traumadiver
Contributor
My friend and I traveled to Costa Rica from April 5-14 2009. I would like to share with you our awesome experiences.
We decided to travel to Costa Rica because we are both divers but, there is also a lot more to do and see in Costa Rica besides diving.
Our first three days we committed to diving. After a lot of research we chose to dive with Rich Coast Diving. They were great every step of the way. They have some great package deals for lodging and diving. They even contacted me by phone since I didnÃÕ have an international calling package. First impressions are important and they certainly made a good one impression on us prior to us even getting there.
We took a flight from Norfolk, VA (ORF) to Houston (IAH) then onward to Liberia Airport in Costa Rica on Continental Airlines. Liberia Airport (LIR) is very small and not really developed yet but it gets the job done. When we landed in LIR the first thing we noticed is the heat and humidity. It felt so good coming from VA where the temps were in the 50ÃÔ when we left. We got through immigration in a jiffy, got all our bags and caught a cab to our hotel for $45. The hotel was about 30 minutes away. We stayed at the Coco Palms Hotel in Playas del Coco.
Playas del Coco is located on the north Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. The beaches are a little dirty but the scenery is very nice. This is a volcanic beach, the sand is a bit darker than the white sandy beaches of Hawaii. There are many boats moored just off the beach. Some of these very boats were going to become our friends during our dives.
The hotel we stayed at was very nice compared to other hotels in the area. The customer service was always top notch. The rooms were nice and clean with enough space to store our stuff. The restaurant was pretty good as well, maybe a tad bit over priced but hey itÃÔ a hotel. Out budgets were pretty meager so we stayed with the tipico food of CasadoÃÔ. Side note: after a long day of diving go to a ÅÔoda and order a Casado©Íots of carbs, some meat and its super duper cheap. A soda is a small little local dive that serves cheap, filling and pretty good food!
After check in, we dropped our gear and headed to Rich Coast Diving (RCD) to hook up with them. I knew we were in for some fun as I walked up to the store. This is the picture of a dive shop if there is one. A couple hammocks out front with people chilling out. The shop did not look over commercialized like so many dive shops do. There is even a pet cat that hangs around the shop. We were greeted warmly by the staff and we confirmed that our dives were set up over the next 3 days. We dropped our gear off for safekeeping and explored the town.
The diving in Playas del Coco is not your typical resort diving experience. The water is a little murkier with viz topping out at 30 feet while we were there. Water temps are cooler around 70F on the surface and dropping to 66F below the very present thermo cline. I wore a 5mm full wetsuit, gloves and a hood and was a tad bit chilled at times. I do imagine that the water temps change during the year. The marine life in Playas del Coco was pretty cool. I am not a big fish ID guy so pardon me on that but we saw rays, sharks, big schools of fish, lots of puffer fish, eels, turtles, jellyfish and sea anenomes (sp?). I am sure we saw more stuff, I just donÃÕ know what they are called.
Our first two dives were local dives to ŷita Dor and Ůonkey Head? These are two volcanic formations. The first is a pinnacle that lies under water that you dive around. The second is a formation that sits above the water and looks like a monkey head. Depths were between 60-70fsw, viz 30ft, water temps 72F, dive time about 40 minutes each. Currents on these dives were awesome for diving. The air was warm, the water was pretty warm and the ocean was almost glass.
The next day we did 2 more dives. ŵortuga and Å¢rgentina were the names. Again, these are volcanic formations underwater. These types of dives around a volcanic rock remind me a lot of wall diving. The fish are cool to look at but the live coral is really neat too!. Depths range from 70-80 fsw, viz was 30ft, H2O temps were 66-68F. The currents were slight today, just enough to show you it was there. My most memorable moment happened on this dive. As we were doing our safety stop on the last dive a large school of Sergeant MajorÃÔ, a colorful small fish, were mingling with us. We were shallow enough that the ambient light from the surface reflected on them, making their colors vibrant. We were also shallow enough that the water was pleasantly warm. What a way to end a dive day.
Our last and 3rd day of diving was out to Catalina Island. The boat ride was about an hours or so, the water was a bit rough was we hit the coast of this tiny island. We made an adrenalizing rough water entry with seas about 3-5 ft., the current was quite strong and there was some relatively strong surge underwater. Thank my lucky stars for meclizine©Øhoohoo. Depth was 60fsw, viz was variable between 10-30ft, water temps were about 70F. During the beginning of this dive viz was alright, then all of a sudden, everything closed up pretty tight and it got pretty cold, computer says 70F, I think it was actually colder than that. The exit on this dive was pretty hairy. The waters were rough and the boat slammed me in the ribs, bruising them, as I was pulling myself onto the swim step at the stern of the boat. That is what makes diving so much fun.
The second dive of the day we decided to come back in toward land since the waters were so rough on Catalina Island. We dove on Punta Gorda, another rock formation. The current was still a tad bit rough but compared to Cat Island, this was cake for sure. During this dive I had my first diving issue. I usually do a very thorough check of my equipment before every dive, regardless if a DM sets it up for me. On this dive though I forgot to check that my weights were in my integrated BCD. So I am in the water trying to descend and nada, it wasnÃÕ happening. The DM forgot to put my weights in and I forgot to check©Ãlah. Back to the boat to recover my weights and down I went.
Profile for this dive was about the same as the one on Catalina Island.
Rich Coast Diving is a top notch dive operation. They operates a number of well maintained boats. The staff is very professional with the technical knowledge to keep you safe and the personality to make the dive fun. A lot of the DMÃÔ and instructors seem to be your typical world traveling SCUBA dudes and dudettes, hopping from one place to another experiencing the best diving this earth has to offer. The wages are pretty meager I am sure but oh what fun. We stayed at the shop for a while on our last day and had some beer with them, chatted and it all felt so family like.
These are memories that I will remember for a life time, and if I get senile and forget, well I have it all written down now
I have some other information about our trip to La Fortuna which is located in the North Central area of Costa Rica. I am going to summarize this since this is SCUBAboard, not travelboard.
La Fortuna is a town of adventure. You want whitewater rafting? Zip lining? Canyoneering? This is the place to go. We hooked up with a company called Desafio Adventure Company. Awesome company to hang with. They have a good solid company infrastructure. The employees are receptive, technical and safe. The highlight of this part of the trip?WHITEWATER RAFTING down the Rio Toro. Class 3-4 rapids are a rush!
If you want more information on this part of the trip, just ask me and I will post it.
We decided to travel to Costa Rica because we are both divers but, there is also a lot more to do and see in Costa Rica besides diving.
Our first three days we committed to diving. After a lot of research we chose to dive with Rich Coast Diving. They were great every step of the way. They have some great package deals for lodging and diving. They even contacted me by phone since I didnÃÕ have an international calling package. First impressions are important and they certainly made a good one impression on us prior to us even getting there.
We took a flight from Norfolk, VA (ORF) to Houston (IAH) then onward to Liberia Airport in Costa Rica on Continental Airlines. Liberia Airport (LIR) is very small and not really developed yet but it gets the job done. When we landed in LIR the first thing we noticed is the heat and humidity. It felt so good coming from VA where the temps were in the 50ÃÔ when we left. We got through immigration in a jiffy, got all our bags and caught a cab to our hotel for $45. The hotel was about 30 minutes away. We stayed at the Coco Palms Hotel in Playas del Coco.
Playas del Coco is located on the north Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. The beaches are a little dirty but the scenery is very nice. This is a volcanic beach, the sand is a bit darker than the white sandy beaches of Hawaii. There are many boats moored just off the beach. Some of these very boats were going to become our friends during our dives.
The hotel we stayed at was very nice compared to other hotels in the area. The customer service was always top notch. The rooms were nice and clean with enough space to store our stuff. The restaurant was pretty good as well, maybe a tad bit over priced but hey itÃÔ a hotel. Out budgets were pretty meager so we stayed with the tipico food of CasadoÃÔ. Side note: after a long day of diving go to a ÅÔoda and order a Casado©Íots of carbs, some meat and its super duper cheap. A soda is a small little local dive that serves cheap, filling and pretty good food!
After check in, we dropped our gear and headed to Rich Coast Diving (RCD) to hook up with them. I knew we were in for some fun as I walked up to the store. This is the picture of a dive shop if there is one. A couple hammocks out front with people chilling out. The shop did not look over commercialized like so many dive shops do. There is even a pet cat that hangs around the shop. We were greeted warmly by the staff and we confirmed that our dives were set up over the next 3 days. We dropped our gear off for safekeeping and explored the town.
The diving in Playas del Coco is not your typical resort diving experience. The water is a little murkier with viz topping out at 30 feet while we were there. Water temps are cooler around 70F on the surface and dropping to 66F below the very present thermo cline. I wore a 5mm full wetsuit, gloves and a hood and was a tad bit chilled at times. I do imagine that the water temps change during the year. The marine life in Playas del Coco was pretty cool. I am not a big fish ID guy so pardon me on that but we saw rays, sharks, big schools of fish, lots of puffer fish, eels, turtles, jellyfish and sea anenomes (sp?). I am sure we saw more stuff, I just donÃÕ know what they are called.
Our first two dives were local dives to ŷita Dor and Ůonkey Head? These are two volcanic formations. The first is a pinnacle that lies under water that you dive around. The second is a formation that sits above the water and looks like a monkey head. Depths were between 60-70fsw, viz 30ft, water temps 72F, dive time about 40 minutes each. Currents on these dives were awesome for diving. The air was warm, the water was pretty warm and the ocean was almost glass.
The next day we did 2 more dives. ŵortuga and Å¢rgentina were the names. Again, these are volcanic formations underwater. These types of dives around a volcanic rock remind me a lot of wall diving. The fish are cool to look at but the live coral is really neat too!. Depths range from 70-80 fsw, viz was 30ft, H2O temps were 66-68F. The currents were slight today, just enough to show you it was there. My most memorable moment happened on this dive. As we were doing our safety stop on the last dive a large school of Sergeant MajorÃÔ, a colorful small fish, were mingling with us. We were shallow enough that the ambient light from the surface reflected on them, making their colors vibrant. We were also shallow enough that the water was pleasantly warm. What a way to end a dive day.
Our last and 3rd day of diving was out to Catalina Island. The boat ride was about an hours or so, the water was a bit rough was we hit the coast of this tiny island. We made an adrenalizing rough water entry with seas about 3-5 ft., the current was quite strong and there was some relatively strong surge underwater. Thank my lucky stars for meclizine©Øhoohoo. Depth was 60fsw, viz was variable between 10-30ft, water temps were about 70F. During the beginning of this dive viz was alright, then all of a sudden, everything closed up pretty tight and it got pretty cold, computer says 70F, I think it was actually colder than that. The exit on this dive was pretty hairy. The waters were rough and the boat slammed me in the ribs, bruising them, as I was pulling myself onto the swim step at the stern of the boat. That is what makes diving so much fun.
The second dive of the day we decided to come back in toward land since the waters were so rough on Catalina Island. We dove on Punta Gorda, another rock formation. The current was still a tad bit rough but compared to Cat Island, this was cake for sure. During this dive I had my first diving issue. I usually do a very thorough check of my equipment before every dive, regardless if a DM sets it up for me. On this dive though I forgot to check that my weights were in my integrated BCD. So I am in the water trying to descend and nada, it wasnÃÕ happening. The DM forgot to put my weights in and I forgot to check©Ãlah. Back to the boat to recover my weights and down I went.
Profile for this dive was about the same as the one on Catalina Island.
Rich Coast Diving is a top notch dive operation. They operates a number of well maintained boats. The staff is very professional with the technical knowledge to keep you safe and the personality to make the dive fun. A lot of the DMÃÔ and instructors seem to be your typical world traveling SCUBA dudes and dudettes, hopping from one place to another experiencing the best diving this earth has to offer. The wages are pretty meager I am sure but oh what fun. We stayed at the shop for a while on our last day and had some beer with them, chatted and it all felt so family like.
These are memories that I will remember for a life time, and if I get senile and forget, well I have it all written down now
I have some other information about our trip to La Fortuna which is located in the North Central area of Costa Rica. I am going to summarize this since this is SCUBAboard, not travelboard.
La Fortuna is a town of adventure. You want whitewater rafting? Zip lining? Canyoneering? This is the place to go. We hooked up with a company called Desafio Adventure Company. Awesome company to hang with. They have a good solid company infrastructure. The employees are receptive, technical and safe. The highlight of this part of the trip?WHITEWATER RAFTING down the Rio Toro. Class 3-4 rapids are a rush!
If you want more information on this part of the trip, just ask me and I will post it.
