Advice on Costa Rica - Tamarindo
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rob pillar
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IMy wife and I just returned from Costa Rica. We stayed at the JW marriott Guanacoste on points also. It is a bit isolated but we loved it! Fly into Liberia and rent a car. It cost about $400 for a car for the week but it was well worth it! The roads are really good until you get to about 2 miles from the hotel where it becomes a dirt road. The directions on the marriott website works pretty well. The food at the JW is very expensive so we drove to Tamarindo most nights. It is about a 20 minute drive.
We really enjoyed the diving because we were able to see manta rays. They were incredible! See attached photo. We made he mistake of arranging our diving through the Marrioitt. If you have a car you can make arrangements directly with Agua Rica. The owners name is Claudio. He and our divemaster Kate werereally good. It will save you about $30 or $40 per dive if you make arrangements directly with them, but you will need a car to get to the beach. There is no dock in Tamarindo. you meet the group at the beach and they pick you up in a dingy to get to the dive boat. all of the diving is at Catalina Island which is about a 40 minute boat ride. Our trip was in February. There were lots of mantas. I am not sure if there are mantas in June or July. The dry season is November through May. It did not rain a drop while we were there. Visibility was great on our first dive (about 70 to 80 feet). But then some cold water came in and murked the viz down to about 30 feet. But the mantas like the colder water. The mantas made the diving spectaular. They are very curious. If you don't chase after them they will come up to you to check you out. otherwise they were pretty good. There were some white tip sharks, many moreys and schools of fish. It is very pristine but it is volcanic rock with very little coral. two days of diving is plenty. this gives you an opportunity to do other things in the area.
I am attaching a couple of pictures of the mantas
We really enjoyed the diving because we were able to see manta rays. They were incredible! See attached photo. We made he mistake of arranging our diving through the Marrioitt. If you have a car you can make arrangements directly with Agua Rica. The owners name is Claudio. He and our divemaster Kate werereally good. It will save you about $30 or $40 per dive if you make arrangements directly with them, but you will need a car to get to the beach. There is no dock in Tamarindo. you meet the group at the beach and they pick you up in a dingy to get to the dive boat. all of the diving is at Catalina Island which is about a 40 minute boat ride. Our trip was in February. There were lots of mantas. I am not sure if there are mantas in June or July. The dry season is November through May. It did not rain a drop while we were there. Visibility was great on our first dive (about 70 to 80 feet). But then some cold water came in and murked the viz down to about 30 feet. But the mantas like the colder water. The mantas made the diving spectaular. They are very curious. If you don't chase after them they will come up to you to check you out. otherwise they were pretty good. There were some white tip sharks, many moreys and schools of fish. It is very pristine but it is volcanic rock with very little coral. two days of diving is plenty. this gives you an opportunity to do other things in the area.
I am attaching a couple of pictures of the mantas
Attachments
Hello there,
I know exactly what Rob is talking about, the Manta Rays are awesome!!!! We're enjoying these fabulous creatures every time we go out there at the moment. (2 days of diving is defenitly not enough for me
). Manta Ray season lasts more or less untill April, so the change of seeing them is a lot smaller from that time on.
No worries though, 1 hour up north by boat from Playas del Coco we'll find the Bat Islands, worldfamous for the Bull Sharks over there and if you don't see one, there's plenty of other underwater life to discover. How about white tip sharks, turtles, big schools of snappers, muray eels, stingrays, eagle rays... I can go on like this for a while. Apart from the Bat Islands there are more than 20 dive sites to explore by boat from Playas del Coco.
Regards
I know exactly what Rob is talking about, the Manta Rays are awesome!!!! We're enjoying these fabulous creatures every time we go out there at the moment. (2 days of diving is defenitly not enough for me
). Manta Ray season lasts more or less untill April, so the change of seeing them is a lot smaller from that time on. No worries though, 1 hour up north by boat from Playas del Coco we'll find the Bat Islands, worldfamous for the Bull Sharks over there and if you don't see one, there's plenty of other underwater life to discover. How about white tip sharks, turtles, big schools of snappers, muray eels, stingrays, eagle rays... I can go on like this for a while. Apart from the Bat Islands there are more than 20 dive sites to explore by boat from Playas del Coco.
Regards
rob pillar
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Glamorpus,
When we dove with AguaRica there was one person who was doing their certification dives. But they split us into two groups a ccording to skill level. We were with the more experienced divers and had a great dive. The viz was about 70 feet on our first dive. But the viz changed even while we were were doing our surface interval. Some colder water cam in that had a lot of plankton and algea. The viz was only about 40 feet on our second dive. It can change that quickly!
On our first day of diving we saw lots of mantas. we were the only boat in the area and we were with good divers that stayed calm and did not chase after them. The are very curious and if they do not feel threatened they will come very close to check you out. But the secone day there were many boats and divers would chase the mantas to see them. Of course they chased them away and none came very close. So a word of advice is just to hang out and watch them. They will come to you. we had about five of them hanging around with us during our safety stop. It was awesome!
So I'm actually down in Costa Rica right now. We got in a few days ago after spending a week in Cabo San Lucas....and by the way, the water there was COLD. My dive watch said 57 degrees F.
Anyway, the first day we got here we drove into Tamarindo to find the dive shop. We were still a bit tired from the travel but were nevertheless excited to find the dive shop and get our week in Costa Rica started on the right foot. The GPS unit got us there just fine and we went in to fill out our forms and make sure we could dive with them on July 2nd as I had requested in a few of the e-mails I had sent them prior to our arrival. I'm not sure of her name, but we were greated pretty coldly by an Italian women in the shop. The entire time we were there, I felt as if we were bothering her or taking up her time. She answered any questions we had with very short, abrupt replies and when someone else walked into the dive shop, she ignored us completely. She wanted us to prepay for the dives and we couldn't b/c we didn't have the money on us at the time. She told us we had to prepay the next day or we couldn't dive with them so we'd have to stop by tomorrow. I suppose I was taken back a bit more than usual by her abrupt manner just given that everyone we had encountered in the country seemed so laid back, friendly, and helpful. In any event, it was enough to put me off from diving with them completely.
The next day (today as I write this) we looked for, and found, a new dive shop in Playa Flamingo. The shop is called Aqua Center and they were far more welcoming than Agua Rica. We ended up signing with them and will be heading out for a pair of dives tomorrow.
Later on, we actually stopped back by Agua Rica just to be courteous and let them know that we wouldn't be diving with them after all. Before I could even tell the lady we were canceling, she was just as rude and abrupt as she had been the first day we'd met her. I'd like to think I caught her on a bad day the first time around, but two times means it's just her personality. Anyway, when I told her we were cancelling, she almost seemed happy as if to say "two less customers to deal with".
I couldn't tell you if our new dive shop, Aqua Center, is good or not, but I'll be sure to let you know. My best advice so far to anyone visiting Tamarindo soon; make Agua Rica your second or third choice in a dive shop, particularly if you value a friendly staff.
Anyway, the first day we got here we drove into Tamarindo to find the dive shop. We were still a bit tired from the travel but were nevertheless excited to find the dive shop and get our week in Costa Rica started on the right foot. The GPS unit got us there just fine and we went in to fill out our forms and make sure we could dive with them on July 2nd as I had requested in a few of the e-mails I had sent them prior to our arrival. I'm not sure of her name, but we were greated pretty coldly by an Italian women in the shop. The entire time we were there, I felt as if we were bothering her or taking up her time. She answered any questions we had with very short, abrupt replies and when someone else walked into the dive shop, she ignored us completely. She wanted us to prepay for the dives and we couldn't b/c we didn't have the money on us at the time. She told us we had to prepay the next day or we couldn't dive with them so we'd have to stop by tomorrow. I suppose I was taken back a bit more than usual by her abrupt manner just given that everyone we had encountered in the country seemed so laid back, friendly, and helpful. In any event, it was enough to put me off from diving with them completely.
The next day (today as I write this) we looked for, and found, a new dive shop in Playa Flamingo. The shop is called Aqua Center and they were far more welcoming than Agua Rica. We ended up signing with them and will be heading out for a pair of dives tomorrow.
Later on, we actually stopped back by Agua Rica just to be courteous and let them know that we wouldn't be diving with them after all. Before I could even tell the lady we were canceling, she was just as rude and abrupt as she had been the first day we'd met her. I'd like to think I caught her on a bad day the first time around, but two times means it's just her personality. Anyway, when I told her we were cancelling, she almost seemed happy as if to say "two less customers to deal with".
I couldn't tell you if our new dive shop, Aqua Center, is good or not, but I'll be sure to let you know. My best advice so far to anyone visiting Tamarindo soon; make Agua Rica your second or third choice in a dive shop, particularly if you value a friendly staff.
Jaeger45
Contributor
I'm interested in knowing how your dives go--I hope to head that direction later this month!
A bit of a hijack--if you're there now, do you mind asking how the road is between Paraiso and Ostional, and sending me a PM? There's supposed to be a massive Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting event going on in waves over the next few months there. It's just a bit south of you along the Nicoya coast.
Thanks!
A bit of a hijack--if you're there now, do you mind asking how the road is between Paraiso and Ostional, and sending me a PM? There's supposed to be a massive Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting event going on in waves over the next few months there. It's just a bit south of you along the Nicoya coast.
Thanks!
smsacumen
Registered
cdre311-
Curious how the diving went with Aqua Center. And how long of a drive to their shop from Tamarindo? I'm going to be in Tamarindo, then hitting Coco to dive with the Rich Coast folks in March.
Thanks for any info.
Curious how the diving went with Aqua Center. And how long of a drive to their shop from Tamarindo? I'm going to be in Tamarindo, then hitting Coco to dive with the Rich Coast folks in March.
Thanks for any info.
scubashine
Registered
We just returned from the Tamarindo area, and did a couple of dives with Aqua Rica. I thought that the staff was friendly enough. They picked us up at the Barcelo Playa Langosta, and dropped us and our gear off at the beach. They loaded our gear into the dinghy we took out to the boat, and then loaded it into the boat.
They set everything up for us on the way out, and pointed out the sea turtles, dolphins, and rays along the way to the Catalina Islands. They gave a good briefing, and told us what to expect on the dive.
The visibility, however, was NOT good. We descended down the line, and the vis was 3 feet max until we got down to about 20 feet. From that point down, the visibility was between 10 and 15 feet. We didn't see any sharks, rays, or dolphins on the dives. We saw some small fish, jellyfish, starfish, etc.
We obviously don't blame the staff for the vis, and thought they did a great job. If we go back, we would dive with them again.
They set everything up for us on the way out, and pointed out the sea turtles, dolphins, and rays along the way to the Catalina Islands. They gave a good briefing, and told us what to expect on the dive.
The visibility, however, was NOT good. We descended down the line, and the vis was 3 feet max until we got down to about 20 feet. From that point down, the visibility was between 10 and 15 feet. We didn't see any sharks, rays, or dolphins on the dives. We saw some small fish, jellyfish, starfish, etc.
We obviously don't blame the staff for the vis, and thought they did a great job. If we go back, we would dive with them again.
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