Okeanos Aggressor Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report August 25 – Sept 4, 2012

Water Temp 75-80F
Visibility 50-60Ft
Wetsuits 5mm, thermoclines often

Crew: Captain Carlos Sanchez, Chefs Leo and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Panga drivers Marvin and Xavier, Divemaster Warren, Nightwatch Edward: Photos and Video: Carlos Sanchez

This trip started with a slightly unsteady crossing, but by 7am on day one the guests were all up wanting to get in the water. Check out dive completed we moved to Manuelita Deep. Well, it couldn't have started any better as we spotted a Tiger Shark as soon as we descended. It then disappeared only to return a few minutes later. Our guest had the chance to get plenty of great photos!

Second day saw us diving at Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. Here we saw the sights that Cocos is famous for. We had big schools of hammerheads flying gracefully above our heads and when we then turned around the pinnacle we struggled to focus our eyes on the sight of more than a thousand big-eyed jacks. It was a huge school and such a spectacular sight. While we were still looking for more hammerheads, we were surprised to get a close up of two turtles starting to mate right there in front of our eyes! We were diving two by two but we had to move apart as the turtles didn't care we were in their way; they had other things to think about! Also, at Punta Maria the Galapagos sharks were very close today as they were being cleaned. The afternoon we thought we would take a couple of relaxing macro dives at Viking Rock and Pajara Island, but the excitement immediately returned at Viking Rock when two huge Galapagos sharks came in really close and several hammerheads swam by. Pajara Island also didn’t disappoint, as we spotted a group of eight hammerheads as we descended, then eagle rays, marble rays and two peaceful frogfish. All this action with little current and temperatures around 27C/81F in the water...wow!

Day Three got even better. Alcyone was worth the high waves when we descended into well over 100 hammerheads - unbelievable excitement! They came in close and slowly and the divers had some fantastic close up's of these magnificent sharks. Manuelita was next and didn't disappoint either. Immediately when we entered the water we were treated to two mantas gracefully gliding around us. Some awesome photos and video were taken. Soon after a group of about 20 really big hammerheads meandered past us. The thermoclines are opening up some wicked encounters and our divers were very, very happy with the action. It's a “High Five” after each and every dive so far.

Day Five and where do I begin. The sun came out today which was very welcome and our first dive at Alcyone was breathtaking! Schooling hammerheads that just kept coming and coming, then when we were on the safety stop we ventured into the blue together to the sight of five tranquil Mobula rays and two cheeky dolphins. Again, it was a “High Five” all round. On our way back to Alcyone for the 2nd dive we stopped the panga to take in a spectacular sight of three orcas on the surface, really close to the boat. We needed 5 minutes before getting into the water just to capture our breath!

The diving for this week aboard the Okeanos Aggressor has been wonderful. The conditions perfect and our guests terrific. Thanks to our divers this week: Mikael, Frank, Alexander, Ben, Kristen, Joan, Maria, Ute, Silvia, Stan, Joseph, Larry, Kris and Leigh for an awesome week of laughter and diving!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor September 8- 18, 2012

Average Water Temperature 78 F (24 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, Panga driver Edward, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Carlos
Photos by Carlos Sanchez

We started this week, due to the tides, by pulling away from the dock early in the morning. We then waited outside the harbor until our guests arrived to the boat by dingy. Once underway we all got together for the presentation and staff introduction. The crossing was a little bumpy most of the way, but once we got to the island and as we started the week of diving we all forgot about the crossing,

Our first day of diving was great with lots of sharks in the shallows of Manuelita, where we did our check out dive. The deep side of Manuelita was even better as we had lot of hammerhead sharks, marble rays and all kinds and sizes of fish. This week the water had a greenish color and visibility was little lower than usual, but as I explained to some of the guests, this vis situation was actually good because when the sharks can’t really see you from far away they come in closer to the divers.

The next day we paid a visit to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. Both dives were great, but Punta Maria had the most action as we got to see the Galapagos Sharks getting cleaned. Some of these sharks were huge and they were coming in really close to us. This action was happening on the rock, while there were tons of hammerhead sharks swimming over the divers heads. In Dirty Rock we found the schooling horse eyed jacks. The school of these fish was so big that if you got in the middle of them you lose your orientation. It is actually exciting to see this many fish all at once. Something happened in this dive that made it very special, because while seeing all of this action something else captured our attention. There were some white tip sharks doing something I’ve never seen before. A few weeks ago I got to see white tips mating, but this time the white tips were doing some out of the ordinary. There were two couples mating at the same time, then as soon as one of the male sharks let his partner go, another male shark grabbed the female and started the mating right away. This is Cocos Island diving at its finest! All of our divers in this group were there to witness such an incredible sight.

We headed to Alcyone the next day and again hammerhead sharks came by the hundreds. They were everywhere and they were coming in really close. Many octopus were also found and this is the place where moray eels free swim everywhere. The diving today was so good that we came back again the next day by special request of our passengers.

On the fifth day we visited Dos Amigos. Here the current was strong and the dingy ride back and forth was quite a bit bumpy so we decide to do our second dive only at Dos Amigos Grande where we found the arch full of marble rays and we encountered a friendly turtle.
The next couple of days we went back to the best sites and the action kept on. This week we had Susana aboard who was here for the second time. This time she was extremely happy to finally see the frogfish that she had missed on her earlier trip. Our weather was good this week as we had a perfect balance of rain and sun.

What an incredible week of diving. Thanks to all of our guests this charter: Joe and Celia “Tchu Tchu”, Graciela, Denis, Hugo, Ana, Monika, Susana, Jesus, Monica, Simon and Zoe, Nohoito and Fumiko. For a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Average Water Temperature 78 F, 24 C
Average Visibility 60 ft, 20 m
Wetsuits: 3mm; maybe more if you get cold easily

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Leonidas and Douglas, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Panga driver Edward, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier Carlos Sanchez
Photos by Carlos Sanchez

Our crossing to the island was bouncy and most guests took a motion sickness pill to make it thru the ride, but once we arrived at Cocos Island things started to get better, and even better after the first day of diving.

We started Monday with a check out dive that went fine with lots and lots of fish. The water was warm, aided by a bright sun and clear sky. Underwater the conditions were almost perfect with good visibility and we were all happy to be here. The next two dives we saw our first hammerhead sharks, marble rays and on the third dive, as we made it around the rock, a huge manta ray came straight to us. It came nice and close and I was able to get some good video of it.

Second day we dove Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. There were some hammerhead sharks at Dirty Rock and Galapagos sharks at Punta Maria. We also had a friendly turtle show up, swimming among our guests and making us all happy.

Third day we paid a visit to Alcyone and today this underwater mountain was full of hammerhead sharks, marble rays and white tip sharks. The water was cold on the bottom so all the white tip sharks came up off the bottom so they were swimming in formation just above the rock. There must have been a couple dozen sharks just swimming around. On the way up during our safety stop we drifted away from the descend line and right after most of us surfaced a couple of dolphins came around… that’s what diving is all about……….Luck J

The next days we kept looking for action and that’s how we got back to Alcyone on our fifth day. Just before we got in the water a 15-foot whale shark showed up, sticking his dorsal fin out of the water - what a surprise! We played with it on the surface and then once we were all on the bottom the baby whale shark came up to all of us. It looked like the whale shark wanted to play with the divers and was enjoying the bubbles, as the whale shark was always right above our heads. On our way back to the Okeanos Aggressor we stopped to see manta swimming on the surface that was probably feeding. Once back onboard and while our guests were sunbathing another manta came close to the boat, just swimming around it for a little while. For the afternoon dive we went to visit the frogfish in the shallow side of Manuelita. Today we were lucky and we found two black and an orange frogfish.

Our last day at Cocos Island we returned again to Alcyone because this was the site where all the good stuff was seen this week. Again hammerheads were around and about, along with another friendly turtle and lots of other sharks and rays. But the best part came on our safety stop as a few dolphins came and stuck around swimming up and down, around and among us. We also spotted a silky shark. What a great dive this was.

The night dives this week were really awesome. There was the feeding frenzy of white tip sharks in Chatham Bay and of course my old favorite Manuelita, but the highlight of the week were the tiger sharks. Even though we only saw them from afar in the day dives, they came really close during the night dives and actually we had two in the same night dive. We also had a huge Galapagos shark spotted during one of the night dives this week.

This week we had a very friendly group of divers that called themselves the “Wine Divers” and the “Goose Divers”. Some of them had been here before and we were pleased to show them all an incredible week of diving.

Thanks to all our guests: Susan and Cleveland, James, Richard, Douglas, Kenneth, Jorge and Margarita, Dawn, Louis and Carol, Lisa and Thomas, Robert, Donald, Ernesto, Ricardo, Stuart and Bruce for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report October 20-30, 2012

Average Water Temperature 80 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 60 ft-20 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily

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

Our crossing to the island was beautiful; it seemed like the boat barely rocked. We got there in time for some rest before the first dive. Since we had the big storm (Hurricane Sandy was forming) in the north part of the continent it looked like we were going to continue to get some strong winds here. Our first, second and third days were affected and it was hard for us to get to some of the dive sites, but after the fourth day the weather changed, and by the end of the week the ocean was flat as a table. Our first day we saw lots of hammerhead sharks, especially in the deep side of Manuelita, which is my old favorite dive. Earlier, during the check out dive at Manuelita Gardens, an eagle ray captured our attention for more than 8 minutes, as it looked like she wanted to play. Towards the end of the dive we also found a hawksbill turtle feeding on the coral

For the next two days we had to deal with the top water conditions, so we did Dirty Rock on our second day and Alcyone on the third one. Both dive sites were really nice as the hammerhead sharks showed up to make all us happy. In both sites the schooling hammerheads came right over our heads. In Dirty Rock we also found a big school of jacks. The white tip sharks were positioning themselves a few feet above the rock in Alcyone, as they were avoiding the cold water at the bottom. Some of the marble rays were doing the same thing, as it seems they don’t really like the cold water.

The afternoon dive of the third day we paid a visit to Pajara Island. This is a very relaxing, easy dive where the visibility was good. We found two frogfish; one of them had a black spot right next to its eye making it look like some one punched him in the face so we started to make jokes about it.

Next day we ventured to Dos Amigos where the arch in the big rock was full of life. We even spotted a couple of rays. While the diving here was nice it was starting to get a little rough so we decided to do Viking Rock next. As we descended down two Galapagos sharks came around and just as quickly went away. So we started to swim around the rock to try to find them and as we made it around we found this little cave where there were at least 20 marble rays - one on top of the other! They were doing a mating ritual that lasts for days, or at least this is what we have learned in the past 20 years of constant observation of their behavior. We came back over the next three days and they were doing the same thing in the same place. Anyways, in this dive we kept going around the rock when all of the sudden I found these two harlequin shrimp trying to hold down a starfish. But even though the starfish may seem slow, this one was moving fast for the harlequin shrimp to do their job. It was an amazing sight to see this kind of action and for me it was the highlight of the dive (personal opinion)!

On another afternoon dive, while some of us did the shallow side of Manuelita to see the black frogfish, the other group did the deep side of Manuelita. Today they were lucky enough to see the tiger shark, and later during the night dive here I saw the tiger shark again while the feeding frenzy of the white tip sharks was going on.

Even after the bumpy start, this week of diving was great! Tons of hammerheads in Alcyone along with some dolphins, yellow fin tunas, tiger shark, frogfish, harlequin shrimp, etc…And on one of our times returning from Alcyone this week, we stopped somewhere in the middle as a huge manta was feeding very close to the surface.

This trip we had some very nice, easygoing people along, and we once again welcomed Michael, our German friend who is now living in the UK. He has been here 5 time before and he told me he loved the diving once again…….

Thanks to all of our guests: Raul, Michael, Pieter, Rudi, Vladimir, Helgardt, Kamen and Neli, Gregory, Andrew, Mirjana, Denis and Evgenia, David and Loring, Roberto, Alberto, Philip, Peter, Ken and Kirsten for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report November 3 – 13, 2012

Average Water Temperature 80 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 80 ft-40 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand Leonidas Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier Carlos Sanchez.

This week the crossing over to the island was really smooth and fast. We were there in no time and ready for the dives.

The diving was incredible and it looks like we had what is needed for us to make people happy. The weather was good and even though we had some rain we also had lots of sun. Just to give you an idea of how good the diving was this week - our check out dive started with a 14-foot tiger shark swimming almost in the middle of the crowd! Our next two dives we had some hammerhead sharks and tons of marble rays, all within reaching distance.

Next day the surprise was in Punta Maria. As we were descending on the line a school of Galapagos sharks came by close. We then headed to the hammerhead cleaning station, which was already taken by the Galapagos sharks. We stayed put here for almost 30 minutes until our computers said it was time to come up. It was the best 30 minutes of Galapagos sharks I ever had, not to mention that at certain point of the dive a pacific manta (manta birostris) came right up to the divers making it a mind blowing dive. The Galapagos sharks seemed to be everywhere and some of them were huge and came in really close to us.

The next day we did Alcyone. Today this site definitely had some current but the price we paid for the strong current was worth it as we had hundreds of hammerhead sharks. The dive itself was a little challenging, but I guess nothing come for free. The extra kicks to get to some of the spots gave us the best views of the hammerheads. They were everywhere and in huge schools.

Next day we ventured to Dos Amigos where both dives were nice with easy underwater conditions. The small rock – Dos Amigos Small - was good, with some hammerhead sharks and the big rock – Dos Amigos Grande - with the arch full of fish and a couple of marble rays was the best of the two. Since the weather on the south side of the island was kind of rough we could not make it there so we started to go back to the best sites already visited.

For the rest of the week we went back to Alcyone, Dirty Rock, Punta Maria and Manuelita. Hammerhead sharks were really active in Alcyone; still some Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria and the tiger shark was still going around in Manuelita. The diving was amazing all the way through the week. The night dives were incredible with all the white tips hunting in most of the dives. Also some of the divers found a couple of harlequin shrimp in one of the dives and the harlequin shrimp were feeding on a starfish.

At one point I was filming this one frogfish on one of the dives in Manuelita when Nicholas pulled my fin, I looked up and there it was a huge tiger shark really close!!!!!!

This week we had a nice mix of people coming from all over the world and half of the group was from the USA from a dive center call “Orbit Marine Sports Center”. Thanks to all of our guests: Panos, Christos, Michael, Nicholas, Hergwig, Yuval, Stephen, John, Sonke, Jolger, Jeanne, Diane and Noel, David and Roberta, Timothy and Cynthia, Daniel, Heath and Echo for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report Nov 17- 27, 2012

Average Water Temperature: 80 F / 26 Celsius
Average Visibility: 80 ft / 40 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand Leonidas Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier, Carlos Sanchez. (Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Another great week of diving, starting with a flat and fast crossing, and a first day of thrilling awesome diving. Our check out dive was beautifully calm and full of creatures including sharks and rays. Our second dive in the deep side of my old favorite Manuelita had our hearts racing to the top as we had a 4 meter TIGER SHARK coming straight to us! I was in front of the group and I had the Tiger head on to my video camera - a shot we all dream of! Not to mention the Galapagos shark and the schooling hammerhead sharks minutes before the tiger.

Second day in Punta Maria we had the Galapagos sharks giving us an incredible show as they were getting cleaned by the barber fish. They would come around and around. We stayed down there for over 30 minutes and they stayed with us the whole dive coming close over our heads and between divers…Our guests could not believe the size of some of these sharks.

Dirty Rock was full of horse eyes jacks. We had a school that ran from the surface to the bottom and let me tell you what - I was in 110 feet and I could see the schooling jacks way down….

Alcyone this week was the best and it is been like this for the past few weeks. So many sharks, so close, but of course nothing come for free. Sometimes we had current, but the reward for those dives was so fulfilling and our guests were so happy. We did Alcyone at least six times as it was the best of the week.

Manuelita was the other site that we dove several times as one of the groups was dying to see the Tiger shark. We came back until we all got to see the tiger…

There was this one time we started in the deep side of Manuelita and we were finning our way through the water when all of the sudden I noticed Rene, one of the group leaders, filming something so I got close and I notice it was the puffers mating or fighting. Such an incredible sight I too had to get it on film. I spend at least 20 minutes with the puffers, but I had to let go when one of the other guys got my attention pointing towards a huge manta ray passing by. So we all went for the manta! Once manta was gone we started to swim back to the rock then a red-lipped batfish got my attention. It is been a long time since I’ve seen one so I made my way to the bottom and got some video of it.

One of the times in Alcyone we went off the rock because the current was not that strong. We were chasing a school of jacks when we ran into a school of hammerheads. We’ve got all this action around us and while trying to focus on just one thing at time a dolphin came in, breaking into the school of jack, chasing them trying to get one for lunch J…

The weather was good throughout the week as we had both sun and rain in what I call a fair balance. The crossing back to mainland was flat and easy as the ocean was nice and calm.

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests: Jaroslav P., Miroslav, Sdenek S., Jaroslav, Frantisek, Rene And Martina, Zdenek S., Radek, Radka, Pavel, Petr and Eva, Tomas and Blanka, Cestmir and Eva, Ales and Dana, Zdenek and Anna for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report December 1- 11, 2012

Average Water Temperature: 80 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 100 ft (30 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand Jehyler, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Carlos (Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

This week the Okeanos Aggressor had another great crossing over to the island. We had to leave late due to the high tide schedule, but we still made great time. Once there, and after a delicious breakfast, the dive time came and we all were excited to get back in the water. This week we had a big group of Costa Rican divers. Along with them we also had two divers from Luxemburg and a one from the Netherlands. It was quite a fun group I must add.

Our first day of diving went great with lots of fish in the check out dive. Hammerhead sharks and marble rays, along with a couple of Galapagos sharks were spotted in the second and third dives.

The next day we headed for Dirty Rock and Punta Maria and we had great dives at both of them. Dirty Rock had some hammerheads and a huge school of horse eyed jacks. Also, by the end of the dive a couple of turtles came in close and stayed for quite a few minutes with all of us, giving us enough time to get some pictures. Punta Maria had a group of no less than 4 Galapagos sharks that were getting cleaned by the barber fish. We were all having a great time with the Galapagos sharks when all of the sudden a Pacific Manta (manta birostris), with at least a 20-foot wingspan, came into the cleaning station. It was incredibly big and graceful and not wary of us at all.

The following day we visited Alcyone. What a place! As soon as we got to the bottom we started to see hammerheads everywhere with some coming in very close. Also, the amount of whitetip sharks was awesome, as this one patch of sand was practically covered with them. There were no less than 30 sharks in just few square feet! Also hiding from the sharks we found some octopus that were just playing around and we even found a couple of turtles mating. Seems that they were just starting because they came apart in a couple of minutes. Our second dive here we found the same thing - turtles mating and the schooling hammerheads. Outstanding.

Alcyone became the best site of the week and it was so good that we did it few more times during the week. One of the times, we were getting close to the safety stop when out of nowhere a huge school of horse eyed jacks showed up moving erratically. It turned out they were trying to get away from a big bottlenose dolphin. The dolphin was hunting them. It was a great sight as the commotion was incredible when the dolphin got in the middle of the fish ball trying to get a fish and this action went on for at least ten minutes. All of us we very happy with this dive. The funny thing is, every time we came back to this site my group would see the mating turtles and I never got to see them L ha ha.

The diving continued to be great. We went back to Punta Maria for the Galapagos sharks and again to Dirty Rock where we had the school of jacks again and again. We found frogfish in Pajara Island and at Manuelita, by the end of the week, the visibility got so good I think it must be at least be 120 feet. The current also got stronger and all of this came together to make the trip memorable and fun, creating so much action it put smiles on everyone’s faces.

Thanks to all of our guests: Mauricio, Guillermo, Gerald, Christopher, Efrain, Pieter, Ivan, Jonathan, Eduardo, Luis, Mario, Carlos, Roberto, Debora, Martin, Pablo, Claudio, Federico, Romain and Fabienne and Martina for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report Dec 29, 2012 to Jan 8, 2013

Average Water Temperature 80 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 110 ft (35 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand Jehyler Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Carlos Sanchez.
(Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

Our crossing this week was easy, flat and quick. As we were coming out of Puntarenas we had a few dolphins came to say “bye”. They were playing in the bow waves and we all went to the bow to watch them play while the sunset on the horizon. It was an awesome sight. Once on the island everybody was ready for the dive.

We weren’t in the water 5 minutes when this huge tiger shark, at least 5 meters in size, was spotted charging at a turtle and as we got close, the tiger shark turned to check out the divers. Coming almost into the middle of the crowd, it slowly turned to vanish into the distance. Every one of our hearts stopped, and as the tiger shark swam away huge smiles appeared on the faces of our divers. What a way to start the week… That same day, in the deep side of Manuelita, there were hammerhead sharks, marble rays and more. Just by looking at the first day it seemed that our week was going to be great.

The next days we went ventured around the island trying to find the best action for our guests. That is how we got incredible action in Punta Maria, where the Galapagos sharks came and swam all around us. Also, we had turtles everywhere this week. Also in Punta Maria we saw a turtle with its tail all chewed up. Soon the pour turtle will lose the tail, but hopefully keep its life.

Alcyone had the most hammerhead action this week. So many hammerheads in one little place and sometimes they were really close to the surface. We were holding on to the rocks in 85 feet (27 meters) of water looking up just enjoying the view. Also in Alcyone the current was really going strong so we had to take it easy on the way down, making sure we stayed on the descending line. With the current going this way, the bottom gets stirred up and a cold current would come up from the depths. This caused the place to really become alive and there are tons of fish all around us. The horse-eyed jacks and the mullet snappers got so close to us, because even the fish have trouble with the currents. The white tips, jacks and marble rays come up just a couple of feet above the rock because they are also trying to avoid the cold current. They seem to be moving erratically, going all over the place, but letting us get really close.

On the way to one of dives at Alcyone we jumped in the water with a manta that was swimming around the Okeanos Aggressor. Our guests were able to get some picture while the manta was feeding, funneling tons of water with the cephalic fins and into its mouth.

This week the arch in Dos Amigos was awesome, as the fish would not leave enough space in the arch for you to swim. They would barely give enough room for us to get thru – one at a time. So many fish… in such a beautiful place.
The frogfish in Manuelita were the objects of many pictures this week, as some of the guests like the small stuff too. The night dives were interesting. I am smiling, and for those on one particular dive they are too if they are reading this. In one of the night dive in Manuelita, while the feeding frenzy of the white tip sharks was going on, a huge Galapagos shark showed up and for my misfortune I had the most powerful light, so the Galapagos came right up to me! It was not an attack it was just that the shark got confused and came for the light. I got a bit jumpy and the funny thing afterwards was seeing the video of me tossing my camera at the shark. Imagine the jokes of all the guests, as I happened to be their amusement the rest of the week!

Weather for the week, even though we had rain, for the most part was sunny. We had flat seas, and the nights were amazing. It was truly an awesome week of diving.
Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests: Anton, Oxana, Noemi, Vladimir, Dani, Nicolas and Inna, Maria, Elena, Robert and Annette, Irina and Jaroslav, Alan and Esther, Candis and Michael, Allison and Leigh, for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report Jan 12- 22, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 75 F (24 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 60 ft (20 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand Jehyler, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier, and Carlos Sanchez. (Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

This week we started with an early departure and an excellent crossing to the island. Once there, the action began in the shallows of Manuelita where tons of fish came to greet us on our check out dive. That dive was easy as the visibility was great and the water was nice and warm at 82 degrees Fahrenheit (27 C). Our second dive was done in the deep side of Manuelita. We went in the direction of having the island on our left shoulder towards the channel. Once there the current picked up, pushing us back to where we started, so we decided to hold on to the rock for a while before turning back. Just a couple of minutes later a 14-foot tiger shark went by real slow. It too was swimming against the current, but then turned back to come right to us. Imagine our racing hearts! This was only the first day and already we were so lucky.

Third dive on our first day we went back to deep side of Manuelita, but this time we kept our right shoulder to the rock. The first part of the dive the marble rays were coming right into the cameras lenses because down in the bottom the water was really cold. It got to 70 F (21 C)! So the rays were trying to get away from the cold current, so they came up to us. As we made it around the bend a big Galapagos shark became interested in the divers and kept circling back and checking on us.

The next day we paid a visit to Punta Maria and Dirty Rock. Both dives were great but Punta Maria was the best because we had a group of no less than eight Galapagos sharks circling around in their cleaning station. They let us get really close for our photos.

Alcyone was where we ventured the next day and the current was pretty strong. We encountered schooling hammerhead sharks and then we decided to do something calmer for our next dives, so we went back to my old favorite - Manuelita…Boy, we got there and the current was about the same like it had been at Alcyone. Only this time we had the protection of the rocks. You could go behind them and the strong current problem was fixed, so we did. But as we were trying to find shelter a huge tiger shark went by, like if he was part of our dive team. Yes that close! And as we were trying to process that info another tiger shark - even bigger - came by too! We were there thinking what??? So we all went after the tigers, and of course they had to go against the current - so we did too. We could only kick so much, so we ended up just hanging in about 85 feet of water waiting. The tiger sharks came back a few more times and the most exciting thing was being able to recognize three different tiger sharks. That made our dive and the whole week of diving J Over the next days we kept coming back to Manuelita, just looking for the tigers sharks.

The week continued well and we continually saw the hammerhead sharks schooling in Alcyone, Lone Stone and Dirty Rock. The only thing was we had to deal with the current and some very cold water. One dive in Submerged Rock the water was so cold it went down to 66 F (18 C). It felt freezing cold. This is the coldest I have ever felt in the island. But that dive was wonderful as we had the marble rays schooling in one corner of the dive site. Again, they were just trying to get away from the cold current. They put on quite a show that made us stay there almost the whole dive.

Also this week we made it over to Manta Corner where the current was a bit crazy. We found this big mass of dark, cold water coming one way and this other mass of clear, warm water going the other way. So we all got trapped in the middle, right where the two waters collided. So we moved in one direction for a little bit and then we turned around, because we started going against the current. Then, after maybe five minutes, we had to turn again because again the current changed. It was like a game of some kind. We were all laughing, as we could not move much. But in the midst of all this a huge tiger shark came up from the deep water towards the shallows (probably in search of warm water). The game ended right there, but we were all happy divers again.

For our last day in the island we went to Alcyone again. The hammerheads were a little shy, so we had to go look for them out in the blue water. But we found them, and they were in a big school. But before we got to the hammerheads a pod of dolphins went by making our last day of diving incredible. To finish our day and for the last dive of the week we did Manuelita and just as we were descending another tiger shark came in straight at us! Imagine a final dive and getting to see something like this. It’s as if we had staged it and it couldn’t have gotten any better.

The crossing back to port was nice and flat. The sky was full of stars at night and we had a bright, hot sun during the daytime.

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests - Algirdas, Vladas, Darius, Algirdas, Mindaugas, Rolandas, Rimantas and Vera, Arunas and Liuda, Arturas Evaldas, Leonas and Lolita, Tomas, Dzeraldas, Ramunas and Daiva, Aivaras and Jurgita, Genadijus and Ingrida - for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report Feb 23 – Mar 5, 2013

Air/Water Temp: 84/82
Visibility: 50 – 100 ft
Topside Conditions: N Wind
Sea Surface: Calm, though wavy at the very end of the week

We had quite the worldwide group this trip as our guests came from Canada, France, Italy, Finland, Germany, Australia, Malta and the US. We welcomed aboard Leanne, Holger, Alain, Christina, Murray, Myriam, Otto, Roman, Robert, Dominique, Loucka, Christophe, Simon, John, Luca, Samantha, Fabienne, Nader – and a special welcome back to Marian who is joining us for her 19^th Aggressor trip!

Throughout our 7 full days of diving at Cocos Island we ventured to the following sites:
Chatham Bay, Manuelita, Punta Maria, Dirty Rock, Alcyone, Dos Amigos “Pequeno” and Dos Amigos “Grande”, Isla Pajara, Viking Rock, Submerged Rock, Lone Stone and Manta Corner. We also did our night dives at Chatham and Manuelita.

The pelagic action and marine life once again did not disappoint as we saw tons of schooling hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, tiger sharks, a manta and hunting white tip sharks. Also, we found mating octopus (two different times), schooling snappers, black and orange frogfish, and colorful harlequin shrimp.

In addition to enjoying all of Chefs Douglas and Emanuel’s meals and snacks we also enjoyed a couple of special cakes as we celebrated birthdays with Leanne and Marian.

The weather cooperated for most of the week and our crossing out to the island was very calm and flat. The weather conditions for the most part were very good, though our return crossing was a bit wavy, but by the end of the trip all our guests had a nice smile on their faces.

Crew: Captain Beto, 2^nd Captain Marvin, Photo Pro and Divemaster Carlos, Second Officer Xavier, Deck Hand Leo, Engineer Luis, Chef Douglas, 2^nd Chef Emanuel and Steward Osayuki