Okeanos Aggressor Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report March 9 - 19, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 78 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 50 ft -15 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 Edward, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier, and Carlos (Photos by Carlos Sanchez)

This week the weather was awesome. The sun was shining everyday and we only had a couple of showers at night, which would leave us with hot tropical days. But the ocean water was acting weird, as sometimes the water temperature from the surface all the way down to 100 feet was 86 degrees, but I recall a couple of dives where in 100 feet the water was 77 degrees, while close to the surface the temperature still reached 86 degrees. This caused the fish to act differently, as the hammerhead sharks were active in Dirty Rock, but were not as active in Alcyone. We also saw tiger sharks on every single dive in Manuelita, my old favorite…. Even with the changes in water temperature and visibility the diving was excellent. Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria, tons of hammers in Dirty Rock, huge manta in both Ulloa Island and Dirty Rock, frog fish in Pajara Island, and the tiger sharks in Manuelita.

But I still have a strange feeling from one of the dives this week. At Manuelita I entered the water after the last diver dropped in and as I descended down I noticed that all the divers had taken off. So I continued to 110 feet and just as I reached the sand a 5-meter (15 ft) tiger shark showed up! I swam after it, but just as if the fish felt me coming, it turned around and began closing in on me. My heart was about to make its way out of my chest! Luckily, the tiger took a good look at me, then started to fin its way toward deeper water - leaving me with my camera and dirty pants J…. As incredible as it may sound, I then spotted the divers (as I had a glimpse of one of their powerful lights) and headed towards them. Just then, the tiger shark came back to me, so the tiger shark and I swam together towards Axel, who had the bright lights and he got a very good shot of the tiger shark swimming towards him. The shark was kind of curious about the big, bright lights but then it took off for good not to be seen anymore during the dive. Axel and I were very happy that the other divers were really close, but because of the limited visibility and the fact that they had taken off a minute before this - they missed it.

Manuelita gave us one of the best dives this week. Some of our guests wanted to really see the tiger shark, so we went back to the same place I had seen the tiger shark before. After a few minutes some of us took off, just to find out later that the tiger shark had indeed come back (but not all of us had been patient enough to wait for it). As we continued swimming around the rock, we encountered a huge thermocline of very cold water coming up from the deep. It was so cold that even the marble rays weren’t comfortable with it and started to swim for shallower water, putting on quite a nice show for us.

Our crossing back to port was nice and flat. The sky was full of stars at night and we enjoyed a bright hot sun during the daytime. Thanks to all of our guests: Holger, Matthias, Thomas, Axel, Ulrich, Benedict, Manfred, Wolfgang, Erwin, Erich, Henning, Heinke, Elke and Matthias, Merthan, Klaus, Hansjorg, Paul, Thomas, Daniel, Karlheinz and Johannes - for a great week of diving!

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report March 23- April 2- 2013

Average Water Temperature: 78 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 70 ft - 22 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier, and Warren. (Photos by Alberto Muñoz)

This week we had another one of those early departures, which everyone loves. It was an easy crossing to the island with an early arrival, even though we had to fight a current most of the way out there.

First day of diving was excellent with lots of sharks, including a couple of Galapagos sharks swimming close in with the hammerhead sharks. In the first dive a big shark showed up, kind of far from the divers, so we couldn’t really see what shark was it - some claim it was a tiger shark!

Next day we had a Coco’s ‘”real dive” with ton and tons of hammerheads, also the white tip sharks and rays were part of the cast in this dive. As me moved around the rock, a huge school of horse eye jacks came in from the blue water and close to the rock. They let us swim right into them so we could take pictures and video. Later the same day the dive in Punta Maria was also good as we had lots of hammerheads and a few Galapagos sharks coming really close to the divers and making everyone’s heart pump faster.

Our third day we went to Alcyone, where the dives were good, but the visibility dropped a little though we still saw some hammerheads. Also on the reef, there were a few octopus and free-swimming eels and by the end of the dive we had a pod of dolphins swimming by getting the crowd all happy. The thing was that we had heard them long before we saw them. On our second dive at Alcyone we encountered a school of at least 50 hammerheads! Imagine our smiles seeing all the sharks and the fact that we were sitting in 100 feet of water and the school was passing above us in around 40 feet.

The dive in Dos Amigos with the arch was incredible. So many fish in such a great place. With the beautiful blue background our divers went crazy taking pictures. The week continued on just like so, with more fish, rays and sharks….the weather was great with lots of sun and at night the sky was carpeted with stars. Both the nights and the days were brilliantly clear and so beautiful.

The last two days at the island we went to Dirty Rock, as this was the place for the very good diving this week. No matter how much I tell you about it, no matter how much I try to describe the number of and how close we got to the hammerheads this time they were simply incredible, awesome dives…. I am not a native English speaking person so I can’t find the words for such amazing dives. They were everywhere and the barber fish were really going at cleaning the hammerheads. We were all happy and hypnotize with this behavior and lucky to be here. “I wish you were here” J….

I must tell you something that happened to me this week J on our last day of diving. In the first dive of the day we all went down to 100 feet where we chose a place to stay put there for as long as we could, which is the way of diving at Coco Island when the cleaning stations are working like they did this time. One more thing - look around and look everywhere. Well, we were just enjoying the dive having the time of our lives when a 20-foot long whale shark went by. My brain flipped and I started to rattle my noisemaker and went for it. I mean this was one of those times when the fish is just cruising by. I was able to get close, but the whale shark was going deeper and deeper and all of the sudden the shark tilted its head upwards and started its ascend toward an incredible school of hammerheads. While this was happening I was still kicking hard J. The video I got from this is incredible. So the shark now is going shallower and coming back to the rock and I’m still kicking and making noise trying to get the other divers attention. I could actually see the divers and now the whale shark and I are shallow – right over everyone’s heads and no one saw it. They had only to look up to see the whale shark… I was happy to see it, but I am here to show incredible stuff like this to our guests, by now in the end I was feeling embarrassed and frustrated, but at least I got video J.

Our crossing back to port was nice and flat. The sky was full of stars at night and a bright hot sun joined us during the daytime.

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests: Raymundo, Gabriel, Markus, Richard, Haruka, Megumi, Javier, Enoc, Maurizio, Andrea, Anastasia, Belinda, Raquel, Luis Alberto, Sofie and Humphrey, David, Janus, John and Gusto.

Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report April 6 – 16, 2013

Average Water Temperature 78 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 70 ft-22 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren. Photos by Alberto Muñoz.

This week we had another one of those early departures, which everyone loves. Easy crossing to the island with an early arrival and all combined with great weather made for a great first day of diving. We encountered lots of fish, some sharks and some marble rays. The current was easy, the visibility good and now we were here and wanting more dives.

We spent the next days venturing around the island finding the best spots for sharks, especially hammerhead sharks. We found them in Dirty Rock on our second day and Alcyone on the third day. The weather started to change after our second day of diving and the underwater conditions began to change too. Visibility dropped down to about 50 feet and down around 100 feet the water temperature dropped down to 70 F degrees in some cases, but close to the surface the water was a very warm 86 F degrees making the fish go crazy. In Punta Maria there were so many fish of different sizes and colors that they had to make a hole for you to move thru the site. The sharks were busy too having so many fish they constantly moved around trying to catch a fish or two, the whole reef seem to be moving…

On our fourth day we paid a visit to Dos Amigos, but the surge turned strong so we didn’t come back for a second dive as we aim for safety, so with the permission of the park rangers we made it back to Manuelita…. My old favorite and what happened there is still in my head and will be there for a long time because a dive like this one is not an everyday dive even here. I was the last diver descending and as I am coming down I am getting my camera ready and looking around. All I see around me is hammerhead sharks and divers holding on to the rock trying to make themselves invisible so the hammerheads stay and get closer to them. There were also marble rays that came up off the bottom because the cold current down there makes them uncomfortable. All of this is going on, along with hundreds of fish of different sizes, when a 5-meter Tiger Shark breaks into the school of hammerheads. I do believe some of these folks lost their regulators as their jaw dropped J…..

That is just the beginning of the dive… For the next 20 minutes as one tiger shark would swim away another one would come J…. Amazing… After 20 minutes we started to move around the rock as our bottom time started to run out….. Of course we did not want to move.

That afternoon we came back for our third dive in Manuelita. This time we did not get as many hammerheads, but the tiger sharks were still there and this time they brought another friend, so now there were three not two. They would just swim around the divers making our hearts rocket to the sky. Such an amazing dive and what a wonderful place we have here.

Also this week, in one of the dives at Alcyone, a manta swam by just to get us all excited. Since I am always the last in the water I missed the manta L but by having so much life in such a small place made up for my not seeing the manta as we still had schooling hammerheads down in the bottom.

Our return crossing back to port was 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 Leroy, Rolf, Daniel, Oliver, Dieter, Jurg, Pascal, Patrick, Markus, Marlise and Manuel, Tomas and Claudia, Urs and Therese, Rolf and Beatrice, Oliver and Vanessa, Jurg and Eliane for Safe Diving.

Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report April 20 – 30, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 78 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 70 ft (25 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren. Photos by Alberto Muñoz.

This week we enjoyed another one of those early departures everybody loves and got early to the island as we had one of the best crossings this year. With the journey being so calm and so fast and after having so many hours of rest and relaxation we were ready for that first day of diving.

The water was warm on our first dive and the fish were all around us as we had our first dive in the pocket. But for our second dive we went deeper and the thermocline we found was so cold that some of the guests came to me afterwards saying that I had been lying all along about the water temps. They were freezing because they had a 3 mil suit on… Well, that is what I wear and I keep saying “If you get cold easily, you better bring something thicker”. The thing is that these thermoclines, even though they are cold (maybe 70 F or 20 C), you can always swim away from them by coming up few feet. Anyways that being said, on the second dive we had some hammerheads and the marble rays were just going crazy because of the cold current. They just don’t like it, so they start to swim all over trying to get away from it. We also had a couple of friendly eagle rays on this dive that were playing around us by going first into the cold current and then coming up to the warmer water.

Our second day at Cocos Island we paid a visit to Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. Both dives were good with lots of hammerhead sharks in Dirty Rock and some Galapagos sharks in Punta Maria. This time the water temperature was nice… Hammerheads were a bit shy, but close enough to get some decent photo shots.

The third day we did Alcyone and this happened to be the best hammerhead dive spot of the week. I mean they were here and every time we came back to this site the hammerheads were still here. A couple of times the water temperature went to the extreme - meaning cold down to 70 degrees (20 Celsius) and of course the marble rays went crazy all around us just swimming away from the cold water. One very interesting thing was to see the white tips doing their mating ritual. We had a bunch of male sharks going after a female getting her tired so they could just grab her to mate. Unfortunately, after a while of watching and hoping for the act to happen our bottom time ran out and we had to leave the site. This happened again few days later when we came back to Alcyone and same thing, out of bottom time before the actual mating happened.

On the fourth day we did Dos Amigos Grande and Pequena. Both rocks were good, but the Big Dos Amigos had the most action with tons and tons of fish in ‘The Arch’. As a matter of fact, my group spent their entire time right in that spot. They had a great time taking pictures in it, as it was so full of fish, rays and even few white tip sharks.

That afternoon we did Manuelita and we had a great surprise as we moved towards the deep side of the site. A baby whale shark came straight up to us! It seemed like the shark was in a hurry as he was really swimming fast. Actually some of us had to swim out of his way so as not to be run over by the little whale shark. This was an adrenaline kind of diving as right before the whale shark a huge Galapagos shark came close to the divers while we were drifting with the current. Imagine our hearts trying to pump fast enough to keep up with all the action.

Two days later (after that Manuelita dive with the baby whale shark) we went back to Alcyone and we encountered another whale shark on our dive. This time the whale shark stayed with us for more than 10 minutes and it was definitely a bigger whale shark than the one in Manuelita.

The funny thing about Alcyone this time was that many guests want to always be first in for this dive (as we stagger both groups in the same spot). The difference is only 30 minutes, but again some divers just want to be in the first group as they think is always better to be there first. We keep saying it is a “matter of luck” what you may encounter. Anyways, the second group saw the whale shark and the first didn’t. Though once again the hammerheads seemed to be everywhere, and close too, during both dives.

The next day was our last day of diving at Cocos Island and everyone wanted to go back to Alcyone, so we did. As we descended down the line we encountered a group of white tips swimming right around the line along with a few curious marble rays. They all came kind of close to the divers. Once at the bottom we each found a spot to hold onto the rock letting the fish and sharks come real close to us. After maybe five minutes of being there, a 22-foot whale shark broke right through the middle of a school of Jordan snappers. It was simply amazing to see how the snappers made a hole for the whale shark to go thru. Some of us weren’t thinking straight and started to chase it, so of course the shark went away. But to our surprise and delight it came back three more times and put on a nice show for all of us. As if this wasn’t enough, while doing our safety stop a medium size Mobula (manta) ray came in very close to us leaving us all with giant smiles.

With one more dive to go to finish the week we went back to Manuelita. Just as we made it down to the bottom we spotted three Tiger Sharks kind of playing around, but as soon as they saw us they went away… too bad they did not wanted to play for a bit. But, if we were making a cake this was the cherry to top off a brilliant week of diving. Such and incredible sight for the last dive…Awesome.

The weather this week was really good as we had a fair balance between rain and sun. Our crossing back to the mainland was easy and fast too.

Thanks to all of our guests: Carlo and Debora, Eric, Linda, Giorgio, Sergio, Enzo, Nicola, Scott, Giorgio, Sergio M., Nicola B., Orietta and Carlo, Karen, Nadia, Marco, Stefano, David and Cristina, Tiziana and Donatella for Safe Diving.

Stay tuned for more.
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report May 4 – 14, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 82 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren

This week we made it to the island in no time; the crossing was so smooth and quick that by the time our guests woke up Monday morning they were well rested and happy, and of course ready and anxious to get in the water. So after a delicious breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruits we made it to the dive deck wanting to just jump in the water. So we did our dive briefing and soon we plunged in the waters of Chatham Bay.

Our check out dive went well, with lots of fish, some white tip sharks and marble rays. But after only 25 minutes in the water, a big tiger shark swam by making us all happy and creating a bigger expectation for what was to come in our next days of diving… and that is how the week developed with beautiful dives and great weather.

The dives in Punta Maria with the Galapagos sharks were incredible, especially our last day with having more than 12 huge sharks going around, and around in circles in the cleaning station. That one dive will stay in our guests’ minds forever as we spent more than 30 minutes in a single spot letting the sharks coming close to us instead of us chasing them around. That same dive, and while doing our safety stop, a small manta passed by slow enough to let us get some fabulous pics. This same site, two days earlier, we had some action with the Galapagos sharks, but what caught our eyes was the 15-foot whale shark we spotted just as we were coming from the main pinnacle to the small one. When the whale shark came from the bottom towards us it was almost like it was trying to be friendly. This amazing giant fish was with us for a little over three minutes. What an experience….

We found hammerhead sharks in both Alcyone and Dirty Rock, but what made Alcyone really special were the dolphins hunting the horse-eyed jacks. As we were coming to one of the corners of this underwater plateau, a dolphin came in chasing after one of the jacks. This is interesting because even having a school of thousands of these fish, the dolphin will fix on one and chase it until the fish gets tired and then eat it…What I have been observing thru the years is that the fish have gotten clever, so when they are being chased by the dolphin they regurgitate and leave behind what used to be their meal for the dolphin to eat and leave them alone…. at least for a while. We went into the blue water to see more dolphins and more hunting and that is how we ended our dive in Alcyone after witnessing hammerheads on the plateau and dolphins in the safety stop.

But the schooling hammers were really abundant in Dirty Rock this week. As they were getting cleaned they would come in really close to the divers, as long as you were staying put in a single place. At one point, as we came around the rock finning our way thru the site, the hammerheads seem to come at us from every direction, and in big groups. It was a breathtaking sight! Our guests were ecstatic by this time J

A couple of time during the week we went back to my old favorite site, Manuelita. The tiger shark kept appearing and we kept clicking our cameras. On our very last dive of the week there a group of at least 8 Galapagos sharks kept swimming around and I just could not figure out why they were so shallow, and why they were here. But to be honest, we don’t need a reason for a good dive. In the same dive a small hawksbill turtle showed up, making everyone go crazy taking pictures, as the turtle was so friendly.

I almost forgot to mention that in one of our dives in Ulloa Island we found a red-lipped batfish. It has been a long time since we’ve seen one and that little critter was the highlight of the dive. Not that we would forget about the frogfish we found in the shallows of Manuelita.

Going back to port in Puntarenas our weather was amazing as it was sunny and the seas were flat.

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests this trip: Igor, Viktor, Svetlana B., Svetlana L., Alexander, Ilya, Vladimir, Iosif, Evgeni, Alexey, Dmyro, Sergey and Yulia, Alexey and Varvara, Roman and Tatiana.

For Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report May 18 – 28, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 82 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 100ft (25 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 William, Boat Drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren. Photos by Alberto Muñoz

This week we had a fun group from France and we made it to the island just on time for the first dive as we left port late.

What happened during the week is hard for me to describe, as my lack of English would not let me find the exact words to tell what I want to say. From day one the diving was good, but day two and on the dives got better than amazing J… yep, no words as you see…incredible, amazing, and awesome are just a few words to say…

The dives in Dirty Rock had so many hammerhead sharks that we went there so many times and still we always-wanted more! Sometimes they were schooling close to the surface and some other times they were down below. They were just swimming around this outcropping in the middle of the ocean and other times they were getting clean by the barber fish and if you would hide behind the rocks and let the hammers come close they would get so close they got within touching distance. As a matter of fact, our two morning dives on the last day were done in this beautiful spot.

We also tried other sites, but places like Dos Amigos were hard to reach as this week we had a tropical depression bringing strong winds and big waves to the island, so the south side of the island was out of the question for the week. Instead we did the easier sites finding out that they actually had the best diving. We also went to Ulloa, the site with the red-lipped batfish; along with visits to Pajara and Viking Rock that both yielded stunning dives. Chatham Bay was again filled with fish, sharks and rays, but again the action this week was in Dirty Rock and Alcyone. The dives we did in Punta Maria were good, but the current we had made it a bit difficult for some of us, but the reward was worth the work. Even the Galapagos sharks had a bit of a problem staying in their cleaning station, but we could get close while they were just hanging there nearby.

Alcyone was the same as Dirty Rock with hammerhead sharks everywhere! They were up and down, close and far, along with a huge school of horse-eyed jacks and an even bigger school of mullet snappers. One of the dives we were moving from one corner to the next when a huge (and I mean huge) Manta ray broke in the middle of the jacks coming straight at me. I went crazy trying to get everybody’s attention. We all got to see the manta and it was almost the end of our dive and what a surprise we got.

One of the dives we did at my old favorite Manuelita. We had some hammers here and there. Then in one of the hammerhead cleaning stations a little group of 6 Galapagos sharks and few other black tip sharks had taken over the place. They were kind of curious about the divers and they were coming close just to check on the divers. As we started our way to the surface, a huge tiger shark passed by, way too fast for a picture, but slow enough to get a good look at it.

So the week just went by too fast for us, but at the end we were all happy to be here and having such great dives. So where to go for the last dive? Even though the ranger tells us where to go for our dives, the last day we have the chance to pick the place, so why not do the old good one – Manuelita. So there we went. We stopped by the channel hoping and waiting to see the tiger shark, but no tiger was out. Instead there were three eagle rays swimming around like they were playing with us. Then a few hammerheads were spotted here and there, and then more eagle rays and white tip sharks. After 40 minutes in the water I was ready to surface, but why not stay an extra minute? We looked around and a 15-foot whale shark showed up! Imagine, and here is where I am out of words………….We all just went crazy. What a way of ending such an amazing week of diving.

I must add that we had wonderful night dives in Manuelita with all the sharks hunting and this week we also found the frogfish again in that same place; both the orange and the black one.
Stay tuned for more.

Thanks to all of our guests: Stephane, Mathieu, Dominique, Emmanuel L., Sylvie, Marie, Patrice, Muriel, Wilfred, Jean-Pierre, Daniel, Nicholas, Vincent, Monique, Philippe B., Remy, Pascal, Philippe R., Emmanuel P., Alain, Gilbert and Mariane.
For Safe Diving,
Capt. Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 1 – 11, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 82 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 100 ft (28 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren. Photos by Alberto Muñoz

Lately we have been having later departures on the Okeanos Aggressor from Puntarenas because of the tide changes, but still we are making it out to Cocos Island on time to start our diving on Monday morning. This past week the crossing was easy and much faster because we were riding the current, so once there and after a delicious breakfast, we finished the last minutes details and went straight to the bottom. Our first dive was good with shark, rays and lots of fish…

The second dive we went to Manuelita, my old favorite, and read on to find out just why. We started the dive on the deep side and as soon as got in the water we immediately saw hammerhead sharks. We began swimming with the rock on our right hand side, and more and more sharks appeared. Then the current started to get stronger so we just let ourselves go with it. After maybe 30 minutes, a big shadow caught my attention. We looked up and my eyes couldn’t believe it - a 20-foot Whale Shark was swimming close to the surface! We were still in 60 feet of water and we all went crazy and headed for the shark to get a better look and some pictures. The whale shark was going against the current so we had a hard time keeping up with it until finally we had to let go. Our legs could not kick any longer, but as tired and exited as we were the smiles drawn on our faces were saying a million words. Imagine only our second dive of the week and a whale shark showed up. Sadly some of the divers that were behind us did not see it, so we decide to stay put, as sometimes these giants swim around the same area for long periods of time. We hit the jackpot… the Whale shark came back around and this time we were all together. We saw it coming right at us from the distance and since the whale shark was swimming against the current we all had a good look at it this time. Later in the afternoon the second group of divers came to this same site and they also saw the whale shark ……….Only the first day of diving and the guests’ expectations were immense because what else is there after a first day of diving like this…

So with this kind of pressure we started to move around the island looking for more action. The current kept going strong and the visibility was incredible for the first part of the trip. But then a strong surge got to the island and stirred up the bottom making visibility a bit lower, but still good. Also the rain was with us most of the time, but as divers we don’t complain because we will always get wet no matter what. We did have a day or two of sun, which made us all happy.

The dives in Punta Maria and Dirty Rock were awesome. The Galapagos sharks were really moving in Punta Maria and we had at least eight of these massive sharks circling around a cleaning station together and they let us get really close. The dive in Dirty Rock had a nice surprise for us as a big, and quite friendly, manta (Mobula) came around few times letting us take pictures.

The next day we paid a visit to Alcyone. The panga ride was a bit rough, but once there the underwater conditions were welcoming as the current was not that strong. The hammerhead sharks were a bit shy, but there was a huge school of horse-eyed jacks along with a school of mullet snappers. The amount of fish in that school was incredible. We were looking at the fish when all of the sudden we started to hear this high-pitched sound and the dolphins showed up. Yes, about a dozen dolphins came around the divers and stayed for more than 20 minutes putting on an awesome show for us.

The following days we spent time going to some of the same sites, as so far they had each been incredible. Dirty Rock was the best choice for hammerhead sharks and stayed like that for the week. We had amazing night dives and it’s beginning to look like most of the sites are getting just like the shallows of Manuelita where the sharks go crazy while following the divers and using their lights to see the pray better. Also the little things were spotted like frogfish, flounders, tilefish, turtles, rainbow runners and more. This week the dive was amazing, the water incredibly blue, the temperature was just right, and the divers were all quite happy.

Oh, I almost forgot…on our last dive my group had an excellent dive with hammerhead sharks, while the other group went for a much easier kind of dive with Divemaster Marvin. They did Manuelita and had a mellow kind of dive to finish the week and go back home with good memories, but what happened next changed their minds and hearts…

As they went around the rock, and once in the shallows of Manuelita, a gigantic Manta Ray showed up dragging a massive piece of fishing line. Seems that the manta had gone through a hard time trying to escape from this fishing line, but now she was having a hard time swimming with this nasty load. Worst of all, she had it right in front of her face, as the line ran from under her body to her mouth and across her back. It was dragging a good ten feet behind her tail. Such a sad sight.

This had Divemaster Marvin all heated up and he asked for a knife, which one of our guests had. Putting his life at risk and his mind into a mode of helping the manta, piece by piece he cut away most of the line. The manta started to swim in circles, like knowing she was being helped, and let Marvin get closer and closer to a point where he felt the manta was letting him help. He was then able to remove the last pieces of the fishing line by hand. The wounds on the manta’s face were bleeding a bit as the line had made deep, two-inch cuts into the skin (that is how deep the wounds were). The divers in that group could not believe what they were seeing, but they were also aiding and picking up the pieces of line that Marvin had removed from the manta.

Back on the boat, Tulay, one of the guests, was telling me the whole story about the manta and she could not stop crying…. what a sensitive, caring person…. AFTER AN EVENT LIKE THIS ONE MUST THINK ABOUT OUR FUTURE ON THIS PLANET….

More to come next week………….

Thanks to all of our guests: Michael, Christian, Johannes, Teun, Teresa and John, Otto, Christoph, Russelle, Josephine, Tulay, Jeff, Stanley and Michelle, Guy and Gemma, Raphael and Yvonne, Daphne and Jack, Noel and Evan, for a great week of diving.
Captain Beto

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 15 – 25, 2013

Average Water Temperature 82 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 100 ft (28 mts)
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.

We had a calm trip on the way out to Coco Island. Once there, and with our guests anxious to get in the water, we reviewed any last minute details and then went straight into the ocean.

Our diving the first day was great around Manuelita. At Manuelita Garden we had nice visibility and the currents were just enough to keep the fish busy and happy. Galapagos sharks and some hammerhead sharks were the highlight of the day, along of course with the thousands of fish of different sizes and colors. On the third dive at Manuelita Deep we were swimming around the rock and as we made it to the shallows, a big Tiger Shark went by. Way too fast and I was the only one to see it. I felt frustrated, but at least the tigers are still around.

The next day we headed for more serious kind of dives at Dirty Rock and Punta Maria. As soon as we got to Dirty Rock we could see that the current was going strong. But no one had second thoughts and over the side of the panga we went. On the way down, we could all feel the current and it was going in a different direction than it normally did. As we made it to 100 feet and started to swim (we had only been in the water for one minute) a huge Whale Shark comes by… and of course, the fish had to go against the current. There was just no way we were going to keep up with the whale shark. We could only sit there and watch it going away from us into the current. It was amazing to see it barely moving its tail and being able to swim against the current.

Our next dive was in Punta Maria and the current was not as strong. Plus, having the line to go down (like we do here) makes the descent quite easy. We made it down and immediately we found a couple of Galapagos sharks getting cleaned and some hammerheads coming in close too. Since the dive was easy, we decided to swim around a bit. We made it over one of the pinnacles and spent some time just looking around, as the amount of fish in this pinnacle is incredible. All kinds and sizes!!! We were running out of bottom time and soon we decided to start our ascent. I was already kicking up, when all of the sudden, and out of the blue, the white tip sharks started to do something I have seen before, though it is not common to see, and normally it takes lot of time to witness the entire thing. The white tip sharks were mating! Just like that, and my guess is that they had finished the initial ritual and had gotten tired. They probably had taken a rest, but all of a sudden they have resume the action and they went straight for the actually mating act. It only took a couple of minutes and then they were done - and we were lucky enough to be there!

The following day we had a great dive in Alcyone. The top water conditions were a bit harsh, but down in the water no problem!!! We had hammerheads everywhere. Not schooling, but in groups and constantly moving close to us. So for our second dive we did the same site, back to Alcyone. The ride was hard, but again once in the water the conditions were easy and this time we were able to see the large schools of hammerhead sharks we all wanted to see.

Our remaining days we experience something I have not seen in a few years. The currents got so strong we had to dive other sites instead of visiting the regular ones. The sites where we have lines and buoys were not visible any more, as the currents had pulled down our surface marking buoys and descent lines. On top of that, the wind was also blowing strong and limited our maneuverability. So instead, we went in search of the elusive Red-lipped Batfish. We spent lots of time searching and looking for it until we found it. Then we all went crazy taking pictures of the little guy. (See Photo)

This week we also made it to the shallows of Ulloa Island and we found a couple of orange frogfish, just like the ones in Manuelita. Another day, while we were diving the shallows of Manuelita and we were watching a few hammerheads, just as I was filming the hammerheads and our divers this huge Galapagos shark came in really close. Maybe too close, but friendly-like and swimming right between the divers. This interaction made for a really unique dive. Then at Dirty Rock, the school of hammerheads we found there was simply amazing. There were hundreds of them. As we swam back to the main rock we encountered a couple of really friendly eagle rays that were searching for food. They were not minding the divers at all and let us get real close. All of this action made for an exciting dive. But just as we were heading for our safety stop, a turtle came in like saying hi to everyone.

The ride back to our home port in Puntarenas was a bit of rocking and rolling, but as we got closer to the mainland, the water conditions got better and better.

Thanks to all of our guests - Bibian, Simon, Steven, Rick, Ricky, Andrew, Mui, Janet and Yau, Vicky, Calvin and Clara, Kevin, Alone, John and Young - for a great week of diving.

Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck Hand William, Boat Drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren. Photos by Alberto Muñoz.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report June 29 - July 09, 2013

Average Water Temperature: 82 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility: 80 ft (25 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 William, Boat drivers and Divemasters Marvin, Xavier and Warren.

We had a bit of a bumpy ride to the island, but once there and after our first dive we were all happy and ready for more. The weather on the island was unstable (rain and sun), but the second and third dives that day were really good with lots of hammerhead sharks and a bunch of marble rays. The rays were doing some kind of mating ritual and there were a few males chasing a huge female. We also saw and a big Galapagos shark swimming around the rays; perhaps hoping for a ray to get a bit tired so the shark could do the move. The visibility was really good the first and second day, but after that it started to drop down some, but it was still good for the dives.

The second day we went to Punta Maria and our guests were in for a surprise. Something you don’t see very often and a rather breathtaking scene at that. I was not even there, but the stories about it told by the guests along with the shine in their eyes made me feel like I was right there with them. They started by saying that the dive was pretty good with a couple of Galapagos sharks here and a couple of hammerheads there, then some of them started to swim toward the third pinnacle. That’s when they came upon these two whale sharks, almost swimming side by side. The joy in their voices and the adrenaline in their bodies showed they had just had a dive of a lifetime. And best of all, it was only the second day at Cocos Island. But of course, a dive like this is hard to top off.

The following days we went around the best dive sites that the island offers and we continued to have excellent dives like the ones in Alcyone, with tons of hammerhead sharks. We had to pay a little fee, as the current was there, but that’s what bring the sharks to the island because with all of the nutrients brought to the rock by the currents, and the way these currents stir the bottom and brings up towards the surface the water that is deep down here. We had one particular dive in Alcyone where the visibility was good, and water was about 82F (27C). We were swimming from one of the corners towards the other side of the rock when we encountered this immense mass of dark water that was coming towards us from the deep and right over the rock. When we had started the dive, there was absolutely no current, but then with this dark water came so did the current - and the water temperature dropped straight down to 75F (23C). BRRRRRRR.

All of these factors makes Cocos a place for advanced kind of dives, because is hard to tell how the conditions are going to be. You need to be prepared for the conditions and the action. The diving is indeed great and you get to see many, many things. Some that may be huge, and some that may be tiny, but they are all beautiful. In any given dive here you can go from seeing a frogfish, to the surprise of having come face-to-face with a tiger shark. Just like this week, in my old favorite Manuelita, where Divemaster Warren was trying really hard to find the frogfish. Well he did eventually find it, but in the process and while looking down into the reef to find the frogfish, a 4-meter (12 foot) tiger shark went by him so close that he couldn’t get the whole. Actually, the only reason he saw it at all is because one of the guests (Sonia) made a noise that made him lift his head up. Imagine the surprise he had when he found himself so close to the tiger shark without knowing!!!!!!

The week went by too quick for some of us. The diving was outstanding and there were a few other things encountered like the very friendly eagle rays and the incredible action-packed night dives in Manuelita and Chatham Bay. The latter site is now becoming the ‘Little Manuelita’ as the action we are getting there with the sharks hunting is now almost the same as the nighttime feeding dive in Manuelita. Event the daytime dives in Chatham Bay are delivering stellar experiences as this week it delivered one of the best dive of the week. Here we got to see a school of about 6 mobula rays (smaller mantas) and almost as soon as they vanished into the blue, a huge school of yellowfin tunas came by. Plus, this is also the dive site for the tiger shark sightings now.

We had a fair balance of weather with a combination of rain and sun. The crossing back to the port at Puntarenas was super easy and the guests were very relaxed and happy.

Thanks to Daeseung, Thomas, Gerd, Louise and Glen, Fabio, Leonardo, Vera, Etsuko, Leigh, Karen, Daniel and Sandra, Christopher and Michelle, Jason and Sonia, Jean and Julie for a great week of diving.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Okeanos Aggressor Captain’s Report July 13- 23, 2013

Average Water Temperature 82 F (26 Celsius)
Average Visibility 80 ft-25 mts
Wetsuits: 3mil, maybe more if you get cold easily.
Crew this week: Capt. Beto, Chefs Douglas and Emanuel, Engineer Luis, Steward Osayuki, Deck hands William and Ricardo, Boat drivers and Divemasters Xavier and Warren.

Mind Blowing, Breathtaking…

I should just leave it at that………. because this week the diving was simply outstanding. In fact, it was one of the best dive weeks I have encountered in the past few years. We saw all kinds of stuff, starting with the reef fish, which in the island we have in amazing quantities. Then the small little fish that we spotted hiding in the reef, and then the big ones that you couldn’t miss.

I can’t really explain it all, and even if I could find the words, nothing really prepares you for what we have here. This week the big ones came and stayed, so we had whale sharks in many of the dives. Also a big, and I mean HUGE, manta that wanted to play with us stayed for our whole dive. Hammerhead sharks in Dirty Rock, Manuelita (my old favorite) and Alcyone. Galapagos sharks in Dirty Rock and Manuelita, where I experienced the most impressive adrenaline rusher of all - the Tiger Shark coming straight at me!

This week we had a group from Mexico lead by Felipe and Valeria. They were all beautiful, fun, and easygoing people that were always smiling and thankful for such an outstanding week. Thanks to all of our guests: Ayelet, Alexey, Gregory, Gustavo G, Alejandro, Gustavo F, Roger and Maria, Mariana, Felipe and Valeria, Eduardo, Alejandro P, Gerardo, Patrice and Marie Ivan, Agustin, Leticia, Cameron and Alison for a great week of diving.

A friend of mine has let me use her camera these last couple of weeks and here I leave you with photos of just a fraction of what we saw this week.

Captain Beto