Tamarindo, Costa Rica

[Pudsky]

Hey Everyone,

The old lady(wife) and I are going to be spending appx. three weeks in Tamarindo, Costa Rica in either late Jan. or Feb 2011. My wife is not a diver, but I am. So I will be doing some diving. I would like some suggestions on who would be best to dive with, and things to do while there. We are going to be staying with a friend, so a place to stay is already taken care of. Also if anyone reading this is going to be there around the same time I am going to be there, I would love to meet you and possible dive with you. I am really looking forward to this vacation and doing fun stuff down in Central America. Diving, eating and drinking are some of my favorite things to do, along with meeting new friends....

 

[SDHIGGINS]

Try the Flamingo area, go to the Aquacenter dive shop, they have great trips out to several hot spots. I live in the area from Jan - May there is some great dives to be had. ENJOY!!!

 

[Pudsky]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that place out. Looks like we are going the second half of January.

 

[ibj40]

We were in Costa Rica a couple of years ago, just up the coast from where you are staying, in the Guanacaste/Culebra area (hotel we stayed in is now the Hilton Papagayo) . Two things we did that stand out in my mind (other than diving both the Catalinas and Bat Island - Bull Sharks!) were to go on a day trip to Nicaragua (we went by guided private car, stopped by a volcano, did some shopping, had lunch in Granada and did some sightseeing) and then spent three days up at Arenal (active volcano).

Can't wait for Costa Rica to come back into the rotation of our planned destinations, we had a wonderful time.

 

[Pudsky]

I finally actually booked the trip. We will be in Tamarindo from Jan 18 through Feb 1. Most likely I will be diving with Aquacenter Dive Shop. I'm really looking forward to it.!!

 

[Pudsky]

Try the Flamingo area, go to the Aquacenter dive shop, they have great trips out to several hot spots. I live in the area from Jan - May there is some great dives to be had. ENJOY!!!

This is exactly what I did. We are here for two weeks total, and have one week left. I have done three days diving with Aquacenter diving and the diving has been great. The visibilty is not fantastic, maybe 30 to 40 feet, but the creatures we have seen are fantastic. We have seen some huge Mantas, like 15 foot wingspans, white tip sharks, schools of eagle rays, sea turtles, lots of eels. There seems to be a zillion purple nudibranchs poking out of everywhere! I got to pet a small stingray just hanging out in the sand, it did not seem to mind getting touched at all. One of the Mantas we saw, just hung out above us for what seemed like five minutes or so. Gave us plenty of time to study it and see how beautiful it was "flying" above us.

We also go to swim with a couple smaller white tip sharks, they swam around us like they did not want to leave the area they were resting in, but were not really bothered by us much. They were probably around 5 to 7 feet in length, there were three of them. That was an exciting sight at first, but I settled down a bit when I learned they were not really interested in us. The sea life is definatly worth the trip to dive here in Costa Rica. Next time I go on a dive trip, I am procuring myself an underwater camera. There have been tons of great pics I have not been able to take, sorry.