Diving in Costa Rica

The Okeanos Aggressor, a former oceangoing private yacht, was built by Codecessa Ship Yard in Viareggio, Italy. The 100-foot all-steel vessel was rebuilt in 1984 by a ship yard in Jacksonville, Florida. Two yeasrs later, she became the first Aggressor Fleet franchise. In 1996, the Okeanos Aggressor underwent and extensive remodeling and renovation, and now this luxurious vessel provides 21 guests the ultimate comfort and space for cruising and diving.
The Okeanos Aggressor departs weekly from the port town of Puntarenas, Costa Rica destined for dive sites along the "Coco's Island National Park". However, she can also accommodate any special requests or itineraries when the entire vessel is chartered for private groups.

The Coco's Island National Park:
Home to several pelagic communities, most notably that of the Scalloped Hammerhead shark. During the rainy season, when the surface waters around the island drop in temperature, large schools of sharks can be observed at depths less of than 100 feet. In March, when I was there, the warmer water kept the sharks deep, with some of the best viewing at 130 to 150 feet.

In addition to the Hammerhead sharks, there are 100s of sleepy White Tip sharks which lay around on the bottom most of the time. Cocos is also home to several kinds of rays. Mobulids predominate, followed by the deeper-dwelling Marble Ray. Manta rays (often confused with the Mobulids, but in fact a separate genus) can been seen, but are far rarer.

Large schools of Jacks and Creoles are the predominant fish species at Cocos (certainly the most visually ubiquitous). Hunting pairs of small barracuda and lone Wahoo provide visual counterpoint. In more protected water, Trumpetfish, Guineafowl Puffers and Moorish Idols can be seen as well.

Dive Deck:
Each guest has his/her own dive station with locker for gear storage. The lockers are actually seats used for donning and removing gear. Air tanks are conveniently located on the back of locker, always hooked up and roady for diving. Dive masters will fill your tanks in the dive tenders and prepare your equipment for the next dive while you relax. A large, three tier camera table, with low pressure air nozzles, charging stations, camera rinse tank and wet suit racks are located on this spacious deck. There is a dive briefing area for drawing dive site illustration and giving site details, along with a head and two freshwater showers located on this deck.

Dive Platform:
A large platform is located only inches from the water level and just a few steps from the dive deck. Most diving is done from the dive tenders however, the platform is great for snorkeling between dives. A shark cage is available for the really adventurous guess.

Photo Center:
A one hour E-6 film processing lab is on board along with a full line of underwater camera rental equipment. Film, batteries and an underwater video system are available on board. The photo pro is eager to give tips or a comprehensive course with specialty certification.

Costa Rica’s north Pacific coast is the diving world s newest discovery. Few places in the world have waters with such varies and plentiful marine life. Couple this with El Ocotal s luxurious resort facilities, new dive boats and equipment. El Ocotal's dedicated staff and Costa Rica s most experienced dive master, the country s natural beauty and its warm, friendly people, and you have the most exciting alternative to traditional dive destinations. Costa Rica is known today as a unique dive destination, and not only for its marine life, but because of its many other attractions. Divers have the opportunity to visit national parks, go white water rafting, big game fishing, horseback riding, bird watching, swim on secluded beaches, enjoy breathtaking sunsets and warm star-filled nights and feel welcomed by 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. It s a trade off that divers welcomely accept.

Most dives are around volcanic rock pinnacle formations at 40 to 80 feet depths and there is no telling what the diver will see. On most every dive, regardless where, clouds of small schooling fish meet the divers on descend. Usually these schools of tens of thousands of fish allow divers to seem freely amongst them. At the dive site Punta Gorda, just 4 miles to the west of El Ocotal, a group of divers watched in amazement as thousands of Cow-Nosed Rays swam by in a column that took more than 10 minutes from start to finish.

The following day at the same spot, divers dropped in on a Whale Shark basking on the bottom at a depth of 40 ft. It set undisturbed for 15 minutes allowing close encounters of a kind most divers could only dream of. Experiences with Whale Sharks have not been uncommon. They have been sighted by divers every month of the year with the radius of the dive sites most often visited, ranging in size from 18 to 25 ft. in length. Their appearances have been totally unpredictable, but of sufficient frequency that many groups of divers have had their own very special, close-up experiences.

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. At these same spots photographers may catch a tiny Sea Horse or Hawk Fish among the hydroids.

At any of the nearby dive spots, on any given day, it could be a school of 20 to 80 pound Amberjacks sliding in and out of schooling fish. Green or Ridley Turtules, or White-tip Reef Sharks darting curiously about divers, setting that dive apart from any other adventure the diver might ever have had before.

Some settings under water will undoubtedly be a once in a lifetime occurrence, such as a school of 50 or more Manta Rays with 12 to 24 ft. wingspans, a Black Marlin weighing several hundred pounds cruising gracefully about a rock pinnacle, a ten foot long sailfish, or a pod of Pilot Whales that seemed to be entertained with their presence.

The list of unique experiences goes on and on. These is certainly no assurance that a diver is going to have one of these underwater encounters on any particular day, but from the frequency that they have occurred in the past, dive trips to Costa Rica all seem to be on the diver s side.

Some divers seize the opportunity to arrange for a special trip to the 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 of four or five differing species simultaneously. Although rare, there's also a chance a sailfish or marlin will make a pass by divers.

El Ocotal guides take qualified divers on these specially arranged trips to the outer islands on a year-round basis. Our fast and comfortable dive boats make the trip to the Bat Islands in just one hour.

The dive shop carries equipment for 30 divers and has two new top of the line 13.1 CFM Mako compressors. There are two dedicated dive boats and two additional boats used on longer range dive trips. In addition, all boats have diesel engines.

They are set up with diver comfort in mind offering side mounted tank racks, swim platform, dive ladder, fresh water shower, depth finder, camera rack, and head and large shaded areas.

ocotal_3.JPG (21644 bytes)Although the dive facility might receive groups of up to 30 divers, there are never more than 10 divers per boat. El Ocotal puts special attention to the quality of our divers' underwater experience. There are never more than 5 divers per guide.

The Costa Rican dive staff are the area's most experienced divers. They know the dive sites like the backs of their hands while showing great concern for safety factors.

El Ocotal has the only dive shop with a catalogue of maps and descriptions of all dive sites.

El Ocotal is characterized for its personalized service for divers.