Cocos Island

[Jason Boltz]

I'm considering a trip to Cocos in November. Has anyone been there that time of the year?

Any preferences to Sea Hunter or Agressor? Currently I'm leaning towards the Sea Hunter.

Thanks,

Jason

 

[Gaz]

Hey jason

I went to Cocos but in Febuary IT WAS AWESOME

Weather in nov is usually rougher than in febuary but you do have the benfit of seeing schooling Hammerheads where as in feb I saw them but not in the thousands as you will see.

I was on the okeanos agressor and found it to be very confortable and a large ship which handled the seas very well.

I think the hunters are newer boats but I dont think you will go wrong with any of them.

I am heading to the Galapagos Sept 10th 2003 and really am looking forward to that trip as a buddy of mine who i went to cocos with said the diving in the glapagos blows away cocos which i still find hard to believe as we saw tons of stuff but hey it makes the Galapagos trip even more exciting.

if anyone wants to come along next September i still have 4 spots left but take into account its a trip for advanced divers who should be used to diving in rough seas and not be nervous of diving with Big Animal life.

oh yeah one more thing pukers need not apply

Have a great time in cocos i know you will have a blast DIVING IS AWESOME

 

[Diversauras]

I'm booked out in Feb on the Okeanos Aggressor and have been counting the days for a year. Can't wait for your trip report.

There was another member, Tater I think, that was going in June but never came back to the board after her trip I guess, or maybe she stayed...

 

[cyklon_300]

For the posters looking for info on Cocos I can help a little...

We dived from the Okeanos, altho a little tired (I hear it went to drydock in Ecuador for a refurb following our trip in April 2001) was still a fine boat. Long crossing, 37 hours from Punta Arenas. Seas were calm, tho.

Crew was excellent, food was plentiful and usually tasty. Two zodiac pangas and a 21' fiberglas hull chase boat to dive from.

Diving was big animal action 24/7....hammerheads, white-tips, silkies, silver tips, marbled rays, mantas. There was every type of dive condition...great vis, lousy vis, calm, rip currents, big surge. You name it, we saw it. Our first (checkout) dive was in a fairly protected area and we still had to claw our way along the bottom, holding onto rocks to keep from being blown away.

This is not a place for the timid or easily spooked diver. Down currents were very strong at Alcyone (best place to see hammers). We would position ourselves in the rocks at 120-135' and let the hammerheads come in over the top of us for some VERY up close and personal viewing. (within 5').

There were few dives that were not high adrenaline affairs. Mating white-tips and baitballs provided some great photos.

 

[Wreck Ranger]

Thanks cyklon_300. Diversaurus and I are heading there in Feb. Sounds like you had a blast. Thank you for all of the details of you trip. We've been counting the days, hours, & minutes until we go.

P.S. On the bad vis days, what do you consider bad?

Thanks a Bunch

 

[cyklon_300]

ranged from (this is why I keep a log)....40'-80', but was typically 60+'. We had mostly overcast skies, so the vis may have acutally been somewhat better than my estimates.

Low vis wasn't really a problem, tho as the marine life is so abundant and approachable that you're within 10-20' of some critter most of the time anyway...

I don't approve of divers touching the marine life, but it would have been easy to have fondled as many white-tips or marbled rays as I wanted...

The remoteness of the island and the fact that the only 'inhabitants' are the park rangers made the setting very special. The heavy vegetation, clouds of mist, and numerous waterfalls give the place a totally primordial look...

(I used to have several dozen photos from Cocos posted on the MS Community site, but they deleted my files when I let my hotmail account lapse. Pisser...)