Cocos Island...worth it during a "weak" El Nino event?

[solinnea]

I have been planning on visiting Cocos Island this summer and doing a 10 day liveaboard (maybe June or August). I have seen a lot threads advising against diving at Cocos during an El Nino event because the sharks are not as abundant. I am particularly interested in the sharks. However, this year's El Nino is said to be "weak" unlike the strong events in '97/'98. According to NOAA: "forecasters predict it will stay weak, [and] have little influence on weather and climate." There is a 50-60% chance it will last through the summer.

Since it is a weak El Nino, will there be as much of an impact? Should I visit another time, or will it still be worth it to go? It isn't a cheap trip and I've heard amazing things about diving at Cocos so I want to make sure I am going at the right time. Does anyone have experience with this? Any advice is appreciated

 

[cephalopod2]

Personally I would wait and go when there are no El Nino effects. Lots of other great places to dive and as you point out, it's not an inexpensive trip. I dove in what I think turned out to be a weak El Nino event (ironically I had scrapped a first trip I was investigating years earlier for that exact reason) and I didn't find the hammerheads anywhere near as abundant as in the Galapagos. There is already a lot of volatility at Cocos in terms of what you see - I wouldn't want even a weak El Nino affecting that. White tip sharks are there year round, but one doesn't dive Cocos for white tips .

 

[dreamdive]

We just got back from the Argo and had a blast! In all fairness though, our skiff was all CCR. We saw tons of Hammerheads and Galapagos sharks. We had black tips and tigers. We had a beautiful Manta swim with us for at least 15 minutes. We had tons of fish, schools of Trevalies, rays, dolphin's etc.

The water was totally flat for the crossing on both ways and nobody got seasick! We are planning another trip for next year for around the same time.