Cocos Island offers probably the finest big animal scuba diving in the entire world. Cocos Island is an oasis lying isolated 300 miles southwest of continental Costa Rica where it concentrates the marine life from many hundreds of miles around. The hideout of pirates and adventurers Cocos Island is recognized as among the last truly wild places in nature.

Off Cocos Island you will dive with schools of Hammerhead Sharks, giant Manta Rays, giant Moray Eels, Bottlenose dolphins, and the occasional Whale Shark! Along withschools of jacks and tuna, Creole fish, lobsters, octopus, and other various reef life. Sharks, silver tips, sailfish, marlin, and green turtles also. Cocos Island is for the serious diver! Cocos Island is pristine both above and below the ocean's surface. Cocos Island is preserved as one of Costa Rica's National Parks.

Conditions at Cocos Island are varied. The one constant factor is change. Currents are at times strong and unusually changeable. Diving could become strenuous but not more than any experienced diver could handle. Visibility averages 80-100' with occasional extremes of 120' and 40'.

MALPELO

Dive sites at Malpelo share many characteristics with those at Cocos Island. There are sheer granite cliffs that plunge into deep water. One of these known as the Alter of the Virgin can have hundreds of free-swimming moray eels huge snappers and groupers dolphin and mantas.

Another site off the northern end of Malpelo is called the Three Musketeers. Here divers enter a series of tunnels and caverns filled with countless thousands of silvery baitfish, dozens of lobster, white-tipped reef sharks, and large numbers of goatfish, grunts, jacks, and groupers.

LA GRINGA

A third site La Gringa is where divers go for real shark action. Hundreds of female hammerheads line up in strong currents just off the granite wall . Anyone who has dived Cocos Island knows they are always there by day then leave to feed at night.

for experiencing the incomparable reefs walls and canyons of pacific northwest Costa Rica. Costa Rica's North Pacific waters offers the diver varied and plentiful marine life.

Most dives are off pinnacle rock formations at 40 to 80 foot depths. Visibility can vary from 20 to 80 feet in the same day due to plankton and marine organisms that thrive in the warm 75 to 85 degree waters. Although this may restrict visibility it is the reason the North Pacific waters are home to such a variety of pelagic marine life.

CANO ISLAND & OSA PENINSULA

CAŅO ISLAND and selected OSA PENINSULA coastal sites provide "unequaled parades of pelagic fish" (Skin Diver Magazine). Brightly colored tropical fish, snapper, tuna, grouper, mackerel, jack, shark, trigger fish, barracuda (typically in schools), manta rays, eels, porcupine fish, sea urchins, octopus, lobster, sponges, sea cucumbers, and other marine species are all to be seen.

There are 15 or more types of stony coral species as well as the attendant coral eaters (starfish, mollusks, and hermit crabs). The terrain varies widely and includes 20' reefs, 50' underwater pinnacles, canyons, walls and caves. Visibility is good to excellent all year round; often marine life can be viewed 70' below the surface. Surface sightings include porpoises, sea turtles, whale sharks, sea snakes and humpback whales. Caņo Island and the Osa Peninsula coast are a part of a mammoth marine ecosystem. More than one hundred thousand acres of mangrove wetlands and one thousand miles of fresh and salt water rivers, estuaries and tributaries interact with the Pacific ocean through tides which provide for an incredible abundance of marine life. This area of the Pacific is south of the trade winds and therefore characterized by gentle swells and breezes.
Costa Rica is a special dive destination, not only for its marine life, but because of a diversity of other amenities. Visit national parks, go white water rafting, deep-sea fishing, horseback riding, bird watching, relax on secluded beaches, enjoy peaceful rainforests, always made welcome by the friendly Costa Rican people.

Diving can be great any month of the year. Visibility can vary from 20 to 80 ft. on the same day on different dives. This is primarily due to the abundance of plankton and other marine organisms at the lower end of the food chain that thrive in the warm 75 to 85 degree tropical waters. Although this abundance of food often restricts visibility, it is the principal reason for the profuse and varied pelagic marine population that are seen on every dive. Most dives are around volcanic rock pinnacle formations at 40 to 80 feet depths. On most every dive, regardless where, clouds of small schooling fish meet the divers on descent.

LAS CORRIDAS & SURPRESA

At Las Corridas and Surpresa, a dive spot only one half mile from El Ocotal, divers have come face to face with 200 to 300 Jewfish.

BAT or CATALINA ISLANDS

These island chains located 21 and 14 miles from El Ocotal present especially challenging Pacific Ocean diving where divers may develop their skill dealing with current and surge. Dive spots in these areas offer good chances to see large Bull Sharks, Manta Rays, and larger schools.