Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica Shore Diving?

[brandonvd]

First, my family and I will be visiting Playa Hermosa in Costa Rica from May 17, 2009 to May 24, 2009. There will be 9 of us visiting the country and we will be staying at the Villas Sol. This will be our first time to Costa Rica and are really looking forward to it.

Out of the 9 people there are only 4 of us that will want to dive. Everyone will want to snorkel though.

I have been searching the forums for the last couple of days and have found some great information about diving in Costa Rica. The problem though is that most of the information is based on diving off a boat.

Unfortunately my brothers and I don't have tons of money to spend on boats everyday. We would all like to, but it is what it is. What I have been thinking about is just doing some shore diving. Most of the boats rent gear. The gear rental if you go on the boat is usually only $25.00. I realize that this is probably a little lower because you are going on the boat and I don't mind spending a few extra dollars.

What I am wondering is if it is possible to just rent gear and do some shore diving? If it is possible, where should we rent the gear from and where should we go?

I would really appreciate any help that anyone can give. We are all really looking forward to this trip and my brothers and I are really hoping to spend some time in the water.

By the way, my brothers and I plan on doing at least one boat dive if it makes any difference on where to get the gear for shore diving.

Thank you,

Brandon

 

[djtimmy77]

Hermosa down by Jaco, or Hermosa in Guanacaste?

 

[brandonvd]

Sorry, I forgot about the 2 Hermosas.

We will be staying in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste. It would be nice to find something close, but we don't mind doing a little driving either. We will actaully have a couple of rental cars so us guys can take one diving while the girls take the other shopping.

Brandon

 

[djtimmy77]

If it is not too rainy yet (so the water is still clear) I'd say definitely at least give the snorkeling a shot, there are lots of protected areas (from the waves) up that way. Not sure on what dive shops are up that way.

 

[brandonvd]

We are definitely planning on snorkeling. None of us are too picky and are easy to please. I have read about people shore diving in Costa Rica and there seems to be mixed results. Because we are easy to please hopefully we'll get some good advice and get in the water.

By the way, we all have done a lot of diving, mainly free, out of Fort Bragg, CA. Most of the time the viz is only maybe 10 feet at the most, so we are all very comfortable in low viz conditions.

Brandon

 

[HerraduraDivers]

Brandon,

shore diving is almost impossible due the high waves and strong currents on the shores of Costa Rica.
Also, the visibility near the shore is mostly between 1 and 10 feet again due the movement of the waves.
This will be also on of the explanations wha all dive operators dive or snorkel from the boat....

It will be very hard to rent complete diving gear, most of the dive operators (we included)
will rent bcd's and regulators only with their own Guide.

Every time we rented Regulators or BCD's we had to fix it afterwards or rinse and poke tons of sand out of it.

If you still will do shore dives, bring your own dive gear and rent only the tanks.

Best regards

Chris

 

[Rich Coast Diving]

Hi Brandon,

I have to agree with Chris because like them we also den't rent out scuba gear. We are the dive center that services the Villa Sol, we pick you up from the beach and drop you back there.
The snorklers can go on the same boat as the divers and both will have their own guide.
Let me know if you need more info, just drop a line to dive@richcoastdiving.com

regards,
Brenda

 

[Summer-Salt]

We do rent gear, if it's for a trip on our boats (that will pick you up and drop off at Hermosa beach) with our guides and all the advantages you have with boat diving.
For the same reasons that have been mentioned before, renting out gear costs almost the same as going on our boat...you safe about 40$ for shore dives which are not worth it for the above reasons, without thinking of the missing safety (oxygen, guides who know the place, ect.).
Maybe I can suggest our all inclusive boat charter option that might fit the whole family and include a little bit of everything you might want to do in the ocean and along the coast...

 

[TheAvatar]

On the Caribbean side is shore diving also bad? Or only on the Pacific?

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

Shore diving on the caribbean has similar problems as the pacific with waves breaking etc. Much easier ti dive from the boats.