diver918
Contributor
awesome pictures...keep em coming. Let us know when the video is ready.
A taste of Cocos and Malpelo Islands
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matt215
Contributor
Several people have emailed me about the "best time to go". Being lazy I will give one long answer for all. Please feel free to email or post any questions.
We have only been twice so we are no experts on this. But we have talked to a lot of people including Jay Ireland and Georgienne Bradley who have over 3000 dives just at Cocos.
First YOU NEVER KNOW WITH COCOS!!!!
Second NEVER SKIP A DIVE!!!!
Conditions change from moment to moment. On one dive viz, temp and currents can change radically. Plus you never know what you will see. Last trip two dive buddies missed one dive and the whale shark showed up. This time a couple skipped one day dive and we had a bait ball with silkies, tuna and dolphins.
Our trip in April of this year was excellent. At Malpelo we encountered white tips, hammer heads and several big Galapagos sharks, unfortunately no big schools of silkies. But the boat that followed us by just two days saw no sharks at Malpelo and felt Cocos was just ok.
The “theory” is the wet season (June-November) with colder water, bigger currents, rainy days and rougher surface conditions has the best schooling action for all species. The warmer weather is nice for divers and photographers but the schools aren’t as big and are down deeper, this is the ‘Theory”.
Our meager experience
September of 2006
Water temp: surface about 74-77. At 60fsw 72 and thermo clines in the 65 degree range
Visibility: was average of 35-40ft but did have some dives with it in the 80ft range
Surface conditions: Ride out was rough most just stayed in their cabins
Conditions at Cocos: Rained hard every day but we did have 2-3 days with sun breaks.
Surface conditions: Rides out in the pangas could be pounding due to +4ft chop.
Hammer Head Action: Was great we never got skunked, big schools of +100 sharks but due to viz it was sometimes hard to appreciate their mass. They were often in 70fsw or less of water.
White Tips: Were every where you stop paying attention to them after awhile. The night dive is one of my favorite dives of all times.
Jack Schools: Were massive. They would block out what minimal sunlight we were getting and due to viz again the schools were so large you could not see the edge of them.
Rays: Like white tips the marble rays were everywhere
Silver Tips: We got skunked one day but did see one on our second try. We also found the redlip batfish at this site.
Silkies: None
Baitballs: None for us but the other team found one with very good action
Whalesharks: We had the joy of spending about 10 minutes with one the other team none.
For the Photographers: Cocos is friendlier to video but know how to manually focus your camera. For still photographers rainy season, the “low” viz, murky water and gray subjects can be a challenge.
Over All: Great trip, could be tough for people who get seasick, great action with big schools. But was cool, we were happy we brought our fleece and being from Seattle the Rain did not bother us, too much.
April 2008
Water temp: Much warmer around 80 degrees. Some chilly thermo clines again in the 65 degree range
Visibility: Much better this time give it an average of 60ft and many dives it in the +80ft range
Surface conditions: The whole trip the seas were flat, flat, flat!
Conditions at Cocos: Mainly hot and sunny with a few afternoon showers but Julie got a lot of sun tanning in.
Surface conditions: Flat
Hammer Head Action: Was good, never skunked. Some good schools at Dirty Rock and Alcyon but most schools were at 80fsw or deeper.
White Tips: Again were everywhere but not in the numbers we saw in September. Once again the night dive delivered.
Jack Schools: Were there but not in the masses we had previously.
Rays: Only found 3-4 the guides said it was due to the warmer water.
Silver Tips: Like before we got skunked one day but on the second two came buy and stayed for 15minutes or so.
Silkies: We snorkeled with dozens as we chased bait-balls and I had one very close encounter with one, will post video.
Baitballs: Found one at the end but still attracted yellow fin tuna, silkies and dolphins. The second we kept missing but did see dolphin and silkies again
Whalesharks: None for either team
For the Photographers: Due to viz much better for both video and still but due to low currents and warm water everything was down deeper so no “blue water, sun ball and huge hammerhead school shot. Now a buddy who was there the week before did get many of these shots.
Over All: Another great trip. The weather was “perfect” and viz was much better. BUT, next time we will probably try the rainy season again.
Hope this helps, still working on video, slideshow and a trip report. Here a couple of more pics.
We have only been twice so we are no experts on this. But we have talked to a lot of people including Jay Ireland and Georgienne Bradley who have over 3000 dives just at Cocos.
First YOU NEVER KNOW WITH COCOS!!!!
Second NEVER SKIP A DIVE!!!!
Conditions change from moment to moment. On one dive viz, temp and currents can change radically. Plus you never know what you will see. Last trip two dive buddies missed one dive and the whale shark showed up. This time a couple skipped one day dive and we had a bait ball with silkies, tuna and dolphins.
Our trip in April of this year was excellent. At Malpelo we encountered white tips, hammer heads and several big Galapagos sharks, unfortunately no big schools of silkies. But the boat that followed us by just two days saw no sharks at Malpelo and felt Cocos was just ok.
The “theory” is the wet season (June-November) with colder water, bigger currents, rainy days and rougher surface conditions has the best schooling action for all species. The warmer weather is nice for divers and photographers but the schools aren’t as big and are down deeper, this is the ‘Theory”.
Our meager experience
September of 2006
Water temp: surface about 74-77. At 60fsw 72 and thermo clines in the 65 degree range
Visibility: was average of 35-40ft but did have some dives with it in the 80ft range
Surface conditions: Ride out was rough most just stayed in their cabins
Conditions at Cocos: Rained hard every day but we did have 2-3 days with sun breaks.
Surface conditions: Rides out in the pangas could be pounding due to +4ft chop.
Hammer Head Action: Was great we never got skunked, big schools of +100 sharks but due to viz it was sometimes hard to appreciate their mass. They were often in 70fsw or less of water.
White Tips: Were every where you stop paying attention to them after awhile. The night dive is one of my favorite dives of all times.
Jack Schools: Were massive. They would block out what minimal sunlight we were getting and due to viz again the schools were so large you could not see the edge of them.
Rays: Like white tips the marble rays were everywhere
Silver Tips: We got skunked one day but did see one on our second try. We also found the redlip batfish at this site.
Silkies: None
Baitballs: None for us but the other team found one with very good action
Whalesharks: We had the joy of spending about 10 minutes with one the other team none.
For the Photographers: Cocos is friendlier to video but know how to manually focus your camera. For still photographers rainy season, the “low” viz, murky water and gray subjects can be a challenge.
Over All: Great trip, could be tough for people who get seasick, great action with big schools. But was cool, we were happy we brought our fleece and being from Seattle the Rain did not bother us, too much.
April 2008
Water temp: Much warmer around 80 degrees. Some chilly thermo clines again in the 65 degree range
Visibility: Much better this time give it an average of 60ft and many dives it in the +80ft range
Surface conditions: The whole trip the seas were flat, flat, flat!
Conditions at Cocos: Mainly hot and sunny with a few afternoon showers but Julie got a lot of sun tanning in.
Surface conditions: Flat
Hammer Head Action: Was good, never skunked. Some good schools at Dirty Rock and Alcyon but most schools were at 80fsw or deeper.
White Tips: Again were everywhere but not in the numbers we saw in September. Once again the night dive delivered.
Jack Schools: Were there but not in the masses we had previously.
Rays: Only found 3-4 the guides said it was due to the warmer water.
Silver Tips: Like before we got skunked one day but on the second two came buy and stayed for 15minutes or so.
Silkies: We snorkeled with dozens as we chased bait-balls and I had one very close encounter with one, will post video.
Baitballs: Found one at the end but still attracted yellow fin tuna, silkies and dolphins. The second we kept missing but did see dolphin and silkies again
Whalesharks: None for either team
For the Photographers: Due to viz much better for both video and still but due to low currents and warm water everything was down deeper so no “blue water, sun ball and huge hammerhead school shot. Now a buddy who was there the week before did get many of these shots.
Over All: Another great trip. The weather was “perfect” and viz was much better. BUT, next time we will probably try the rainy season again.
Hope this helps, still working on video, slideshow and a trip report. Here a couple of more pics.
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