Bob5150
Guest
I did a family trip to the west (Pacific) coast of Costa Rica, end of June, beginning of July. We stayed at the Allegro Papagayo resort. That time of year is Costa Rica's "winter" and the resort was far from full, which was great. The resort itself was exceptionally nice, the staff and food outstanding. Yes, the food was very good! The citizens of Costa Rica were very friendly, many of whom spoke English. Unlike Mexico, I could walk down the street without every shop owner trying to drag me inside to see their wares!
I did a half dozen dives with the dive operators at the resort. The cost, in advance, was $210. I wasn't sure what to expect for the area and had been told by several friends that the viz was usually poor and the water temps vary. However, i was pleasantly surprised! The lowest viz we had was about 35 feet and the water temperature never was below 80 degrees F. On the first dive, I spotted a group of 4 white tip reef sharks lounging on the bottom, several sea turtles, round stingrays and morays. The following dives continued to impress me, all in all seeing octupus, 3 different species of morays, more white tips, southern and spotted eagle rays, and scorpionfish.
The dive operation was exceptional. It seemed that few of the tourists were there to dive, so we never had more than 5 divers, including the master. The divemaster did a great job of spotting creatures for us and made it a point to let us know that the environment comes first, that we were not to touch or take anything.
I highly recommend Costa Rica for a decent vacation!
I did a half dozen dives with the dive operators at the resort. The cost, in advance, was $210. I wasn't sure what to expect for the area and had been told by several friends that the viz was usually poor and the water temps vary. However, i was pleasantly surprised! The lowest viz we had was about 35 feet and the water temperature never was below 80 degrees F. On the first dive, I spotted a group of 4 white tip reef sharks lounging on the bottom, several sea turtles, round stingrays and morays. The following dives continued to impress me, all in all seeing octupus, 3 different species of morays, more white tips, southern and spotted eagle rays, and scorpionfish.
The dive operation was exceptional. It seemed that few of the tourists were there to dive, so we never had more than 5 divers, including the master. The divemaster did a great job of spotting creatures for us and made it a point to let us know that the environment comes first, that we were not to touch or take anything.
I highly recommend Costa Rica for a decent vacation!
