{"id":828,"date":"2015-10-27T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T04:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adventurousretirementofficialsite.wordpress.com\/?p=817"},"modified":"2018-12-29T12:28:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-29T17:28:31","slug":"costa-rica-diving-with-big-and-tiny-sea-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventurousretirement.com\/blog\/costa-rica-diving-with-big-and-tiny-sea-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rica Diving with Big and Tiny Sea Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

More on Costa Rica\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span>Diving<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Diving is different, as you are diving in colder waters and around rock formations rather than coral. \u00a0There are more very small colorful creatures, and more larger animals.<\/p>\n

For exa\"Octopus\"mple, I never saw so many octopus out during the day as I did during\u00a0Costa Rica diving.\u00a0 When I look at our pictures, almost every day has photos of octopus.<\/p>\n

Fish Life we Encountered<\/h2>\n

\"Puffers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The cute puffers are everywhere; they were stacked up together all over the holes in the volcanic rock.\u00a0 It was adorable!\u00a0\u00a0\"Blennies<\/a><\/p>\n

And the blennies hide in the rocks – all different colors and patterns. They peek out of their tiny holes in the rock, so look closely to find these little beauties.<\/p>\n

One dive dropped the group off on top of a gigantic whale shark. \u00a0 \u00a0Unfortunately, that was a day we took a dive break. \u00a0Everyone raved about the size and experience.\"Whale<\/p>\n

Out Island Costa Diving<\/h2>\n

We went to some of the islands to see the giant rays.\u00a0 One day when the seas were not too rough \u2013 we still had 3-5 foot seas – we went.<\/p>\n

The currents are strong off of those islands. \u00a0Actually that is an understatement.\u00a0 The currents zing you.\u00a0 You truly need to be an advanced diver for these dives.\u00a0 After our first dive, the novices decided to stay on the boat.\u00a0 The second dive was quite an experience.\u00a0 Once we descended, the dive master led; we held on to each other and traveled together in a line so nobody got carried away by the current.\u00a0 The dive master moved by grabbing rocks to advance forward.\u00a0 We hung on to the legs of one guy who was videoing so we did not lose him.\u00a0 On that dive we were so close to a large school of giant rays that we were careful not to let the current throw us into them. \u00a0I was glad to be\u00a0wearing gloves because I grabbed a rock to hold on, and it was a scorpion fish (yikes!).<\/p>\n

\"Can<\/a>

Can you see the camouflaged scorpion fish?<\/p><\/div>\n

That was quite an\u00a0adventure, and\u00a0it was exhilarating so\u00a0I am glad that I went.<\/p>\n

Water Temps<\/h2>\n

Know that the deeper you go, the colder the thermoclines get.\u00a0 I recall being at about 70 feet and it was freezing, so I looked at my computer and saw 64\u25e6 F. \u00a0So I rose a few feet and the water temperature warmed up enough. \u00a0It was still colder than my preference, but I enjoyed it enough to complete the dive.<\/p>\n

Other Dive Trips<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are long-range dive trips to the Catalina and Bat Islands, 14 and 21 miles from Ocotal respectively.\u00a0 These are home to some of the best of Costa Rica’s diving. The diving here is quite advanced due to extremely strong currents. Dive sites on these islands attract rays, sharks, angelfish, grunts, snapper, octopus, as well as many species of eel. Fish such as buffoon, giant grouper, morays, and a great variety of many other species of different sizes and colors can be seen here. It is best to descend to a depth of 60 feet\u00a0to encounter more species. At 60 feet the visibility is better; horizontal visibility is approximately between 16 and 110 feet. There are 6 dive sites regularly done here.<\/p>\n

Manta rays are most commonly seen at the Catalina Islands between December and April.<\/p>\n

\"Can<\/a>

Can you see the Frog Fish?<\/p><\/div>\n

Gulf of Papagayo<\/h2>\n

There are over 40 dive sites in the Gulf of Papagayo<\/u>. Some of the more popular ones are Aquarium, Surprise, Virador, Monkey Head, Punta Gorda, Baja Tiburones for normal diving and Los Meros and Escorpiones for shallow dives. All are volcanic rock formations with lots of marine life such as spotted eagle rays, white tip sharks, schooling fish, mobule and cow nosed rays, frog fish and sea horses.\u00a0<\/strong>\"Sea<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Popular Costa Rica Dive Areas<\/h2>\n

Another area that is popular but more remote with no real resorts is Cano Island<\/u> near Drake Bay, on the South Pacific coast. It was very interesting, lots of Sting-ray, white-tip-reef sharks, turtles, Jacks, eels etc.<\/p>\n

A place that I still want to go in Costa Rica is Cocos Islands \u2013 340 miles off of the Pacific Coast.\u00a0 It is known for mantas, whale sharks, and hammerheads.<\/p>\n

This site lists the Dive operations in Guanacoste on the Pacific Coast – http:\/\/www.scubatravel.co.uk\/americas\/costa-rica-diving.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Sites for reference – <\/strong>http:\/\/www.padi.com\/scuba\/scuba-diving-trips\/scuba-diving-resort-vacations\/costa-rica\/<\/a>\u00a0Or\u00a0–\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/www.divesitedirectory.co.uk\/costa_rica.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Our Other Posts on Costa Rica<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n