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Isla Del Coco on the Undersea Hunter |
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Overview As it happens I've been to Cocos Island twice now. Since both trips were on the same boat within a year of each other I've decided to just do one report for both trips. Basically the first trip was smack dab in the middle of the big El Niño event. As a result the Hammerheads were all way too deep for us sport divers to see - even in the 200 foot visibility we had. The second trip was immediately after the water temperatures returned to normal. This time the Hammerheads were back in a big way. Both trips were on the Undersea Hunter which is perhaps the finest overall dive vessel I've yet been on. Its big, stable, nicely laid out for diving and well run. The crew is great too. Cocos underwater is not the most colorful spot on earth and the diving is challenging but if you like swimming with sharks this is the place to be. The Crew Except for a change in skippers from the first trip to the second the crew was the same on both trips. Roger Eliasson was the captain for my first trip but had transferred to the Undersea Hunter's sister ship Sea Hunter for my second trip. Divemaster Nelson Diaz succeeded him as captain but still retained his divemaster duties. Both are fine captains with extensive local knowledge and enthusiasm for the diving. Peter Kragh is the second divemaster and the onboard technical instructor. Both Nelson and Peter are outstanding divemasters. The rest of the crew was equally good. The panga drivers were always right on with the pickups, the food was good and the boat kept clean. The Boat The Undersea Hunter is a truly outstanding dive boat. At about 90 feet and quite beamy it is incredibly roomy considing that they only take 14 passengers. Being large and heavy it is also very stable in a rough sea. The crossing on my first trip was a bit rough but the boat handled it very well. I will note that if you are prone to seasickness you should take precautions as Cocos is essentially in the middle of nowhere in the open sea. The crossings can be rough and even on site depending on the swell you can be a bit exposed.The dive deck is huge and each diver has a large dive locker and bench plus an outside camera locker that is kept dry. This is important as the cabin in air-conditioned and cameras kept inside would fog instantly upon being brought outside into the tropical air. The dive deck has 110v and 220v power for battery chargers and hot showers for warming up after a dive. Cabins are large and most have ensuite accomodations. Two are 3 person cabins but they are large enough that I didn't find this to be an issue. The cabins near the engine rooms are rather noisy, especially if the boat isn't cruising at full speed. For some reason slower speeds result in an amazingly loud rattle which is certain to drive you up on deck. Fortunately this isn't a problem during the crossings when the engines are revved higher. The salon area is large enough for all 14 passengers and several crewmembers to eat or watch videos at the same time. The boat also has a sundeck above the salon which makes for a nice place to offgass after a dive. Diving Operations Except for night dives all dives were conducted from the boats two pangas. These are 22 foot fiberglass skiffs with tank racks, sunshades, a boarding ladder and twin outboards. Its hard to imagine a dive tender being much better. About the only problem I had with this arrangement was the rough treatment accorded cameras. Seas at some of the sites can be rough, especially the Alcyone seamount. Cameras tended to get bounced around a bit as a result. I'm not sure exactly how this could be avoided but it made me a bit nervous on several occasions. The Undersea Hunter offers both nitrox and Draeger rebreathers. This is a place were rebreathers really shine as they are helpful for getting close to the hammerhead sharks. If you come to Cocos plan on diving either Nitrox or with the rebreathers. Most of the dives are in the 70-110 foot range with somewhat square profiles. If you dive air you'll find yourself doing a lot of sub 30 minute dives. Bring a pony bottle or other redundant air supply too as divers here tend to spread out so that their bubbles don't scare off the sharks for somebody else. 110 feet down and alone is no place to find out your regulator doesn't work. Another thing you don't want to leave behind is your safety sausage. Many of the best dives are open water seamounts and the depths involve tend to warrant long blue water safety stops. If you surface a long way from the boat you'll need something to get their attention. Compressed air sirens, whistles and mirrors are also good things to have as well. The divemasters have sausages with a line on them for hangs while drifting. The sausage is deployed like a lift bag and the boat follows the group while they decompress. The Diving Diving Cocos is probably the closest I've ever come to a religious experience. There's just something magical about watching school of 300 plus hammerhead sharks swimming right over your head. These fish are among the most elegant and graceful in the sea. On several dives I couldn't even bring the camera up to video them because I was so enthralled. If you like big animals, you should sign up for a trip here at once. Whitetip reef sharks are so plentiful here you get bored with them by the second or third dive. Vast shoals of snappers, jacks and grunts are found all over and you can expect an occasional visit by tunas, manta rays and wahoo. If, however, you like coral gardens, colorful tropical reef fishes and lazy 90 minute dives this isn't likely to be your cup of tea. The El Niño pretty much decimated what little coral was here and most of the fish are silver or grey in color. The reef itself is mostly rock covered in really nasty sea urchins. Be really careful where you put your hands. It took mine several months to recover after I impaled myself on one. Dives are deep, short and always adrenaline packed. Relaxation is not really in the offing here. The difference between the conditions from my first visit to the second was amazing. The first trip featured flat calm seas, sunny weather, 82F water, 200 foot visibility and absolutely no hammerheads. Many of the people on the trip were quite dissappointed by their absence but I still thought the diving was pretty good. The second trip had stormy seas, constant rain, about 80 foot vis with less under the thermoclines, water that varied from about 72-78F and hundreds of sharks. I'm told the second trip was much more representative of normal Cocos conditions. Dive Sites Manuelita Island: This is customarily the first dive you will do upon arriving at Cocos. It's really two dive sites in one. The back side is a sheer wall with a couple of hammerhead cleaning stations. Watch for tuna and huge marbled stingrays as well. The front side has a coral garden and is an excellent night dive. This is a really fun place to look for moray eels, lobsters and cabrillas. Dirty Rock: This is one of the more famous sites and rightfully so. It is a small islet with a sister seamount right next to it. The channel between them is one of the best spots to see schooling hammerheads. I've also seen barracuda, huge schools of bigeye jacks, octopus and other amazing things as well. Sharkfin Rock: Another islet, another amazing dive. This one is actually submerged at low tide or close to it anyway. The pinnacle kind of stairsteps down like a ziggeraut with lots of interesting small caves and overhangs. Several times I've had BIG tuna swim right by me here - close enough to feel them go by. This is another good moray spot and I've seen a lot of eagle rays here too. Piqueño Dos Amigos: This is a small island that on my second trip really had some good hammerhead action. There is a wall along one side and when the current is going right you can expect to get a very close up view of the hammerheads. Silverado: And now for something completely different, sort of. This is a shallow, sandy bottom spot that we did several times as a third dive. For some reason it is inhabited by several female silvertip sharks. It can be a hit or miss thign with some dry spells where the sharks don't show but the fact that it is shallow and offers a different shark species makes it worth it. I saw lots of eagle rays out rooting around in the sand here too. Nelson found a frogfish near here too but I didn't get a chance to see it as I was diving with Peter's group. Alcyone: This is frankly the best dive I've every done. It is a deep pinnacle coming up to about 75 feet from the surface and dropping off steeply in all directions. On my second trip here the hammerhead action was positively sensational. At times I'm pretty sure I could see over 300 sharks a once. Schools of whitetip reef sharks, big tunas and snappers feeding and huge morays were all ignored in the face of the armada of hammerheads. About the only thing that distracted us from it was a friendly manta ray. Logistics Getting to Costa Rica is pretty easy from the United States. Several airlines including Continental, American and Taca offer direct flights to San Jose. You'll want to get there a day early to avoid problems. Once the boat leaves for Cocos you can't catch up with it. The crew will pick you up from your hotel and drive you to Puntarena on the coast where the boat is docked. The biggest bummer about travelling to Cocos is the boat ride out and back. It takes about 34 hours. As a result a 10 day trip only nets you 7 days of diving. If you couple this with the fact that the dives are deep and short you don't get a whole lot of time underwater for your dollar, but then who cares when you see so many sharks on each dive that you can't even count them? Another thing to consider is that since Cocos itself is inhabited only by a few park rangers and has no facilities of any kind you'll be on the boat for the entire trip. You might get an hour or two to visit one of the many waterfalls but that's about it. This isn't a place to bring a non-diving spouse. Be prepared for wet weather too. Cocos is one of the wettest places in the whole world - especially during the summer months. Costa Rica itself is a very pretty country and quite modern and civilized. I haven't had a chance to visit the mainland as much as I would like but my somewhat limited experience so far has been quite positive. In summary if you like sharks and other large animals then Cocos should be at the top of your list. If you are trying to accomodate non-divers or dive-neophytes or if you just don't like the idea of spending 10 days on a boat with nothing to do but dive then you should go somewhere else. Me? I'm already thinking about a third trip. Cocos Photo Gallery Happy Diving, Clinton |