Trip Report – Undersea Hunter (Cocos Island, Costa Rica) 27 June – 9 July 2008
This is a report from our most recent trip to Cocos Island. This was a 12-day format with 9 days of diving! We were fortunate to take this trip with fellow scubaboard members Matt215 (Matt) who was on our trip last May and CozILikeIt (Derek, his wife Lisa and Lisa’s brother Mark). We are from the DC area, Matt is from Nashville, TN and Derek and family are from West Michigan.
We all arrived as scheduled with all of our luggage the day before our departure. We stayed at the San Jose Marriott where renovations are completed so there was no construction noise. We spent some time at their beautiful pool before our 1:30pm pickup by Fiesta Tours for our 3 hour journey to Punteranas where the Undersea Hunter is docked. The Michigan group stayed at the Hotel Don Carlos and loved it. They visited a local bar and imbibed in some Imperial cervesas, the official beer of Costa Rica. Also joining us on our trip were a family of 5 from Spain, and four other Americans from the West Coast. It was a great group to dive with for the 12-day trip.
The Diving
Having been on two previous trips to Cocos in the past year, I have to say that this trip was certainly the most exciting with respect to the wildlife. On almost every dive we saw white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, black tips, Galapagos, and silky sharks as well as yellowfin tuna, spotted eagle rays, mobulas, wahoos, and turtles. Manuelita Outside and Dirty Rock were the hot spots this week, although none of the sites were “bad” in any respect. The currents were moderate on some of the sites but nothing like the currents we encountered in November.
Manuelita Outside provided some great excitement with a 15-20 ft juvenile whale shark. I am proud to say I am no longer a whale shark virgin! Both skiffs were fortunate to see this beautiful creature. Manuelita Outside also produced one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. On our last dive we entered at the 1st cleaning station at the south end of the island with HUNDREDS of hammerheads on the sandy bottom. After 10 minutes our plan was to drift to the North end and then out to the blue to see if we could attract the silkies as we had done on a previous dive. As we followed the current and drifted towards the corner the hammerheads must have been having a convention as the sandy bottom from one end of Manuelita to the other was just swarming with hammerheads. On a previous dive we had encountered a school of at least 60 silkies that we snorkeled with at the end of the dive, however we did not find them again on our last dive.
Dirty Rock provided some close up hammerhead action at the cleaning station as well as two separate dolphin feeding encounters near the pinnacle. The second encounter included no less than 8 dolphins as well as a school of hammerheads to the right and black tips and silkies to the left. It was an incredible 30-60 seconds of non-stop action. I didn’t know where to look! Also, for the first time that I can recall we had the “overhead profile effect” of hammerheads at Dirty Rock. The Blue Team (other skiff) reported a large school of hammerheads found at their safety stop out in the blue. Edwar the dive master estimated 500-600 hammerheads which was a large column from 20 ft to 100 ft thick with hammerheads.
Alcyone, which I noted last year in my dive log as my “best dive ever”, was very slow for our first two visits this time but the third time was the charm with hundreds of hammerheads passing very closely overhead.
Silverado did not disappoint on any dive. The silver tips were always there. This year we also experienced a juvenile and a baby which was so cute you just wanted to pet it (however, I refrained as I knew big mamma was very near by). The juvenile showed up on the night dives at Chatam Bay and Manuelita Coral Garden.
White tip feeding frenzy (Manuelita Coral Garden night dive) As always this dive did not disappoint. We had several “feedings” throughout the week. Derek even had a close encounter with a hammerhead on one of the night dives. This dive also produced blacktips and silvertips! As Lisa noted on one of the dives – the energy was different, the atmosphere more frenzied.
Weather / Water Temperature The weather was great with the exception of one rainy day early in the trip. The water is very warm and is producing LOTS of jellyfish of all varieties. I wore my hooded vest the entire week with my 3mm wetsuit which was sufficient. Even though the water is a very warm 82 degrees, we needed the protection from the jellies. The only exposed place on my face was stung on almost every dive during the last three days of the trip. The abundance of jellies has a positive side – LOTS of turtles. Evidently the turtles eat the jellies and on one dive I believe the other skiff saw 10 different turtles.
The crossing to Cocos was a little choppy and the crossing back was very benign. Once again we got to stop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for a swim on the return trip.
The Boat
The Boat was in great condition and had just completed an overhaul. Everything was in tip-top shape and they had added some different cabinetry to some of the rooms as well as granite-type counter tops, new shower heads, and new carpet throughout which we promptly christened with everything from water to red wine! They have also added a sound system to the sun deck.
The Crew
The crew was wonderful as always. It was the same crew we dove with last May with the exception of one DM who had injured himself playing football and the Captain who is now Captain of the new ARGO research vessel. The entire crew goes above and beyond to ensure your holiday is safe and fun.
The Food
The food was great as well, with the chef accommodating even the pickiest of eaters.
Overall it was a great trip that we will continue doing until we get tired of it (which for me will probably be never!). This was Derek and family’s first trip to Cocos and they said it exceeded their expectations. For one of the member of the Spanish contingent, this was his 10th trip to Cocos.
This is a report from our most recent trip to Cocos Island. This was a 12-day format with 9 days of diving! We were fortunate to take this trip with fellow scubaboard members Matt215 (Matt) who was on our trip last May and CozILikeIt (Derek, his wife Lisa and Lisa’s brother Mark). We are from the DC area, Matt is from Nashville, TN and Derek and family are from West Michigan.
We all arrived as scheduled with all of our luggage the day before our departure. We stayed at the San Jose Marriott where renovations are completed so there was no construction noise. We spent some time at their beautiful pool before our 1:30pm pickup by Fiesta Tours for our 3 hour journey to Punteranas where the Undersea Hunter is docked. The Michigan group stayed at the Hotel Don Carlos and loved it. They visited a local bar and imbibed in some Imperial cervesas, the official beer of Costa Rica. Also joining us on our trip were a family of 5 from Spain, and four other Americans from the West Coast. It was a great group to dive with for the 12-day trip.
The Diving
Having been on two previous trips to Cocos in the past year, I have to say that this trip was certainly the most exciting with respect to the wildlife. On almost every dive we saw white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, black tips, Galapagos, and silky sharks as well as yellowfin tuna, spotted eagle rays, mobulas, wahoos, and turtles. Manuelita Outside and Dirty Rock were the hot spots this week, although none of the sites were “bad” in any respect. The currents were moderate on some of the sites but nothing like the currents we encountered in November.
Manuelita Outside provided some great excitement with a 15-20 ft juvenile whale shark. I am proud to say I am no longer a whale shark virgin! Both skiffs were fortunate to see this beautiful creature. Manuelita Outside also produced one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. On our last dive we entered at the 1st cleaning station at the south end of the island with HUNDREDS of hammerheads on the sandy bottom. After 10 minutes our plan was to drift to the North end and then out to the blue to see if we could attract the silkies as we had done on a previous dive. As we followed the current and drifted towards the corner the hammerheads must have been having a convention as the sandy bottom from one end of Manuelita to the other was just swarming with hammerheads. On a previous dive we had encountered a school of at least 60 silkies that we snorkeled with at the end of the dive, however we did not find them again on our last dive.
Dirty Rock provided some close up hammerhead action at the cleaning station as well as two separate dolphin feeding encounters near the pinnacle. The second encounter included no less than 8 dolphins as well as a school of hammerheads to the right and black tips and silkies to the left. It was an incredible 30-60 seconds of non-stop action. I didn’t know where to look! Also, for the first time that I can recall we had the “overhead profile effect” of hammerheads at Dirty Rock. The Blue Team (other skiff) reported a large school of hammerheads found at their safety stop out in the blue. Edwar the dive master estimated 500-600 hammerheads which was a large column from 20 ft to 100 ft thick with hammerheads.
Alcyone, which I noted last year in my dive log as my “best dive ever”, was very slow for our first two visits this time but the third time was the charm with hundreds of hammerheads passing very closely overhead.
Silverado did not disappoint on any dive. The silver tips were always there. This year we also experienced a juvenile and a baby which was so cute you just wanted to pet it (however, I refrained as I knew big mamma was very near by). The juvenile showed up on the night dives at Chatam Bay and Manuelita Coral Garden.
White tip feeding frenzy (Manuelita Coral Garden night dive) As always this dive did not disappoint. We had several “feedings” throughout the week. Derek even had a close encounter with a hammerhead on one of the night dives. This dive also produced blacktips and silvertips! As Lisa noted on one of the dives – the energy was different, the atmosphere more frenzied.
Weather / Water Temperature The weather was great with the exception of one rainy day early in the trip. The water is very warm and is producing LOTS of jellyfish of all varieties. I wore my hooded vest the entire week with my 3mm wetsuit which was sufficient. Even though the water is a very warm 82 degrees, we needed the protection from the jellies. The only exposed place on my face was stung on almost every dive during the last three days of the trip. The abundance of jellies has a positive side – LOTS of turtles. Evidently the turtles eat the jellies and on one dive I believe the other skiff saw 10 different turtles.
The crossing to Cocos was a little choppy and the crossing back was very benign. Once again we got to stop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for a swim on the return trip.
The Boat
The Boat was in great condition and had just completed an overhaul. Everything was in tip-top shape and they had added some different cabinetry to some of the rooms as well as granite-type counter tops, new shower heads, and new carpet throughout which we promptly christened with everything from water to red wine! They have also added a sound system to the sun deck.
The Crew
The crew was wonderful as always. It was the same crew we dove with last May with the exception of one DM who had injured himself playing football and the Captain who is now Captain of the new ARGO research vessel. The entire crew goes above and beyond to ensure your holiday is safe and fun.
The Food
The food was great as well, with the chef accommodating even the pickiest of eaters.
Overall it was a great trip that we will continue doing until we get tired of it (which for me will probably be never!). This was Derek and family’s first trip to Cocos and they said it exceeded their expectations. For one of the member of the Spanish contingent, this was his 10th trip to Cocos.
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