Current conditions in Playa del Coco?

[ElliottM]

Greetings from an unusually sunny day in Seattle!

My 17 year-old son and I will be diving in Playa del Coco and Catalina Island the weekend of 2/14-2/15/09, and I would appreciate hearing from anyone who is there now on what the current diving conditions are like.

Elliott

 

[Prairie Diver]

Honest feedback on the conditions here... Bring a thick wetsuit... or maybe 2 or 3.

Yesterday we dropped down to 15C (or 59F for those in Seattle . It has been so cold the past few days that here at summer-salt we have recommended to a few people that its not worth going out to Cats... Diving is meant to be fun, and with the 3mm wetsuits that make up the bulk of rental gear around this town it really isn't fun freezing for 45 minutes.

Yesterday a group of 4 that was originally booked with us came to the shop and we strongly recommended they not go. They decided to take our advice and not go with... with us. They went to another shop who gladly took them and their money out. Spending $130 each, they aborted the first dive and then didn't go on the second. We felt bad for them as the walked past our shop shivering, but sometimes its more important to preserve reputation than to make money (or at least that's what I tell the boss so he isn't mad about losing 4 divers). Hahaha

Temperature aside, None of the shops have seen Mantas since last week, but I'm sure that's to do with colder water temperatures due to strong winds we have had the past few days.

Hope it turns around by the time you get here.
Happy Diving!

-Brent

 

[ElliottM]

Thanks, PD!

Fortunately my son and I have been diving in the Puget Sound in water temps around the mid 40s Fahrenheit. So while the water may be cold down there, it is all relative. I am sorry to hear the rays have been absent, as they were probably the creature I wanted to see the most.

Hopefully things will improve by the time we get there, but either way we are prepared to make the most of things. Thanks again!

Elliott

 

[DIVEBOOBER]

Hi elliot,

I went last week and we did see 4 manta rays, the temperature wasn't so low though. We had 73 degrees, so it wasn't bad at all, but I know the ocean can change over night, hopefully you have more luck next week!

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

Brent is right, it is pretty chilly at this moment, however we still dive and just make sure all our divers know about the temperature and get them the adequite wetsuits. Hopefully the cold front will pass by soon, the predictions is 4 days, so hopefully one more day to go.
I was diving 3 days ago and had 28 degrees, it was great. So lets keep our fingers crossed and hope the predictions are right!

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

Great news, the divers just came back and today the temperature was 22 Celsius!!

 

[ElliottM]

Sweet! Thanks for the update.

Elliott