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Want to give a quick review of my experience with Rich Coast Diving in Costa Rica. https://www.richcoastdiving.com
I have to say that they are a top notch dive outfit and I am definitely going to be diving with them again. From the get go Celine and Neils are great. Being my first ever dive trip I went through Padi to set up the trip. Not bad but I quickly learned I need to go through the dive shop!!! Anywho… 6 days, 2 tank dives a day. Landed Friday and went to the shop to check in. Took my gear and they handled everything. First dive Saturday. I was the only one on the boat and the rest were dive master trainees. It was great but being a green diver with 14 dives under my belt my buoyancy is not where it needed to be. I was all over the place and I was miserable. Both dives sucked. Kylee(?) recommended I take a perfect buoyancy class to enjoy the rest of my trip. Sold. Dive day 2 Sunday with Vincent and dove with one other customer but still had one on one and took a perfect buoyancy course. Vincent had me on dive one doing weight drills and dive two buoyancy up and down drills to different level bottles then do it again while holding a spoon while balancing a golf ball!!!!! Yep. That did it. Skipped a day for a tour. I recommend Frank the Tank for any tours you want to do. Dive day 3 buoyancy was spot on in the dives but got task saturated a couple times and loss of buoyancy caused me to shoot to surface. Scott gave me tips both dives and so I thought I’d be brave and introduce GoPro. Pshhhh. Got task saturated again and shot up and on dive two hit a mooring line on a wreck and mask filled with water… shot up again. Day 4 dive, Tom was great and gave me more tips. Buoyancy was getting better until I saw the shark and the rays and just got excited and yup…. Up again both dives. Later that night I was sitting in the Buzzed Monkey… great BBQ and in walks Scott and his wife Jennifer and they invite me to sit with them to eat and to go to trivia night with the dive shop which happens to be at The Palms where I changed rooms to… I recommend not staying at M&M Beach House. Nice cheap rooms… no hot water. Think cheap dive motel in the states. Good for a quick bed but that’s about it. The folks at Rich Coast made me feel invited and are very nice not just in the shop but outside as well. Last dive day was another good dive. Dove with another customer. First dive the current was wicked fast but still a great dive. Second was not as bad. All in all I just need to work on my air consumption. Averaging between 30-44 minutes down time. Guess I’ll need to plan more dive trips.
The dive sites range from 30-70 feet with abundance of sea life. Plenty different fish species. Sharks. Rays. Eels. Octopus. Lobster. Two wrecks. Visibility ranged from 10-30 feet. Temp was 70-80 and I dove with a 2mm shorty. DMs dove in shorts and tshirts or same thickness suit.
I stayed at M&M Beach House and like I said… it’s livable but if you want hot water… around the corner is The Palms and I ended up getting a room there as well to end out the trip.
I’m already planning on coming back next October… now just to find 3 or more people so we can dive the Bat Islands.
I have to say that they are a top notch dive outfit and I am definitely going to be diving with them again. From the get go Celine and Neils are great. Being my first ever dive trip I went through Padi to set up the trip. Not bad but I quickly learned I need to go through the dive shop!!! Anywho… 6 days, 2 tank dives a day. Landed Friday and went to the shop to check in. Took my gear and they handled everything. First dive Saturday. I was the only one on the boat and the rest were dive master trainees. It was great but being a green diver with 14 dives under my belt my buoyancy is not where it needed to be. I was all over the place and I was miserable. Both dives sucked. Kylee(?) recommended I take a perfect buoyancy class to enjoy the rest of my trip. Sold. Dive day 2 Sunday with Vincent and dove with one other customer but still had one on one and took a perfect buoyancy course. Vincent had me on dive one doing weight drills and dive two buoyancy up and down drills to different level bottles then do it again while holding a spoon while balancing a golf ball!!!!! Yep. That did it. Skipped a day for a tour. I recommend Frank the Tank for any tours you want to do. Dive day 3 buoyancy was spot on in the dives but got task saturated a couple times and loss of buoyancy caused me to shoot to surface. Scott gave me tips both dives and so I thought I’d be brave and introduce GoPro. Pshhhh. Got task saturated again and shot up and on dive two hit a mooring line on a wreck and mask filled with water… shot up again. Day 4 dive, Tom was great and gave me more tips. Buoyancy was getting better until I saw the shark and the rays and just got excited and yup…. Up again both dives. Later that night I was sitting in the Buzzed Monkey… great BBQ and in walks Scott and his wife Jennifer and they invite me to sit with them to eat and to go to trivia night with the dive shop which happens to be at The Palms where I changed rooms to… I recommend not staying at M&M Beach House. Nice cheap rooms… no hot water. Think cheap dive motel in the states. Good for a quick bed but that’s about it. The folks at Rich Coast made me feel invited and are very nice not just in the shop but outside as well. Last dive day was another good dive. Dove with another customer. First dive the current was wicked fast but still a great dive. Second was not as bad. All in all I just need to work on my air consumption. Averaging between 30-44 minutes down time. Guess I’ll need to plan more dive trips.
The dive sites range from 30-70 feet with abundance of sea life. Plenty different fish species. Sharks. Rays. Eels. Octopus. Lobster. Two wrecks. Visibility ranged from 10-30 feet. Temp was 70-80 and I dove with a 2mm shorty. DMs dove in shorts and tshirts or same thickness suit.
I stayed at M&M Beach House and like I said… it’s livable but if you want hot water… around the corner is The Palms and I ended up getting a room there as well to end out the trip.
I’m already planning on coming back next October… now just to find 3 or more people so we can dive the Bat Islands.
