Anyone traveled to Costa Rica under the new COVID regulations?

[tridacna]

Fantastic footage. Very nicely done!

 

[Dan]

Fantastic footage. Very nicely done!

Thanks!

Here’s part 2:

 

[tridacna]

Are those Heniochus at 2:01? I had no idea they were found in those waters. Spectacular video. What was water temp?

 

[Dan]

Are those Heniochus at 2:01? I had no idea they were found in those waters. Spectacular video. What was water temp?

Thanks!

The fish look like bannerfish, but they are Moorish Idol (Zancius cornutus).

The water temperature was about 79-81F at the surface and the thermocline at 100’ depth could be as low as 69F.

 

[tridacna]

Thanks!

The fish look like bannerfish, but they are Moorish Idol (Zancius cornutus).

The water temperature was about 79-81F at the surface and the thermocline at 100’ depth could be as low as 69F.

You’re correct. I had no idea that they were found so far east in the pacific.

 

[Dan]

You’re correct. I had no idea that they were found so far east in the pacific.

Me too, surprise. I thought they were only live in western pacific.

@moorish8idol is on her way there now. She may see more of them later next week. Hopefully the visibility is better as now they are in dry season.

When I was there 2 weeks ago, there were still a lot of rains. Even Chatham Bay turned into muddy water. Luckily it was during our 7th day (the last day of diving). The whole week water visibility was worse than when I was there in September 2018.

One disappointment in this trip is that we didn't see the wall of hundreds of hammerheads in the blue as I did 2 years ago. All we saw this time was some individual hammerheads passing by and may be 4-5 of them swimming together at one time.

Whatever happened to the schooling of hammerheads, which Cocos is famous for? Did the long line fishermen wiped them out during this pandemic, when the park ranger hunkering down at their station?

Those park rangers did not even come by to our boat to collect the $490 marine park fees + 13% tax from 21 of us, in fear of getting COVID-19 from us. Anibal, Okeanos Aggressor 1 Cruise Director, had to collect them from us at the boat and went to the island to give the stash to the park rangers.

I have seen better schooling of hammerheads in Banda Sea & Socorro.

 

[Dan]

Here's the trip report: Diving in Cocos Dec. 2020 Trip Report | ScubaBoard

 

[moorish8idol]

Just got back yesterday from my 10 day trip to Cocos with the Undersea Hunter. Overall it was a good trip though there was a lot of drama on the boat (I won't go into the details except to say that there were some anti-maskers and a person suffering an acute psychiatric condition on board which made for some tricky moments) but the diving didn't exactly meet my expectations. I believe I am partially to blame for this since December is not known for being the season for schooling hammerheads and lots of action (my bunkmate has been a total of 11 times and begged me to reconsider my impressions after visiting in high season around July or August). It was still a lovely trip overall but Malpelo in low season was still 100X more interesting for me so I am more likely to return there than to Cocos!

The weather was definitely not typical of dry season - perhaps it is late arriving this year as the end of December is still a transitional time. Both crossings were absolutely calm and relatively sunny but Cocos was mostly overcast with light rain about half the time (though the underwater visibility was relatively good so we didn't encounter any crazy brown run-off). I wore a 5 mm with shark fin hooded vest underneath and while I run quite cold, I was colder than expected on this trip. Temps were about 23-25C but we definitely had some dives closer to 21 down at the cleaning station (i.e. Alcyone which was freezing). Surface conditions were a bit rough at times and we had to abort a dive early since our skiff was filling with water and nearly capsized. We also missed a few of our favoured spots because the topside conditions were deemed too risky (but there are enough sites that it didn't feel like a ripoff - Manuelita area dives are generally always accessible and can offer good action).

Diving highlights - Little Dos Amigos and Dirty Rock were great for close encounters with individual hammers and galapagos on the cleaning stations. We twice encountered massive HH schools (in the hundreds) out in the blue (near Alcyone). Tigers passing on by (not close) were seen 4 times (I only caught it twice as I missed the surface tiger during earlier entries - which I was happy about - I had close encounters in Fuvamulah and given the risks don't see a huge need to get that close to them again). We saw a very juvenile whaleshark out at Submerged Rock one dive (he was curious and circled around us for a good 25 minutes) and devil rays here and there including a big mob of 20+ mobulas near the surface on another dive. We did one batfish dive (which I found boring and would have skipped if not for my FOMO) and luckily managed to locate one near the end. Its only about a 50% chance you see them.
It was full moon but conditions were very manageable - a matter of perspective as the DMs did mention "crazy currents" a few times (IMHO they weren't) though they were pretty gnarly going down the line on one dive at Punta Maria. A fellow diver described that she felt like she was in navy seal training trying to get down (but we all managed it just fine).

I cannot say enough good things about the crew on this boat - and what a tough year it has been for them. Some of them hadn't been out since January 2020, others will not get another trip until June 2021. I felt very safe in the water with all of the DMs and the Cruise Director Juan Manuel was unflappable in his calm and positive demeanour (despite some VERY challenging guests). The food was outstanding - the kitchen produced plentiful, delicious and varied options at every meal - and cooked it to perfection (for 30 people including the crew!). We had amazing homemade lasagnas, steak and baked potatos, bbq chicken/ribs, tacos etc. Don Lucho makes the most amazing chile sauce too (he was even kind enough to send me home with a bottle of it, which I think he should market and sell!). Everyone had to have negative PCR tests to get on the boat (including staff who are quarantined at the docks once they get their tests done) and we were required to wear masks in all indoor spaces for the first 3 days (though some of us continued this until day 5). Social distancing was encouraged when eating and a lot of us spent the better part of our free time on the outdoor aft deck. The SeaHunter will not go out again until June, leaving the Argo to do the diving trips for the next 6 months.

*On a sad note, I was advised that a mechanic on the Okeanos (Aggressor) contracted COVID on one of their last trips- (though no one else had symptoms he did have a negative PCR and quarantine before boarding the boat so it is believed an asymptomatic passenger passed it along) - his symptoms appeared on the passage back to the mainland and he passed away shortly thereafter. Thoughts for him and his family and his former colleagues on the boat. That being said, its just a reminder that we can't be too careful still, especially when it comes to protecting dive and boat staff whose economic vulnerabilities mean they often must assume greater risks in the name of their livelihoods.

 

[Dan]

Just got back yesterday from my 10 day trip to Cocos with the Undersea Hunter. Overall it was a good trip though there was a lot of drama on the boat (I won't go into the details except to say that there were some anti-maskers and a person suffering an acute psychiatric condition on board which made for some tricky moments) but the diving didn't exactly meet my expectations. I believe I am partially to blame for this since December is not known for being the season for schooling hammerheads and lots of action (my bunkmate has been a total of 11 times and begged me to reconsider my impressions after visiting in high season around July or August). It was still a lovely trip overall but Malpelo in low season was still 100X more interesting for me so I am more likely to return there than to Cocos!

The weather was definitely not typical of dry season - perhaps it is late arriving this year as the end of December is still a transitional time. Both crossings were absolutely calm and relatively sunny but Cocos was mostly overcast with light rain about half the time (though the underwater visibility was relatively good so we didn't encounter any crazy brown run-off). I wore a 5 mm with shark fin hooded vest underneath and while I run quite cold, I was colder than expected on this trip. Temps were about 23-25C but we definitely had some dives closer to 21 down at the cleaning station (i.e. Alcyone which was freezing). Surface conditions were a bit rough at times and we had to abort a dive early since our skiff was filling with water and nearly capsized. We also missed a few of our favoured spots because the topside conditions were deemed too risky (but there are enough sites that it didn't feel like a ripoff - Manuelita area dives are generally always accessible and can offer good action).

Diving highlights - Little Dos Amigos and Dirty Rock were great for close encounters with individual hammers and galapagos on the cleaning stations. We twice encountered massive HH schools (in the hundreds) out in the blue (near Alcyone). Tigers passing on by (not close) were seen 4 times (I only caught it twice as I missed the surface tiger during earlier entries - which I was happy about - I had close encounters in Fuvamulah and given the risks don't see a huge need to get that close to them again). We saw a very juvenile whaleshark out at Submerged Rock one dive (he was curious and circled around us for a good 25 minutes) and devil rays here and there including a big mob of 20+ mobulas near the surface on another dive. We did one batfish dive (which I found boring and would have skipped if not for my FOMO) and luckily managed to locate one near the end. Its only about a 50% chance you see them.
It was full moon but conditions were very manageable - a matter of perspective as the DMs did mention "crazy currents" a few times (IMHO they weren't) though they were pretty gnarly going down the line on one dive at Punta Maria. A fellow diver described that she felt like she was in navy seal training trying to get down (but we all managed it just fine).

I cannot say enough good things about the crew on this boat - and what a tough year it has been for them. Some of them hadn't been out since January 2020, others will not get another trip until June 2021. I felt very safe in the water with all of the DMs and the Cruise Director Juan Manuel was unflappable in his calm and positive demeanour (despite some VERY challenging guests). The food was outstanding - the kitchen produced plentiful, delicious and varied options at every meal - and cooked it to perfection (for 30 people including the crew!). We had amazing homemade lasagnas, steak and baked potatos, bbq chicken/ribs, tacos etc. Don Lucho makes the most amazing chile sauce too (he was even kind enough to send me home with a bottle of it, which I think he should market and sell!). Everyone had to have negative PCR tests to get on the boat (including staff who are quarantined at the docks once they get their tests done) and we were required to wear masks in all indoor spaces for the first 3 days (though some of us continued this until day 5). Social distancing was encouraged when eating and a lot of us spent the better part of our free time on the outdoor aft deck. The SeaHunter will not go out again until June, leaving the Argo to do the diving trips for the next 6 months.

*On a sad note, I was advised that a mechanic on the Okeanos (Aggressor) contracted COVID on one of their last trips- (though no one else had symptoms he did have a negative PCR and quarantine before boarding the boat so it is believed an asymptomatic passenger passed it along) - his symptoms appeared on the passage back to the mainland and he passed away shortly thereafter. Thoughts for him and his family and his former colleagues on the boat. That being said, its just a reminder that we can't be too careful still, especially when it comes to protecting dive and boat staff whose economic vulnerabilities mean they often must assume greater risks in the name of their livelihoods.

Thanks for the detail summary of your trip. I’m sorry to hear that you are not impressed with Cocos as much as Malpelo. I’m so looking forward to be in Malpelo in July

Juan Manuel was the CD in my last trip with Argo in September 2018. I was so impressed with his calma calma attitude, jokes & great dive briefing to the point that I requested for him to be our CD in last September 2020 repeat trip, which turned out to be a bust & had to reschedule it to September 2021. I hope he’ll be our CD then.

Condolences to the family & friends of the mechanic who passed away from COVID-19. Was he from Okeanos Aggressor 1 or 2? I was on Okeanos Aggressor 1. The Okeanos Aggressor 2 arrived there 2 days before we left Cocos.

 

[moorish8idol]

Thanks for the detail summary of your trip. I’m sorry to hear that you are not impressed with Cocos as much as Malpelo. I’m so looking forward to be in Malpelo in July

Juan Manuel was the CD in my last trip with Argo in September 2018. I was so impressed with his calma calma attitude, jokes & great dive briefing to the point that I requested for him to be our CD in last September 2020 repeat trip, which turned out to be a bust & had to reschedule it to September 2021. I hope he’ll be our CD then.

Condolences to the family & friends of the mechanic who passed away from COVID-19. Was he from Okeanos Aggressor 1 or 2? I was on Okeanos Aggressor 1. The Okeanos Aggressor 2 arrived there 2 days before we left Cocos.

Juan Manuel is a national treasure.

The problem is once you dive with him you only ever want to dive with him! There isn't enough JuanMa to go around!