Costa Rica: Tamarindo- Aquarica

[ammet]

Heading to Tamarindo in a few weeks, staying at Villas Langosta. The web site for the condo lists Aquarica dive shop. It isn't PADI certified, which sent up a concern, but also the message boards and dive books don't say much (anything) about diving at Tamarindo. Any experience with this shop? Should we drive up towards to Guanacaste to dive?

Seth

PS Just found a thread from 3-25-2005 which asked the same question- there weren't any answer then

 

[Doc]

Heading to Tamarindo in a few weeks, staying at Villas Langosta. The web site for the condo lists Aquarica dive shop. It isn't PADI certified, which sent up a concern, but also the message boards and dive books don't say much (anything) about diving at Tamarindo. Any experience with this shop? Should we drive up towards to Guanacaste to dive?

Seth

PS Just found a thread from 3-25-2005 which asked the same question- there weren't any answer then

I fiddled around quite a bit with this on Google and only found things such as:

"Diving and Snorkeling: The abundant ecosystems provide a habitat for many species of fish, shark, Manta ray, and the cute Clown Shrimp. These create wonderful diving and snorkeling spots. Those with more experience can expect to find wonderful trips like Palmares Island-Culebra Bay or Coco Beaches and Flamingo."

There was no supporting information on any kind of dive services offered, although SCUBA was mentioned in name only.

It may be a resort that just happens to "offer diving".

 

[Rivermonkey]

Heading to Tamarindo in a few weeks, staying at Villas Langosta. The web site for the condo lists Aquarica dive shop. It isn't PADI certified, which sent up a concern, but also the message boards and dive books don't say much (anything) about diving at Tamarindo. Any experience with this shop? Should we drive up towards to Guanacaste to dive?

Seth

PS Just found a thread from 3-25-2005 which asked the same question- there weren't any answer then

I suggest you head up to Playas del Coco for diving. There are much better sites to choose from and plenty of dive shops. Its an hour or so drive from Tamarindo. I recommend Rich Coast in Playas del Coco or Diving Safaris in Playa Hermosa. You can book trips to Catalina or Bat Islands and dive with Bull Sharks in Bats....not to be missed. We had over 15 bulls the other day at Bats, some the size of a small car.

cheers

 

[tonieclaudio]

I suggest you head up to Playas del Coco for diving. There are much better sites to choose from and plenty of dive shops. Its an hour or so drive from Tamarindo. I recommend Rich Coast in Playas del Coco or Diving Safaris in Playa Hermosa. You can book trips to Catalina or Bat Islands and dive with Bull Sharks in Bats....not to be missed. We had over 15 bulls the other day at Bats, some the size of a small car.

cheers

Agua Rica, http://www.aguarica.net runs daily trips to Catalinas, 45min boat ride, 2 tanks dive. It is the only dive shop in town with 11yrs experience, SSI and Padi certifiers, dives are good for both novice and experienced divers
Happy diving!

 

[ammet]

Ended up diving with Agua Rica. Realy nice folks- Tonie at the office and Claudio on the boat, and their young son tagged along. Diving in this area is humble- takes off from boats moored at a beach, 45 min ride up to Catalina Islands. Same place you dive if you use the bigger names outfits up the coast. Reasonably priced and helpful.

Diving was not that lush, but that is the area. It was emjoyable being down, and the people on the boat (just 4-5 others) were nice.

If you are going to Tamarindo or Langosta, I recommend Aqua Rica. Tell them Seth and Moses sent you!

 

[Law5Guy]

Diving was not that lush,

Meaning... bad viz? nothing to see?

 

[tonieclaudio]

Thank you so much............we saw our first giant big manta ray of the season 2 days ago,we hope you will be back soon, have a great fall,
Toni
http://www.aguarica.net

 

[tonieclaudio]

visibility average is 50 ft in Catalinas, this because of the presence of plancton, that does not help the visibility,this is why you can dive with giant schools of fish, such as jacks and barracudas. Forget the Caribbean 100ft visibility, Costa Rica waters are wild, less clear, less corals and sponges, just big fish....

 

[Scuba-QC]

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