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Diving Guanacaste and Playas del Coco

The Diving conditions are good year round. Of course it is not the Caribbean with 100ft viz and the colorful coral-reef, but it’s a fabulous sport for a big fish and incredible amounts of marine life. Seasonal changins assure additional variations of the marine fauna. The water is nicest (calm, warm, clear) April through August. The water temperature goes slightly down during November to march, but the dry, warm weather will make up for this!
The local dive sites- 10 to 30 min away- offer a wide variety of exploration dive for all levels of divers and courses. Maximum depth for most sites is around 75 ft/ 25 m, with some exceptions that go below 90 ft/ 30 m and some being as shallow as 40 ft/ 12 m. mooring line mark:
Visibility: Average: 15 to 45 ft/ 5 to 15 m

• Low: 5 ft/ 3m
• High: 75 ft/ 25m

Water Temperature: Average: 80 F/ 27 C

• Low: 68 F/ 20C
• High: 83 F/ 29C

What to bring
All Dive Shops offer good and complete diving-gear that can be rented between $20 and $30 per day. Usually a 3mm full wet-suit is enough to do a couple of dive. Get something warmer for extended, repetitive dives over a longer period. Don’t forget your diving certification and log- books, even if PADI certifications can be checked on the internet. Even if all dives are accompanied with professional guides, take your computer for your safety and independence. All boats are at least equipped with oxygen- and first aid kit, radio and life jackets and offer drinks and snacks during the excursions. The diving rates, usually a bit lower in Playas del Coco itself, also include tanks and weight.
What to do
For certified divers, all operators offer morning double-thank dives; some also do single- or triple- tank excursions, afternoon and night dives but also personal scheduled excursions if you ask for it. Dive Certifications range from introduction dives (“Resort Course” or Discover Scuba diving) over the first level *Open Water Diver) to the professional level of a Dive Master. Advanced divers can join trips to the Catalinas (about 30 miles/ 45 km South) or the BAT Island (40 miles/ 60 km North). Both places need a certain experience as the dives are usually held as drift dives with occasionally strong currents. Some of these dive sites can also reach over 100 ft.
From December to March, migrating Manta- Rays make the Catalina Island a more than existing excursion even if it is beautiful year round dive destination to see more sharks and rays of all kinds. During the about 45 to 60 min ride to these Islands along the beautiful coast line, you’ll be entertained by dolphins, mating turtles, jumping Devil-Rays and chasing Bonitos making the flat surface foam. This is also the time of the year when you are most likely to cross the way of a Whale- Shark at any of the local dive sites.
What to see
The plankton rich waters of the Gulf attract the incredible diversity of marine life, including the entire food-chain from the smallest to the biggest, offering spectacular underwater action. The local dive sites attract divers year round, especially for the big ones:  reef- and Nurse-Sharks, Spotted Eagle-Rays Southern Sting-Rays sometimes in the dozens and turtles are the most common ones. The schooling  grunts, snappers or Bigeyes-Jacks also have to be considered as “big” since you commonly see them in the  thousand s moving in big clouds, so dense,  you can’t see the reef anymore! Many excursions are escorted by Dolphin, surfing the waves of your dive boat. If you’re lucky during your surface interval, you might assist to the fabulous appearance of whales such as Pilot, False Killer, Humpbacks and even Orcas that just cruise by.
It’s just  as exiting as joining a trip to the Bat Islands that you reach in about one and a half to 2 hours, crossing the Gulf northwards through the open sea. It’s hard to find a more remote dive destination than this group of small island reaching out in the sea from the last tip of the Santa Elena Peninsula. Even if the access is sometimes impossible due to the rough sea during the summer months (Nov. to March), some people have rated this as real world-class diving! No wonder after a face with a Bull-Shark at “The Big Scare” or a “fish-works” of Crevalle Jacks shooting into an exploding wall of grunts mixed with snappers, clearing the view on a dozen of eagle rays followed by a rain of Green Jacks at “Bajo Negro”. Don’t miss this great opportunity to live the fabulous adventure of exploring the “downside” of Costa Rica!