Okeanos Aggressor Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log April 10 to April 17, 2012

Okeanos Aggressor Captains Log April 17, 2012

Water Temperature 82-86 F 27-28 C Visibility 60 ft-20 meters Wetsuits: 3mm, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.


Another easy crossing over to the island and diving started with tons of fish in the shallows of Manuelita. Just as we started our dive a huge manta ray went by hovering just above our heads swimming against the current so even the strongest swimmers could not keep up although it exerted minimal effort. The next two dives were really good as the water cooled down and many marble rays came up to shallower water. Moving around the corner a huge tiger shark came in close so we could get pictures. We were all excited about this as the shark was really big and close. There were also some hammerhead sharks coming in close to get cleaned by the barber fish. The next day we paid a visit to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock for really good dives. Punta Maria was very active with hammerhead sharks but the highlight of the dive were the Galapagos sharks that had taken the hammerhead sharks cleaning station and were getting cleaned by the very same barber fish. They came close to the divers giving us lots of time for the pictures. Dirty Rock had lots of hammerheads that wanted to get cleaned. Some of us did not understand the fact that if you are in mid water, the sharks will not come close. You must be touching the rocks and relax your breathing if you really want the hammerheads to come in close. There was also a school of cotton mouth jacks that was being chased by the larger blue spotted jacks. This went on for a long time before we moved towards the back side of the dive site where a friendly turtle let us get very close…..such a beautiful dive that we had to do again….

Since the weather was great this week we made it to the south side of the island and the dives were beautiful. Submerged Rock was loaded with hundreds of snappers, grunts and sharks and the water was clear and warm, perfect conditions for diving. The dive at Lone Stone had some current and fish seemed to be happy as they were really moving around, as we finned our way around the rock an eagle ray glided on top of us and when we were doing our safety stop four Mobula rays swam around us for while and letting us get all the pictures we wanted.

Next day we visited Dos Amigos, both rocks had action, the little one had hammerheads coming really close within touching distance while the big Dos Amigos had the arch loaded with thousands of fish, they had to open up in order for you to move thru the arch.

The night dives in Manuelita were amazing with the white tip sharks hunting and doing their feeding frenzy, another night dive that is becoming really good is Viking rock, it has lots of little stuff for macro photography and also sharks hunting..
This was a week of awesome diving and good weather, the rainy season in Costa Rica is about to start so we’ll see what it comes with.

Stay tuned for more……
Thanks to all of our guests; Martin, R., Martin S., Martin L., Antony, Stephen, Clive, Henry, Andrew and Suzanne, John and Anne, Sarah, Matthias, Sid, Damian and Susana. For a great week of diving! Safe Diving, Capt. Beto
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log April 20 to April 30, 2012

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log April 30- 2012
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Water Temperature 81-86 F 27-30C Visibility 100 ft-30 meters Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

We had a early departure, the weather was good and the crossing was easy and fast. The next morning we got in the water all ready and excited while the white tip sharks started coming in close. The water was really clear making it easy to spot numerous hammerhead sharks, rays, Galapagos sharks and the most exciting of all, a tiger shark at least 14 feet in length. We all froze for a second until this huge shark got closer. We then realized we were seeing a school of blue stripped snappers with a tiger the middle of them. Our eyes could not believe it and our hearts went 100 mile per hour, beautiful day and that was only the beginning…

The second day we made it over to Dirty Rock and Punta Maria, Dirty became the best hammerhead shark spot for the week and even though the sharks were little deeper than we wanted, they were everywhere. Sometimes we saw them in schools and once in a while a Galapagos shark would get in the middle of the hammerheads waving its tail in a very gentle way opening its way through the other sharks. We did this dive several times as it was the best for the hammerheads.

At Alcyone a mobula ray came in being very friendly, letting us get very close to take pictures. The next dive the mobulas came back bringing a friend now we had two and again they were friendly. They were also at Lone Stone and Submerged Rock, these two dive were awesome too not only cause of the mobulas but for the action. There were tons and tons of fish, different kinds and sizes… This week the dives were easy as current was light and in some of the dives not at all.. For the past two weeks the reef at Coco became a bigger nursery as the Creole fish in their juvenile phase are here by the millions. No joke there are so many they look like a whole reef, quite a bonanza for the other fish as they are now feeding on the little ones. This comes with a downside for the bigger fish because now they are so full they move slowly and the sharks are feeding on them. That’s nature. We went back to Manuelita a few more times and again saw the tiger, actually on one of the dives we saw two tigers one right behind the other. Also on this dive we saw our resident frog fish. They slowly move from one location to the next and we are monitoring the process as sometimes they move for good not to be seen again for very long time.
We had an excellent weather, the ocean condition was great and the crossing back to port was incredibly beautiful, shiny sun during the day and starry nights..

Thanks to all of our Group from Italy; Mauro, Lars, Ellis, Costanza, Nicoleta, Andrea and Giovanna, Massimo and Rita, Gianni, Carlo, Juanita, Beatrice, Domenico and Italia, Paolo, Stefano, Giovanni and Graziella, Antonio and Marina. For a great week of diving! Stay tuned for more……

Safe Diving, Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log May 5 - 15 , 2012

Okeanos Aggressor Trip Report

May 5-15- 2012
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Water Temperature 82-86 F (26-28 Celsius)
Visibility 80 ft (25 m)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

This week our departure from port was early and the ocean was also very good to us. We got to Cocos Island a day before we normally do, so by Monday morning our guests were more than ready to get in the water. Even though the crossing was nice, the long journey to the island makes everyone want to just jump right in, so once briefed, the tanks full and analyzed (for nitrox mix) we got in the water. Visibility was great, the temperature a warm 84 F and tons of fish were swimming about. There were white tip sharks resting on the bottom and a few marble rays soaring around. I must add that the Creole fish that spawned a couple of week ago are still here. They have not reached their regular size yet and they are everywhere! There are millions of them! It is actually hard to get a picture without having them in it. You must be away from the reef in order to get a clear picture with no Creoles…It ‘s funny, but after a while they almost become annoying.

Our first day and towards the end of our check out dive a school of hammerhead sharks went by giving us a clear view. It was a nice sight and we all were very happy - especially the guests with video cameras, as the hammerheads were just a little too far for the still cameras.

Our next dive was on the deep side of Manuelita. The dive started with a surprise because as we descended a huge tiger shark went by. It was kind of shy because the shark took off as soon as he saw us. It was amazing to see how fast a shark this size can move. Later in the dive an eagle ray showed up. We tried to swim around the rock, but it was difficult as the current was strong and against us - so decided to just go with the flow. Throughout the week some of the dive sites had current, but the good side about this is that the current most times brings action to the island. We saw the tiger few more times during the week. In this same site we also had frogfish – actually we found three frogs - two orange and a black one that were very, very nice to see.

Unbelievably our second day was even better. Dirty Rock had some hammerhead sharks and as we swam around the pinnacle a huge school of horse-eyed jacks was passing close to the rock so we went off the rock to try to get a closer look at the jacks. To our surprise a school of silky sharks was trying to hunt some of the jacks, but as the sharks were taking turns and pushing inside the school one at a time some jacks would chased them away. Having no success the silkies rapidly disappeared into the blue water.

We started the next day at Alcyone and as we descended on the line a big school of hammerhead sharks appeared and as our luck would have it they stayed around for the whole dive. At the bottom on a sand patch a group of white tip sharks were just having a break and they wouldn’t move even if you got right up to them, so we just clicked our cameras away as this was an opportunity of a life time for most people.

Alcyone was so good that we came back here another couple of times during the week and again the schooling hammers and the white tips sharks were here to make an excellent dive. We also found a couple of octopus doing their mating courtship and the even got to see the actual mating. Excellent dives on this site and even better on our safety stop as some Mobula rays came in close for a few seconds - just enough time for pictures to be taken.

This week we made it around the island to all of the best dive site as the weather was cooperating with us. Even though the sites were all good the best action was happening at Dirty Rock and Alcyone. The second time we made it over to Dirty rock the school of silkies came by again, as well as a Manta Ray – and just before we exited the water a few dolphins even swam around the divers.

Unfortunately the last two days on the island we had to deal with a bit of a bad weather, but everything got back to normal (good) right before we started the return crossing back to port.
So by the end of the week we were all happy, but sad as we had to get back to the real world.

Thanks to all of our guests - Achim, Giuseppe, Roland, Joseph, Markus, Jan, Klaus, Olaf, James and Lindsay, Ralf, Hans, Andrew, Stephen, Manfred, Werner, Diane, Leona, Jean and Eva - for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log May 19- 2012 to May 29- 2012

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Log May 19- 2012 to May 29- 2012

(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)
Water Temperature 75-86 F 24-29 C Wetsuits: 3mm, maybe more if you get cold easily. Visibility 80 ft-25 mts Your Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

This week the trip to the island was quick and we all had a good night’s sleep. I was happy as the Park Rangers are letting us dive Chatham bay again so that is where we started. We had baby Creole fish everywhere numbering in the thousands. We got to see some sharks and marble rays and while headed back to the chase boat, a huge manta went by just to make us want to get back in the water. For our second dive we did Manuelita, this time the Marble rays were the stars, they came in by the dozens doing some kind of mating ritual and as they swim along the reef they were being followed by tons of fish. It was funny to see all the other fish chasing them around.

Next dive a couple of hammerheads came in and white tip sharks were everywhere. Some claimed they saw a tiger shark which we all saw later in the week.

The weather was just great so we were able to move around the whole island. Dirty Rock was the hottest for hammerhead sharks this week with Alcyone also having some. once at Alcyone we drifted off the rock and a big school of hammerheads went by and another time we were in the middle of Alcyone when all of the sudden a manta showed up swimming fast and up high.

The day we did the south side of the island we did Manta Corner, where as soon as we got in the water we saw a Manta… The week went on diving the best sites and having fun, Manuelita was going to be the last dive of the day and as soon as we entered the water we heard this very loud noise so we moved away from the rock and as soon as we spotted sharks and dolphins. We knew it was a bait ball, there were tons of fish (yellow tail scads) being chased by all of these sharks and dolphins. There were also yellow fin tunas and even rainbow runners feasting in this huge ball of fish. The loud noise was the sharks furiously getting into the ball of fish with their mouth open and closing their jaws catching fish. It was wild to see how the sharks, dolphins and tuna charged against the fish over and over. The sharks were Galapagos, Silky Black Tips. This frenzy went on for more than twenty minutes, enough to capture this action on video, what an incredible sight this was, “the cherry on top of the cake”

The night dives in the shallows of Manuelita had another frenzy, this time with white tip sharks. Everyone loved these dives as they are loaded with adrenaline. It is incredible the way these sharks gather around this reef in order to hunt. There are no words to describe the action when they trap a fish under the rocks, this dive is action packed.

I also want to mention two frog fish that spent the week perched in the same place letting us take all the pictures we wanted.
Thanks to all of our guests Leonard, Daniel, Wijnand, Mauricio, David, Patricia and David, Larry, John, Deborah and Randall, Stephen and Amanda, Peter and Linda, Elizabeth and Robert, Jonathan and Lorena, Kevin and Tonda, Stefano and Lurdes for a great week of diving with a great group and beautiful weather. ! And a special thanks to Robert, Stephen and Stefano who played soccer with the crew.

Stay tuned for more, Safe Diving, Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 2-12, 2012

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 2-12, 2012

Lately our departures have been early and this week was no exception. The crossing to the island was good and our arrival was really early because for the past few week the current has changed and now it is taking us faster to the island than to mainland…

First dive we did the shallow side of my old time favorite Manuelita. Some people were apprehensive as they have not done many dives and they have heard a lot about Coco and its sharks, but the dive went just fine. Our guests slowly adjusting their dive gear weights and everything else. The water was clear, the sun was out and the water temperature was good. We saw tons of fish, sharks and rays. Back on the boat some people were talking about what they had seen and my jaw just fell to the floor when I had a guest show me photos of the white tips shark mating! What an incredible sight this was!!! I told him “Probably you have no idea how lucky you are” That was the only thing I could think to say… It's been years since the last time I saw this kind of action….

Our next dives were really good with more rays and sharks, some hammerheads, the usual cast of small fish and we found this crack on the rock that goes from 70 feet of water all the way up to 30 feet and it’s loaded with dozens of lobsters.

Next morning we made our way over to Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. I must say that both dives were spectacular, but the one thing that made Punta Maria a better dive was the returned of the Galapagos sharks. When I got there I counted 12 Galapagos sharks that were getting cleaned by the barber fish that use to clean the hammerhead sharks right in the same place. Actually if you sit there for a while, once in a while you’ll see a hammerhead or two coming by to get clean. Well these Galapagos sharks were huge and sometimes they would come very close, which was kind of intimidating as the sharks looked like they were coming for you. This dive was so good that we did it several time during the week.

We also made it over to Alcyone, but unfortunately the day we dove the site the hammerheads weren’t friendly and they did not come, so Punta Maria it was. After our second time in Punta Maria we started to see the schools of Hammerhead sharks, so besides the Galapagos Sharks now we had schooling hammerheads making the dive even better. I am going to stop here to just say all the dive sites had things that made them interesting, as an example on our second day on the island we paid a visit to Pajara Island and a 14 foot TIGER shark showed up swimming slowly among the divers. Everybody got very excited with that dive.

Marble rays were also very active in the shallow side of Manuelita and on the fourth day we found five frogfishes. There were three black ones and one orange – and the fifth frogfish was in an intermediate phase between black and orange. Some of us went crazy with this sight, as two of the frogfish were together facing each other (black and orange)……..

So our week went on having great dives and lots of fun. The weather was good to us as we had many days of sun and ocean was flat on the north side of the island.

This week we had a whole group from Thailand; nice friendly people that were lots of fun. Thanks to our guests: Adirson, Supachai, Auttawut, Rungniran, Touchatorn, Wasan, Tus, Chankit, Pramot, Natechon, Ladawan, Parichart, Yasuhiko, Amita, Sappayasut, Natthaporn, Atchara, Anne, Yanhua and Teav, Nat And Maturawan for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving, Capt. Beto

Water Temperature 75-86 F (24-28 Celsius)
Visibility 80 ft - 25 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Trip Report

June 16- 2012 to June 26- 2012
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Water Temperature 75-86 F (24-28 Celsius)
Visibility 80 ft-25 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

This week we had another early departure. For the most part the crossing was good, there were some parts like the first night that we had some kind of storm with very strong winds, but since we got to the island early and the week of diving went fine I think it was worth it J

First day went fine with some sharks, rays and tons of fish. The check out dive was incredible, as some of us saw hammerheads on the shallow side of Manuelita. Also the marble rays have been very active lately; for some reason they gather in groups, not for mating, but for playing and eating, or at least it is what it looks like.

Next day we headed to Punta Marian and Dirty Rock. Both dives were good. The Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria made this a enjoyable dive for photographers. This week we had Chris aboard who has been here before and he was having a great time taking pictures during his dives in the island. Dirty Rock had a huge school of horse-eyed jacks. We were in 100 feet of water and I could see the school that started at the surface and ran all the way to the bottom. There must be thousands in a school that size! As we finned our way around the rock a couple of turtles came to greet us. They were very friendly and let us take lots of pictures.

Next day we paid a visit to Alcyone and we had very good luck at this site as the hammerhead sharks came and went. They were everywhere, but not as close as we like them to be, but they were here. As we ascended up the line, a huge school of hammerhead sharks went by so we swam into the blue water for few second just to get a glance of the school as they were swimming away from the rock.

This week weather was not the best as a tropical storm was forming very far away and still we were getting some of the hard winds, so even though we tried to make it to the south side of Cocos we just could not make it. The ride to Dos Amigos was slightly challenging, we had some rain, but also some sun so I think we had a good mix and most important of all - the dive was awesome!

I’m just going to cut to the chase and go to straight to the fact that we saw Whale Shark, Manta, tons and tons of Hammerheads, and the Frogfish were the delight for some of us that like small things. Unfortunately Manuelita was not as good with the hammers this week, but we wanted to dive there over and over because this is where we saw the whale shark, the manta and the tiger shark not to mention the frogfish were here too.

Last day we went back to Aclyone and the hammerheads came in big schools and they got close this time. Also huge tunas were chasing their food right in front of our lenses, of course you had to have a fast shutter speed in your camera in order to capture this action. By the end of the week our guest were all happy and sad at the same time as it was time to go back home. The crossing was a little rocky, but after a week of adventure like this who cares?

Thanks to all of our guest Sinobu, Mihoko, Gilles, Amaury, Hugues, Christian, Hector and Hector, Mark and Nursine, Paul, Charles, Eric and Christine, Kemmyo and Nanae for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 30 - July 10, 2012
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Water Temperature 75-86 F (24-28 Celsius)
Visibility 100 ft (30 m)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.

Another good crossing to the island and we got there early as we left early from Puntarenas.
The next morning after our arrival we were all anxious to get in the water. Our first dive was a bit of a challenge as we had some current, which is not common in this area of Manuelita, but we managed to just swim with it. The current stirred up the life and fish were swimming all over the place. We had some marble rays coming in close and white tip sharks were all over the reef chasing the fish…

For our second and third dives we did the deep side of Manuelita and we found some hammerhead sharks. Some people even saw the white tip sharks mating! This is something that is very rare to see. They were so-o-o lucky. I can’t even remember the last time I saw mating white tips.

The second day we dived at Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. The hammerhead sharks came in close and in big groups at Dirty Rock, and as we made it around the rock a couple of very friendly turtles lead us to an amazing sight. As we followed them into the blue and away from the rock a huge school of hammerhead sharks went by, followed by a gigantic school of horse eyed jacks. All of this just before our safety stop.

The next day we visited Alcyone. This was one of the best dives this week as hammerhead sharks came and went in different directions, and on top of this underwater mountain, in about 40 feet of water, a pod of dolphins were playing and hunting - all of this right in front of our cameras. We did our second dive in the same place and the same action took place. Unfortunately our topside water conditions started to change and the waves started to get bigger as time went by, so even though we tried to make it to the south side of the island we couldn’t make it.

On our fourth day we dove Dos Amigos. The big rock had the arch so full of life that we decided to go back there for our second dive too. This time no sharks, but the fish, the rays, and the clear water made all of us happy. We took lots of pictures in the arch, and as a matter of fact, in our second dive we got to the arch and didn’t move until our computers were telling us it was time to get out of the water.

The next day we went back to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. This time it was even better than the first time. At Punta Maria the Galapagos sharks were the highlight of the dive. There were at least 8 huge sharks in a cleaning station. They came really close to us, as we stayed put in one place holding on to the rock. In Dirty Rock the hammerheads and a couple of eagle rays made us come back again the next day, as this was the best hammerhead shark dive of the week. There times when I thought that the sharks were going to bump my camera as they came in really close. The eagle rays were friendly here and came close too. These dives were just amazing and everyone went crazy about them. Our guests wanted to do these same dives for our last day.

Also, in our afternoon dives we dove Manuelita a few times this week, as the tiger sharks were very active. They were also curious about the divers and a few times they came very close. One of the tiger sharks must be at least 5 meters; this tiger shark was huge! In Manuelita this week the hammerheads were shy, but still we saw them few times. Also, one time we were swimming around the rock and a big manta went by - too fast for us to keep up with it. Frogfish were also a delight for our guests and this week we had them at both Manuelita and Pajara Island.

Thanks to our group of happy and easy going Brazilian guests: Gastao, Julio, Waldir, Gustavo, Antonio, Ricardo, Marcello, Norman, Carlos and Ana, Edelcio and Suzana, Ariel, Ricardo, Daniel, Ney, Rita, Euridece, Mercedes, Ines, Tania and Debora. The week was awesome, including an excellent crossing and a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report July 14 – 24, 2012


Average Water Temperature: 78 F (25 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 60 ft (20 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

This week we had another easy crossing to the island where we arrived really early. The weather conditions were great and we were lucky to have such a good sailing. So after a peaceful night of sleep and a wonderful breakfast we were all ready to get into the water.

Our diving day started at Manuelita with incredible visibility and tons of fish. It feels great to swim among the schooling goatfish and the snappers and experience how they make a hole for you to swim thru and be surrounded by them. We also had some white tip sharks and marble rays. Everybody was happy to just get back in the water and leave gravity behind and to move freely in the water. The next dives for our first day we did the deep side of Manuelita. Our second dive at Manuelita Deep, we were moving towards the inside of the rock when a 14-foot tiger shark passed by and though it came close and let us get some pictures it did not want to stick around and play for as quickly as it showed up it disappeared into the blue. In the distance we also got to see our first hammerheads of the week. We were all excited as it was only the first day and we were getting this kind of action

Our second day, we visited Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. Even with both dives being great, Dirty Rock was the better of the two, as here we saw plenty of hammerhead sharks and even a few dolphins that came close to us in this site.

The next day we did Alcyone and it was great. Lots of hammerhead sharks and white tip sharks too. The water was cold, as it dropped down to 72F degrees but it looks like the sharks were happy about it and they came in really close. On the safety stop a few dolphins came around the divers, along with some wahoos. For some reason the wahoos were very friendly and swam among the divers. This is rare to see this behavior in these fish.

Thursday we tried the south side of the island and we were lucky enough to make it there. This time of year the seas tend to be rougher, but not this time. We did Submerged Rock and Lone Stone and both dives were very good. Submerged Rock was incredible with the arch full of fish and even some sharks. Lone Stone was a challenging dive as it had stronger current, but it was still good and filled with fantastic marine life.

Friday we did Dos Amigos, which was incredible. There was a black tip shark chasing fish all over the place in the small rock. There were also some hammerhead sharks and the arch in the big rock was full of rays - I counted 20 rays going around and about the divers. Simply incredible! I didn’t want to leave the arch, as this is one of my favorite sites and with the rays being this friendly it was an outstanding photo opportunity.

Our last day at Cocos Island we did Punta Maria and Dirty Rock as these sites had been really good throughout the week. In the first dive at Punta Maria I saw a couple of Galapagos sharks and few hammerhead sharks, but when I surfaced the guests were excitedly telling me they saw a whale shark.

I could not believe it, as I was there with them and I did not see it. I can’t repeat the comments they were saying to me because I missed such a big fish! The thing is they saw it at the very beginning and I guess I was on my way down when they saw it. Well, it turns out that we did Dirty Rock on the second dive and to our surprise the whale shark had followed us to this dive site. We were all so excited that we couldn’t believe our eyes. As the whale shark swam away from us a dolphin came in to play, just like a puppy, and stayed with us for couple of minutes. We were so lucky with these sightings - and we were just in the middle of the dive. As we moved back to the pinnacle, the whale shark came back to us again. Imagine how we were feeling - and what way of ending our week of diving.

We left Cocos Island a little early so we could catch the tide in Puntarenas. The crossing was great going back to the mainland and we ended with a full night of sleep in the peaceful bay of Puntarenas. Our weather this week had a good mix of rain and sun and being this is the rainy season the weather cooperated nicely.

We had an excellent mix of people who were easygoing and very happy to share such an adventure with us. Thanks to all of our guests - Glen, Amy, Matthew, Kim, Toru, Adam, Matthew and Kristin, Trevor and Emily, Jurgen, Laura, Joseph and Lisa, Thomas and Barbara, Christopher, Mark, Kenneth, Isaiah – for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report July 28 - August 7, 2012

Average Water Temperature: 78 F (25 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 60 ft-20 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and Divemaster Carlos
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Our crossing to the island was great. Good time, good weather and somewhere in the middle a pod of white sided dolphins came to play with the bow waves. We got all excited as they came so close and stayed for few minutes. Once on the island diving started good with some marble rays and hammerhead sharks in Manuelita and Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria. On our dive in Dirty Rock in the second day one of the guest saw two mantas in her safety stop. Water in Dirty Rock and Punta Maria was incredible cold; my computer gave me a reading of 70 F degrees!

Up to the second day thing were good, weather and diving was good to us, then the third day came and we paid a visit to Alcyone. As we descended down on the line you could see the hammerhead sharks down on the bottom. So we went to one of the corners and stayed there until the hammerheads went away. As we were coming back to the line, a 25 feet long whale shark was coming our way. I had it head-on with my video camera; imagine how excited we all got! Unfortunately some people couldn’t help it and chased the whale shark away. We were all doing hand signals and smiling when the whale shark showed up again! We came up because we had almost no air and while in the safety stop few dolphins went by making this an incredible, mind-blowing dive! And this was only the beginning because our second dive tender was coming here and they also saw the whale shark. As a matter of fact, Susanne, one of the guests in that group, came up saying she saw two whale sharks together………

For me, the best was yet to come because on our next dive in Alcyone there were so many hammerhead sharks that you couldn’t just make up your mind where to take a picture. I mean, they were everywhere! Later that day when I was checking what I had filmed it turns out my hand were so shaky that it was hard to find some good in my video J.

During the dive my air and computer were just getting little too close to deco, so I started to swim towards the line and letting the other divers know that I was on my way up. As I got to the line, Concepcion (one of the guests) pointed me to a group of white tip sharks. She thought they were fighting or something, but it turned out they were doing their mating ritual and soon they were mating. I spent my very last 5 minutes of that dive trying to breath as slow as possible and begging for my computer to not go into deco. I was able to film three minutes of the most amazing white tip sharks mating. I feel so lucky because I got to see this. It has been so long since the last time I saw this that I can’t even remember when the last time was. What an incredible dive! Back to the boat we were all talking about this and when the second group got back they were all happy because they have seen the whale shark again in the same place minutes earlier where we were diving.

The next day we did Dos Amigos and both sites (Big and Small) were good. On our first dive I was on my way down in Dos Amigos Small when another whale shark came in. I could not believe my eyes. Minutes later the same whale shark came around again. This whale shark was going around the rock and it took him 5 minutes to make it all the way around, so we had to just stay put in one place and the whale shark would come to us every time. The next dive in Dos Amigos Big we made it through the arch after spending several minutes with some marble rays. As we were coming around the corner, another whale shark came straight to us. It seems that this group were the lucky ones.

The following days we came back to the same sites, as the south side of the island was wild and very windy. The weather for us was good as we had a balance of rain and sun. One afternoon we were all diving Manuelita and somewhere in the middle of the dive both groups met together and luckily this is when a tiger shark showed up so we all got to see it. Everyone was very happy and we could not stop talking about it the rest of the trip.

We also had incredible experiences with the frogfish this week, as they were swimming. This is something that is not very common. The night dives were also very good and we were able to see them catching prey a few times.

During our crossing on our way back to port we stopped to take a closer look at a humpback whale. As we stopped the whale came very close to the boat.
What an incredible week of diving!

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests: Francois, Guillaume, Manuel, Wilfried, Tishiaki, Brian, Tishihide, Tomas and Susanne, Benedikt, Matthew, Antonio and Concepcion, Richard, Kenneth and Pamela. For a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report
August 11- 21, 2012

Average Water Temperature 78 F (25 Celsius)
Average Visibility 60 ft (20 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mm, maybe more if you get cold easily

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Boat drivers Marvin, Xavier, David and, Divemaster Carlos Sanchez.
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

We had an early departure from Puntarenas, an early arrival to the island and a good crossing. That is how we started the week. The next morning, after breakfast and our dive briefing, we were ready to go in the water. Our first day of diving was just great. The guests were happy to just put their gear on and plunge in the water and as we descended the fish started immediately to show and that put smiles on all of us. That day we saw some sharks, with the tiger shark being the best sight as came really close to the divers letting us get pictures. Also on our second dive a huge manta passed by, just cruising between the divers.

Our second day was so good that actually people called it the best day of the week. On our first dive I was just getting down when Hiro made hands signals letting me know that a huge shark just went by. I missed it only by a few seconds, so then I went big shark hunting. Barely a minute later this 30 foot whale shark went by, but way too fast, so we only got to see it just for a couple of seconds. Well, then we all went whale shark hunting. I now understand what Hiro meant when he signaled something like “spots all over” because he saw it as soon as he got in the water. So we kept searching all over until the whale shark showed up again and this time it was nice and slow. He came from the deep water towards the surface and now we were able to appreciate this gentile giant. We had the rest of the dive with it and actually by the time we came out of the water we realized that there were at least three different whale sharks. They never came together, but after looking at the pictures and comparing the size and the marks there were at least three. The great thing about it was when we went back to the site for our next two dives they were still there. Imagine having these whales shark in the same site for the three dives of the day. What an amazing day!

After this everything else was a plus. The schooling hammerheads in Alcyone, the Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria and by the end of the week the dolphins in Dirty Rock along with the huge school of horse eyed jacks, the turtles, the frogfish, and the elusive red-lipped batfish. All in all the diving was incredible! We had some days full of sun and some others with rain. In total we had a balance of good weather and great diving. The ocean was behaving strange though, as we had a wild surge in some of the dive sites and the water temperature went crazy too. Down at 100 feet it was 70F in most sites, but up at 40F feet it was a warm 82F.

You may not believe it, but our last day and right before we headed for the last dive, a baby whale shark came to the boat. We were all astonished. We were relaxing on the deck when all of the sudden someone yelled “whale shark”. We watched it from the stern of the boat for for at least 8 minutes until we started to get into the water - and of course the baby whale shark took off. But the story does not end here because by the end of our last dive the baby whale shark showed up again making us all excited. What an incredible week of diving.

Thanks to all of our guests: Dmitry and Alla, Hirohiko, David, Kabir , Peter, Romain and Francoise, Andrea and Francesca, Alexandra, Maxim, Ioanna, Evgenia and Francisco for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto