaurant in Playa Flamingo.
I went with Aquacenter Diving in Playa Flamingo. Visit Marie's Restaurant in Playa Flamingo.
HerraduraDivers
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Hello ehemmer99,
the main areas for diving are ( order from north to south, not by quality!)
Playas del Coco ( various sites & the Bat Islands)
Tamarindo/Flamingo (Islas Catalinas)
Samara
Playa Herradura ( Isla Herradura & Isla Tortuga)
Manuel Antonio ( local dives & Venteseis)
Uvita/Ventanas ( local dives & Isla del Caño)
Bahia Drake ( Isla del Caño)
On the carribean coast there are dive sops in:
Puerto Viejo
Punta Uva
Manzanillo
Do some research here about diving the carribean coast in Costa Rica,
the personal opinions about that are quite "polarized".
I would like to informe you that february is one of the best month to dive the central and south pacific coast,
and here for example we will have everyday manta rays ( beneath all other stationary marine life) to watch while diving.
Best regards
Chris
the main areas for diving are ( order from north to south, not by quality!)
Playas del Coco ( various sites & the Bat Islands)
Tamarindo/Flamingo (Islas Catalinas)
Samara
Playa Herradura ( Isla Herradura & Isla Tortuga)
Manuel Antonio ( local dives & Venteseis)
Uvita/Ventanas ( local dives & Isla del Caño)
Bahia Drake ( Isla del Caño)
On the carribean coast there are dive sops in:
Puerto Viejo
Punta Uva
Manzanillo
Do some research here about diving the carribean coast in Costa Rica,
the personal opinions about that are quite "polarized".
I would like to informe you that february is one of the best month to dive the central and south pacific coast,
and here for example we will have everyday manta rays ( beneath all other stationary marine life) to watch while diving.
Best regards
Chris
yasminrlee
Registered
Hi,
Can I reccommend Playas del Coco as a great place to use as a base. It has great access to a lot of interesting areas in Guanacaste, which is one of the most interesting provinces in costa rica, and also has great access to all the pacific dive sites including the Catalina islands for the Mantas.
Although visibility is not always of the carribean quality here on the pacific side, if you come in February you are guaranteed good weather on the pacific coast. The advantage of the pacific is that you never know what might turn up. Local diving yesterday from Playas del Coco, we had a fantastic day, when we turned up at the dive site a humpback whale and calf were there, we saw sailfish jumping out of the water and when diving we saw Devil rays, turtles, seahorses, octopus and many white tipped reef sharks. We also have an abundance of fish and large pelagic species which are less abundant in the Carribean. Yesterday the water temperature was around 28 degrees C and we had about 18m of visiblility although this varies a lot. It is not always like this, but if you have the time to do a few days of diving, you will definitely see a lot.
Feel free to drop in and see us at Summer Salt Dive Centre if you pass through Cocos
Cheers
Yasmin
Can I reccommend Playas del Coco as a great place to use as a base. It has great access to a lot of interesting areas in Guanacaste, which is one of the most interesting provinces in costa rica, and also has great access to all the pacific dive sites including the Catalina islands for the Mantas.
Although visibility is not always of the carribean quality here on the pacific side, if you come in February you are guaranteed good weather on the pacific coast. The advantage of the pacific is that you never know what might turn up. Local diving yesterday from Playas del Coco, we had a fantastic day, when we turned up at the dive site a humpback whale and calf were there, we saw sailfish jumping out of the water and when diving we saw Devil rays, turtles, seahorses, octopus and many white tipped reef sharks. We also have an abundance of fish and large pelagic species which are less abundant in the Carribean. Yesterday the water temperature was around 28 degrees C and we had about 18m of visiblility although this varies a lot. It is not always like this, but if you have the time to do a few days of diving, you will definitely see a lot.
Feel free to drop in and see us at Summer Salt Dive Centre if you pass through Cocos
Cheers
Yasmin
pelan-pelan
Contributor
Looking for a place for next December (already, slightly emabarrassed!).
I was surprised at temperature just reported from Pacific side Costa rica. What are the sea conditions, water temperatures, weather and creatures/fish generally for Christmas on the Pacific side?
I was surprised at temperature just reported from Pacific side Costa rica. What are the sea conditions, water temperatures, weather and creatures/fish generally for Christmas on the Pacific side?
primalchaos
Contributor
What is the easiest way to get around Costa Rica to dive (out of San Jose)? I'll have a few days and need some pointers on the best approach to do this, and how best to secure a good dive company for the tour.
Hi there,
Try diving at the north of Costa Rica, Playas del Cocos is the place to be!!! Great variaty of fish, as said before, lots of white tip sharks, sometimes nursesharks, huge schools of spotted eagle rays, sting-, round-, and electric rays, octopusses but don't forget the 'small stuff' such as nudibranches and seahorse. You might even meet the beautifull Manta Ray at Catalina Islands.
I went diving with Rich Coast Diving, a very proffesional, international, fun team of divers, you might want to check out there website.
The organise daily dive trips by boat to great divespots in the area!!!
Oh and about the watertemperture, it,s 28 degrees now, which is unusual for this time a year. Last year it was around 20 degrees. Have fun on your trip!!!
Try diving at the north of Costa Rica, Playas del Cocos is the place to be!!! Great variaty of fish, as said before, lots of white tip sharks, sometimes nursesharks, huge schools of spotted eagle rays, sting-, round-, and electric rays, octopusses but don't forget the 'small stuff' such as nudibranches and seahorse. You might even meet the beautifull Manta Ray at Catalina Islands.
I went diving with Rich Coast Diving, a very proffesional, international, fun team of divers, you might want to check out there website.
The organise daily dive trips by boat to great divespots in the area!!!
Oh and about the watertemperture, it,s 28 degrees now, which is unusual for this time a year. Last year it was around 20 degrees. Have fun on your trip!!!
HerraduraDivers
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Primalchaos,
we are the nearest PADI Dive Center from San Jose.
We are operating from 2003 on and it gets about 2 hours by car to reach Herradura and the Jaco area from San Jose and a taxi will cost you about 100$.
Beneath the great diving there is a endless list of things to do, canopy and aerial tram, 2 national parks (Carrara and Manuel Antonio), horseriding, kayaking, atv and naturally surfing.
Check our website to get more informations or send us a email,
we will be glad to help you.
Best regards
Chris Karrer
we are the nearest PADI Dive Center from San Jose.
We are operating from 2003 on and it gets about 2 hours by car to reach Herradura and the Jaco area from San Jose and a taxi will cost you about 100$.
Beneath the great diving there is a endless list of things to do, canopy and aerial tram, 2 national parks (Carrara and Manuel Antonio), horseriding, kayaking, atv and naturally surfing.
Check our website to get more informations or send us a email,
we will be glad to help you.
Best regards
Chris Karrer
Summer-Salt
Registered
Hi there,
The weather in december was very good this year, sunny and clear. There can be some wind and the average visibility was around 15m and water temperature 29 degrees celcius, although we did have a few weeks of trully exceptional vis- you never know how that´s going to change from day to day round here.
Why not stay in Playa Hermosa which is very beautiful and come and dive in Playas del Coco, there is plenty here to keep you entertained under the water and December is coming into Manta Season at the Catalina Islands.
As for getting here from san Jose, there are regular public busses and shuttle busses but the best way to see Costa Rica is to rent a car (4x4 recommended) and drive around, you have more independance then. If you´re planning to dive a lot then don´t forget that San Jose is at altitude, so give yourselves a little decompression time before driving back up there.
Drop in and see us or send us a mail if you´re interested in diving with us,
Kind Regards
Summer Salt Dive Centre, Playas del Coco
Summer Salt - Costa Rica
The weather in december was very good this year, sunny and clear. There can be some wind and the average visibility was around 15m and water temperature 29 degrees celcius, although we did have a few weeks of trully exceptional vis- you never know how that´s going to change from day to day round here.
Why not stay in Playa Hermosa which is very beautiful and come and dive in Playas del Coco, there is plenty here to keep you entertained under the water and December is coming into Manta Season at the Catalina Islands.
As for getting here from san Jose, there are regular public busses and shuttle busses but the best way to see Costa Rica is to rent a car (4x4 recommended) and drive around, you have more independance then. If you´re planning to dive a lot then don´t forget that San Jose is at altitude, so give yourselves a little decompression time before driving back up there.
Drop in and see us or send us a mail if you´re interested in diving with us,
Kind Regards
Summer Salt Dive Centre, Playas del Coco
Summer Salt - Costa Rica
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