Costa Rica in late October, what to wear
- Thread starter Stndinup
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Pacific side: Guanacaste and Puntarenas - 5mm
Caribbean side: Limon - 3mm
Caribbean side: Limon - 3mm
I did Cano Island in the southern region in March with a swim suit and rash guard. I was mostly fine, I believe the water was mostly 80 degrees. There were some interesting spots on the first dive where you could see the heat eddies (sp?) going through the water. It was like a thermocline river and it got hot. The second dive had a definite standard thermocline that took my breath away. It probably dropped about four or five degrees, but felt colder.
I did a couple of dives off of the Catalina's in early December. I was going to do my standard rash guard thing, but was convinced to wear a shorty. I'm glad I did, and I even got cold towards the end of the second dive. Probably low to mid 70's.
All my dives were on the pacific side.
When I snorkeled Cano, it was around Xmas, Rains had just stopped, viz was 15 - 20 ft, temps warranted a full wetsuit. I recall lots of morays, butterfly fish, a number of barracuda and a few white-tipped reef sharks.
Islas Huevos in Guanacaste I did in September, viz was only so so, maybe 15 feet at best. Best part of the diving was prying ostiones [shellfish] off the bottom and eating them raw with lemon juice.
Islas Huevos in Guanacaste I did in September, viz was only so so, maybe 15 feet at best. Best part of the diving was prying ostiones [shellfish] off the bottom and eating them raw with lemon juice.
I'm heading to the Guanacaste area in a week. Anyone have a bottom temp from the last week or two for that area? Info I can find online suggests around 81F at the surface, which seems warm for this time of year.
I was there last week. I think the highest water temperature I recorded for the week was 83F and the lowest was 77F (below the thermocline).
I did see 84F at one point right when I hit the water, but I think that was more of an air temperature reading. I do have 83F on a safety stop, so I think that is real.
I did see 84F at one point right when I hit the water, but I think that was more of an air temperature reading. I do have 83F on a safety stop, so I think that is real.
Just back from my trip and posting this for anyone that might find it helpful for upcoming diving. My wife and I dove with Scuba Caribe, which is the on-site shop for the two Riu properties (we stayed at the Riu Guanacaste).
We did two local trips, the first to near Playa Matapalito and the second to near Playa Coco. We also did two trips to the Catalinas. Surface temp was about 81 F. Temp at depth varied wildly, from 79 on the first local dive to 70 under the thermocline at a couple spots. Thermocline depth ranged from 40' to 55' and changed over the course of a few days at the one dive we did twice at the Catalinas. Viz ranged from ok (40') to fairly miserable (12-15'). My understanding is that it is usually better, but was negatively impacted by the huge floods they had in mid-November.
Despite the viz, we had some really nice dives, with tons of marine life sightings, including octopus, various types of stingrays, white tip reef sharks, various types of moray eels, and a wide array of fish life. On the one dive with viz with the 12'-15' viz I saw so many large stingrays in my field of view that they were bumping into each other. We got spoiled on one of the local dives - between the ride out and the surface interval, we saw two humpbacks, two mantas on the surface and a dozen or two dolphins. Unfortunately no mantas underwater at the Catalinas.
This was our first trip to Costa Rica and we loved the country and enjoyed the diving. Would love to come back, although may try to aim for the drier season, when viz might be better.
We did two local trips, the first to near Playa Matapalito and the second to near Playa Coco. We also did two trips to the Catalinas. Surface temp was about 81 F. Temp at depth varied wildly, from 79 on the first local dive to 70 under the thermocline at a couple spots. Thermocline depth ranged from 40' to 55' and changed over the course of a few days at the one dive we did twice at the Catalinas. Viz ranged from ok (40') to fairly miserable (12-15'). My understanding is that it is usually better, but was negatively impacted by the huge floods they had in mid-November.
Despite the viz, we had some really nice dives, with tons of marine life sightings, including octopus, various types of stingrays, white tip reef sharks, various types of moray eels, and a wide array of fish life. On the one dive with viz with the 12'-15' viz I saw so many large stingrays in my field of view that they were bumping into each other. We got spoiled on one of the local dives - between the ride out and the surface interval, we saw two humpbacks, two mantas on the surface and a dozen or two dolphins. Unfortunately no mantas underwater at the Catalinas.
This was our first trip to Costa Rica and we loved the country and enjoyed the diving. Would love to come back, although may try to aim for the drier season, when viz might be better.
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