Cocos via Okeanos in March - what to expect?

[nycdivegal]

Hey SB'ers! After a way-too-long 11-month SI, I am contemplating a trip to Cocos next month with the Aggressor folks. I've perused a few forum reviews but wanted to ask about how challenging the diving is. I am AOW/110ish dives, try to go twice a year although this year was tough.

While I've done plenty of drift dives, I've only done hard current a few times, namely:
- Sipadan, pretty much the whole week we were there
- A few wreck dives in Aruba that had crazy current
- A brief 2 day stint in Galapagos as a new diver, from land, with my family of non-divers

I am not uncomfortable with current, just not a pro at it, and I would be going alone (though obviously crashing someone's buddy party or else hanging with the DM on the dives). Just want to make sure I am not being an idiot by showing up amid a boatful of super-pro divers who are like "whaddya mean you haven't been to Truk?!?" I was also looking at Utila but I've heard it's totally relaxed and I am looking for a bit of a challenge.

Any commentary much appreciated!

 

[nycdivegal]

Just want to make sure I am not being an idiot by showing up amid a boatful of super-pro divers who are like "whaddya mean you haven't been to Truk?!?"

NB I would kill to go to Truk.

 

[Shasta_man]

You have plenty of experience and this message indicates the self awareness not to get yourself in trouble. Listen to the dive guides and do what they tell you. You'll see the best stuff and come back in one piece with amazing memories.

 

[backpacking diver]

Having been out to Cocos, I would say it depends on how confident/comfy you are in the water. We had hard current on only a few dives, as strong as the strongest I had at Sipadan (but not worse), and w/a lot of them you are descending a line down to a cleaning station to hang out; the only place you really fight current is on dives on Manuelita (the island) where you have to fight it to get around a corner-- and on that dive the other women in our group didn't make it and went up (and I sucked all my air down staying w/the guys). But the divemasters are very competent and the boat capts good at spotting you... bring your safety sausage, know how to use it. We also had some very nice dives with very little current! There's also a lot of waves, surface current etc., being able to descend quickly is a must (altho' again there's often a line, which means you can descend more slowly). And you should be comfortable with using your dive computer and diving on the edge of deco. That sounds like a lot, but if you're okay in the water, can hang onto a line and comfortable checking your gauges regularly, you should be fine. We had some master divers on my boat but also me (~150 dives) and an American couple that didn't know how to read a computer/handle buoyancy/swim and had to get rescued on five separate occasions! But they'd never been out of the Caribbean.
One thing-- bring gloves, you need to hang onto lines/rocks etc and you'll need them-- I never used them before Cocos and was VERY glad I had them.
I hope you have an amazing trip, and don't get psyched out by the possible conditions-- you'll probably see the full gamut over the week, and you can always skip a dive if it's not in your comfort zone!

 

[nycdivegal]

many thanks to both of you!

also backpacking diver, i checked out your trip report on Palau as that was another LOB trip I had been considering - glad I did!

incidentally, did you do cocos on okeanos or another LOB? i've seen undersea hunter come up recommended in many places, especially given the ease of entry and exit via their skiffs (vs. okeanos' pangas). i'm leaning towards okeanos, but wonder what your experience was?

thanks! where is your next trip?

 

[backpacking diver]

I'm glad the info was helpful! I did go on the Undersea Hunter and had a really good experience with them, great crew, my divemaster Mao was fabulous, bedrooms were fine-- although I'll say, while getting in and out of the skiff in the ocean was easy, getting from the skiff up onto the boat was a nightmare (not so much for me, the crew kind of propelled/caught me, but one of the bigger guys slipped and really hurt his back). I never heard anything neg from anyone about the okeanos, tho'; I think I picked the Hunter b/c there weren't tvs in the bedrooms!
For my next trip, o am I leaning toward the Red Sea, but the news from Egypt is anything but reassuring... so maybe Fiji instead. Somewhere there are sharks! If you post a good enough report from Cocos, however, I might be tempted to go back there again-- it was an amazing experience!

 

[divekraz]

We did Cocos Dec 2010 and had a great time with the diving. The current wasn't as bad as in the Gallapagos as there were a good number of dives that the current wasn't that bad. I did get blown off a sea mount into the blue. The rock broke off in my hand, the dm came with me as did my wife. Simply did the safety stop and the panga picked us up. Good idea to have a vhf radio with you in these cases but the panga had no problem spotting us. I would not go on the Okeanos again if it was free. The boat rides terrible, we had no water for 3 different days, The outside door to my cabin, the handle literally fell off in my and just banged against the wall(we were on the second deck). The food was OK, nothing great. The cabin doors banged all night with the crossing so I thought we were in 10 foot seas to find 1-2 foot seas. I've been on the Kona agressor and found that to be wonderful as was the buddy dive in Gallapagos and the Naui in Figi. Definately wear gloves and a wet suit for protection on the rocks. you can see some video on youtube under divekraz1 for search.

 

[c0bbie]

Hey fellow diver, well, a mixed opinion there. Let me add to the mix! As a female, solo travelling diver who's never been on an aggressor fleet until dec 2011, I was nervous due to reading reports etc. however, I boarded okeanos on the 17th dec 2011 and returned on the 28th jan as I loved it that much! I'm also travelling on the 10-20 march trip, not sure of your dates. I love cocos, absolutely adore the place. ok I'm a dm with 0000's in my dive log, but having been on two trips let me tell you not all divers are dm's or have 2 zeros in their dive log numbers! My two trips varied massively and in just a month, the difference the water presented us with was huge! 5mm and shivering thermoclines in dec so I took the 7mm for jan, way too hot! Gloves a must in dec, didn't put them on once in jan! Thermoclines all over the place in dec, maybe 2 in jan, then the currents....well, in dec it was a case of hold on and wait, some sites we couldn't get round the corner it was so hard, turn your head slightly and your mask and reg were gone, in jan, hardly anything, we circled all the way around most sites, very easy. Crossing, dec, most people took pills, jan it was like a millpond, flat as a pancake! So, as you can see, you never know, but hey how exciting. It's great that your considering not only your safety but also your fellow divers! Yes it can be frustrating when we have inexperienced divers on a trip like this but our dm training teaches us that we were all beginners once. It's up to the whole group to help each other out so we all get the best trip and this has happened on both trips I've been on with okeanos. The dm's are beto (captain) and Carlos, both swap pangas daily and both are fantastic! There's only two sites we go down a line to,the rest are roll backwards from the panga. I broke my shoulder in oct so dec was nervous as I'd probably travelled a little too soon, but hey I'm impatient, however the crew took my BCD off me in the water and were awesome. Okeanos was refurbished in feb 2011 so the photos you see on the web are out of date, the rooms all have their own tv's and air con and I've not had a problem at all, however, why someone would want to be stuck inside when there's a beautiful island outside to see is beyond me, I'm outside in the rain in cocos. That's another thing, the weather, scorching at 9am, torrential at 10am...literally! So f you want a tan...mmmm maybe not?!?! But it's warm all year apparently! What else, food, well, I'm a fussy cow, Leon and Douglas the chefs are wicked, everyday I eat something different to the group, its all about communication. I'm nervous about posting this as if the secret gets out as to how good it is, there will be no availability for me! Overall, I love cocos and the crew on okeanos are all fantastic and will make sure, whatever your level is, that you have the best trip ever!

 

[jake11]

We went on the Okeanos in August. The crossing out there was HORRIBLE and most of us were sick the whole time! That said, once we got there we had a fabulous time. It was the oldest LOB we have ever been on and not very fancy but the captain and crew more than made up for it. They were amazing! As for currents.. we had them but they have guidelines down to some of the dive sites with the strongest currents. It was never an issue for anyone on the boat at all. It was a great trip with a smooth as silk crossing on the way back BUT I would not go back due to my miserable crossing experience on the way out! Have a great time!

Hey SB'ers! After a way-too-long 11-month SI, I am contemplating a trip to Cocos next month with the Aggressor folks. I've perused a few forum reviews but wanted to ask about how challenging the diving is. I am AOW/110ish dives, try to go twice a year although this year was tough.

While I've done plenty of drift dives, I've only done hard current a few times, namely:
- Sipadan, pretty much the whole week we were there
- A few wreck dives in Aruba that had crazy current
- A brief 2 day stint in Galapagos as a new diver, from land, with my family of non-divers

I am not uncomfortable with current, just not a pro at it, and I would be going alone (though obviously crashing someone's buddy party or else hanging with the DM on the dives). Just want to make sure I am not being an idiot by showing up amid a boatful of super-pro divers who are like "whaddya mean you haven't been to Truk?!?" I was also looking at Utila but I've heard it's totally relaxed and I am looking for a bit of a challenge.

Any commentary much appreciated!