Leejnd
Contributor
My husband and I recently spent a week in Costa Rica, where we spent a day diving at Isla Del Cano. (This trip was actually in December, over Christmas week, but this is the first chance I’ve had to write up my report!) We did our dives with Oceans Unlimited in Quepos.
The dives were outrageously fantastic...but lemme tell ya, the boat trip out there was punishing! Holy crap! Any divers considering this trip should be aware of and prepared for what they will experience. While many divers (especially those of the adventurous persuasion – which probably means most!) would consider the dives well worth the rather difficult boat trip over, some may feel it’s not worth it. I’ll describe it and let you decide for yourselves.
There were 8 divers plus Tim, our dive master. In addition, we’d brought along our friends Bill and Sandy, an older couple who do not dive, but were along for snorkeling. We left the dock at about 8:00 am, and arrived at the island about 10:20. (More about the boat ride later.)
Our first dive spot was at a reef with pinnacles about a quarter-mile off the coast of the island. We dropped down directly on top of the pinnacles, and were immediately treated to the sight of a white-tipped reef shark checking us out. I’d just been to French Polynesia where I saw a LOT of sharks, but this one had a particularly menacing look to him. I watched him for a while, then turned my focus on the topography -- it was beautiful! Tall, craggy pinnacles, deep canyons, colorful sea fans, lots of undisturbed coral (not the brilliant colors of Caribbean coral, but it was all ALIVE and beautifully unmolested). And SO many fish, in so many bright colors! Butterfly fish, jack fish, spotted puffer fish, big friendly parrotfish with their bird-like beaks. There were others that were quite unique to me...box fish, HUGE scallops with jet-black mantles, some enormous striped fish, schools of fluorescent blue fish that looked like tuna...I don't recall all the names, but the place was seriously rich in sea life. The visibility was...well hell I don't know, it was FOREVER! You could see through the water as far as was humanly possible, there was just nothing in it to reduce the vis.
We headed into some stunning canyons, and here we dropped down to 90 fsw very quickly. There was a pretty strong current down there, which pushed us along the canyons and moved the milling schools of fish right along with us. At this point we couldn't stay still long enough to look closely at smaller things, so we concentrated on the schools of big fish, and there were many. Meanwhile, that one white-tipped reef shark seemed to be following us!
After 35 minutes, everyone but myself and Tim had breathed out their tanks, so Tim sent them all up for their safety stop, then continued the dive with me, which was really wonderful of him. We ascended of the canyons and tooled around some more pinnacles, where the surge kept things interesting. At one point, about 20 feet below us in a canyon we saw a 4-ft-long nurse shark sitting motionless on the bottom. We surfaced at 55 minutes.
We then headed to the island for a picnic lunch. Isla del Cano is a very remote biological reserve, with one small ranger station. The beach there was literally covered in hermit crabs occupying a wild variety of shells, so prevalent and teeming that the ground actually seems to be alive! There were a few other boats there from local resorts, I think, and some snorkelers hanging around the beach, but I didn’t see any other divers. You truly feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere!
After lunch we headed to a shallower spot where we dropped to about 50 fsw. There were scattered reef structures along a sandy bottom. Here there was far less current and surge, so we were able to spend some time looking at the smaller creatures. There were some particulates in the water here which had some minor impact on the vis, but not much -- it was still amazing. Once again we were shadowed by, this time, three white-tipped reef sharks, which seemed to stay just about 15 feet away from us, circling. It was kind of creepy! We poked around the reefs for a while and again saw lots of brilliantly colored fish, and were treated to several different eels -- spotted eels, jewel eels, green morays. At one point Tim called us all over to a rock, and there was -- NO LIE -- a brilliant green eel that was at LEAST 6 feet long, and six inches in diameter! I'd never seen an eel that big! We also saw a big lobster hiding in a crevasse. It was a good size one, well above legal by CA standards (I think in this way because it’s lobster season here right now!), but it had an unusual look to it...really long antennae, and a strange brown/green color.
This is also where I turned around at one point and saw a couple of HUGE fish -- still don't know what they were, but they had to be at least four feet, and seemed quite curious and unafraid. I've been looking at pics of fish and just can't remember exactly what they looked like, so I don't know what they were. Sea bass? Tuna? I just don't know!
Once again, after about 45 minutes the rest of the divers breathed out their tanks, and headed up for a safety stop, so Tim and I (who still had 1200 psi) continued the dive. After a few minutes I spotted some activity in the water to my left, and turned JUST in time to see one of the sharks snap violently at a 3-foot ray! Now THAT was cool! The ray took off like a shot, and the shark gave up. I then took off like a shot myself to try to catch up with the ray, with Tim at my heels, and saw that there were two, and they were devil rays with two weird-looking horns. They are bizarre-looking creatures.
We ended the dive at 60 min. My thanks to Tim, who was an absolutely FANTASTIC DM!
And now, a few words about the boat ride. I believe if you are aware of what it will be like, you will be fine, and the dives are well worth it – as long as you are in the physical shape to handle the trip over there. Our problem was, we had two individuals with us who are older, not in the best of physical shape, and were not able to withstand the punishment. It is a small open craft that was rather uncomfortable and offered little to no protection. We were told that it takes approx. two hours to get to the island, but that is only true if the boat is driven pretty much at full throttle…during which you are pounding over the swells with spine-crushing, kidney-pulverizing intensity! The bench seats had just a thin pad, with no cushioning for your back, and nothing to hold on to. At that speed, the water was splashing across us in constant sheets to the point where we, and every single thing on board, were completely drenched within moments of taking off. The pounding and drenching, going on for such a long time, was really uncomfortable, and our friends were in pain and miserable. Not only that, but they didn’t get to go snorkeling at all: the first spot was too deep for them to see anything, and by the second spot they were hurting too much to be able to get in the water.
Much to Oceans Unlimited’s credit, after we complained via email about the boat ride and the lack of snorkeling, they refunded us the FULL AMOUNT of the snorkel trip for our friends. My only remaining complaint is that they had initially told us via email there would be three dives, and there were only two…so be aware that you are paying for two dives, not three, although the two that you get truly are fantastic. Also, be prepared for at least four hours of unmitigated pounding and splashing. I’m told that the earlier you leave, the better – the swells kick up later in the morning. We left a little later than they usually do, since we were coming from such a long distance (Puntarenas)…if we’d be able to get there a little earlier it might not have been quite so bad. But if you have back problems, you might want to reconsider this trip…our friends had back pain for weeks afterwards.
If you are the adventurous type and don’t mind a rather rough boat ride, do this trip! Isla del Cano is not very well known yet for diving, but given what we saw there, I think it’s bound to be discovered. As I understand it, the local off-shore diving in the area is not that great -- most divers in Costa Rica go further north to the far more well-known Guanacaste region. But if you want to dive in the southern part of Costa Rica, Isla del Cano is an undiscovered gem. We feel fortunate to be among the few who’ve dived this beautiful natural preserve!
The dives were outrageously fantastic...but lemme tell ya, the boat trip out there was punishing! Holy crap! Any divers considering this trip should be aware of and prepared for what they will experience. While many divers (especially those of the adventurous persuasion – which probably means most!) would consider the dives well worth the rather difficult boat trip over, some may feel it’s not worth it. I’ll describe it and let you decide for yourselves.
There were 8 divers plus Tim, our dive master. In addition, we’d brought along our friends Bill and Sandy, an older couple who do not dive, but were along for snorkeling. We left the dock at about 8:00 am, and arrived at the island about 10:20. (More about the boat ride later.)
Our first dive spot was at a reef with pinnacles about a quarter-mile off the coast of the island. We dropped down directly on top of the pinnacles, and were immediately treated to the sight of a white-tipped reef shark checking us out. I’d just been to French Polynesia where I saw a LOT of sharks, but this one had a particularly menacing look to him. I watched him for a while, then turned my focus on the topography -- it was beautiful! Tall, craggy pinnacles, deep canyons, colorful sea fans, lots of undisturbed coral (not the brilliant colors of Caribbean coral, but it was all ALIVE and beautifully unmolested). And SO many fish, in so many bright colors! Butterfly fish, jack fish, spotted puffer fish, big friendly parrotfish with their bird-like beaks. There were others that were quite unique to me...box fish, HUGE scallops with jet-black mantles, some enormous striped fish, schools of fluorescent blue fish that looked like tuna...I don't recall all the names, but the place was seriously rich in sea life. The visibility was...well hell I don't know, it was FOREVER! You could see through the water as far as was humanly possible, there was just nothing in it to reduce the vis.
We headed into some stunning canyons, and here we dropped down to 90 fsw very quickly. There was a pretty strong current down there, which pushed us along the canyons and moved the milling schools of fish right along with us. At this point we couldn't stay still long enough to look closely at smaller things, so we concentrated on the schools of big fish, and there were many. Meanwhile, that one white-tipped reef shark seemed to be following us!
After 35 minutes, everyone but myself and Tim had breathed out their tanks, so Tim sent them all up for their safety stop, then continued the dive with me, which was really wonderful of him. We ascended of the canyons and tooled around some more pinnacles, where the surge kept things interesting. At one point, about 20 feet below us in a canyon we saw a 4-ft-long nurse shark sitting motionless on the bottom. We surfaced at 55 minutes.
We then headed to the island for a picnic lunch. Isla del Cano is a very remote biological reserve, with one small ranger station. The beach there was literally covered in hermit crabs occupying a wild variety of shells, so prevalent and teeming that the ground actually seems to be alive! There were a few other boats there from local resorts, I think, and some snorkelers hanging around the beach, but I didn’t see any other divers. You truly feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere!
After lunch we headed to a shallower spot where we dropped to about 50 fsw. There were scattered reef structures along a sandy bottom. Here there was far less current and surge, so we were able to spend some time looking at the smaller creatures. There were some particulates in the water here which had some minor impact on the vis, but not much -- it was still amazing. Once again we were shadowed by, this time, three white-tipped reef sharks, which seemed to stay just about 15 feet away from us, circling. It was kind of creepy! We poked around the reefs for a while and again saw lots of brilliantly colored fish, and were treated to several different eels -- spotted eels, jewel eels, green morays. At one point Tim called us all over to a rock, and there was -- NO LIE -- a brilliant green eel that was at LEAST 6 feet long, and six inches in diameter! I'd never seen an eel that big! We also saw a big lobster hiding in a crevasse. It was a good size one, well above legal by CA standards (I think in this way because it’s lobster season here right now!), but it had an unusual look to it...really long antennae, and a strange brown/green color.
This is also where I turned around at one point and saw a couple of HUGE fish -- still don't know what they were, but they had to be at least four feet, and seemed quite curious and unafraid. I've been looking at pics of fish and just can't remember exactly what they looked like, so I don't know what they were. Sea bass? Tuna? I just don't know!
Once again, after about 45 minutes the rest of the divers breathed out their tanks, and headed up for a safety stop, so Tim and I (who still had 1200 psi) continued the dive. After a few minutes I spotted some activity in the water to my left, and turned JUST in time to see one of the sharks snap violently at a 3-foot ray! Now THAT was cool! The ray took off like a shot, and the shark gave up. I then took off like a shot myself to try to catch up with the ray, with Tim at my heels, and saw that there were two, and they were devil rays with two weird-looking horns. They are bizarre-looking creatures.
We ended the dive at 60 min. My thanks to Tim, who was an absolutely FANTASTIC DM!
And now, a few words about the boat ride. I believe if you are aware of what it will be like, you will be fine, and the dives are well worth it – as long as you are in the physical shape to handle the trip over there. Our problem was, we had two individuals with us who are older, not in the best of physical shape, and were not able to withstand the punishment. It is a small open craft that was rather uncomfortable and offered little to no protection. We were told that it takes approx. two hours to get to the island, but that is only true if the boat is driven pretty much at full throttle…during which you are pounding over the swells with spine-crushing, kidney-pulverizing intensity! The bench seats had just a thin pad, with no cushioning for your back, and nothing to hold on to. At that speed, the water was splashing across us in constant sheets to the point where we, and every single thing on board, were completely drenched within moments of taking off. The pounding and drenching, going on for such a long time, was really uncomfortable, and our friends were in pain and miserable. Not only that, but they didn’t get to go snorkeling at all: the first spot was too deep for them to see anything, and by the second spot they were hurting too much to be able to get in the water.
Much to Oceans Unlimited’s credit, after we complained via email about the boat ride and the lack of snorkeling, they refunded us the FULL AMOUNT of the snorkel trip for our friends. My only remaining complaint is that they had initially told us via email there would be three dives, and there were only two…so be aware that you are paying for two dives, not three, although the two that you get truly are fantastic. Also, be prepared for at least four hours of unmitigated pounding and splashing. I’m told that the earlier you leave, the better – the swells kick up later in the morning. We left a little later than they usually do, since we were coming from such a long distance (Puntarenas)…if we’d be able to get there a little earlier it might not have been quite so bad. But if you have back problems, you might want to reconsider this trip…our friends had back pain for weeks afterwards.
If you are the adventurous type and don’t mind a rather rough boat ride, do this trip! Isla del Cano is not very well known yet for diving, but given what we saw there, I think it’s bound to be discovered. As I understand it, the local off-shore diving in the area is not that great -- most divers in Costa Rica go further north to the far more well-known Guanacaste region. But if you want to dive in the southern part of Costa Rica, Isla del Cano is an undiscovered gem. We feel fortunate to be among the few who’ve dived this beautiful natural preserve!
