need advice - re: costa rica in march

[Vin]

guys -
will be down march 1-5th.
staying @ Hotel Si Como No, Manuel Antonio Costa Rica.

anybody recomend a dive outfit?





Vin

 

[rexman24]

I like Deep Blue Divers, friendly, cheap, nice boat, nice equiptment, good divemasters.

 

[Pura Vida Diver]

Deep Blue Divers is nowhere near Manuel Antonio.

We are in Quepos, at the foot of the road to Manuel Antonio, about five minutes from Si Como No. We offer daily local dive and snorkel trips to the areas off shore of Manuel Antonio National Park as well as trips to Isla Del Cano.

Conditions as of now are great. An average of 50ft vis and the quite a few whales as of late.

You can visit our website at www.oceansunlimitedcr.com for more information.

 

[Leejnd]

Vin - see my dive report, that I just posted today:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=177752

This was with Oceans Unlimited in Quepos, certainly the closest dive operator to Manuel Antonio. Pura Vida is correct that Deep Blue Divers is nowhere near you -- it's all the way up in Playas del Coco, in the Guanacaste region, at least a few hours drive. This is where you'll find the majority of dive operators in Costa Rica, but you can't exactly go there for a day trip.

There's at least one other dive operator in the general area -- Herradura Divers is in Jaco Beach, not too far away from Manuel Antonio. www.herraduradivers.com. I didn't dive with them, but they go to pretty much the same local dive spots as Oceans Unlimited, so given their proximity, I'd go with Oceans Unlimited.

Now, if you don't mind getting a little more adventurous, read my review of Isla Del Cano -- Ocleans Unlimited are the only local dive operator doing day trips there. And the diving will be better there than directly off the coast of Manuel Antonio. I've dived both -- locally (Tortuga Island) and Isla Del Cano, and there's just no comparison!

 

[Pura Vida Diver]

Thanks Lee Anne. To clarify, Herradura divers is about 1 1/2 hours north of us, essentially in Jaco. They do not dive the same sites as us though. The majority of our local dives are on sites in Manuel Antonio National Park and an offshore deep pinnacle area known as Viente-seis. We also occasionally go to Marino Ballena and Corcovado National Parks.

This time of year is not the best for diving conditions in Guanacaste due to the Papagayo winds coming from the north, but here we are having 50-75 ft of vis and the water has been incredibly calm. The humpbacks showed up about a week ago and the snorkel trips are seeing them almost daily. Yesterday we had a private charter that got some incredible "Wyland poses" from a couple right off the beach.

These conditions should hold until the end of April and usually in to May. We're hoping folks headed this way give us a try.

 

[rexman24]

yes, my bad, Deep blue is indeed in Coco, a long ways north of MA. I dont know what I was thinking!

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

I know 2 great dive centers in Quepos, that's ocean unlimited and Manuel Antonio divers.
Both dive centers have a good reputation. MAke sure you also do the national park in Manuel Antonio. Great experience.

Have fun and maybe try Playas del Coco next time!

 

[Deep Blue DIving]

Thanks for your recommendation, but we are located in Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, which is around 4 hours to drive from Quepos.
Try us on your next trip and explore the amazing north pacific area.

 

[Leejnd]

Um...this is a necro'd thread. The last post in this thread was over a year ago (note that it was in feb 2007, not 2008!), so methinks the original question no longer stands.