Dive Conditions
Visibility: 50ft
Water Temp. 75°F
mild
strong
Weather
sunny
rainy
calm
choppy
Crossings
calm
choppy
calm
choppy
Sea Hunter
Photo by Catherine Cushenan @catsharks
We’re just back from another trip to paradise! On the crossing back to the mainland, we spotted a family of 5 orcas and we sailed beside them for over 40 minutes! One of our guests, Catherine Cushenan, caught some spectacular drone footage (see below). You can check out more of her work at @catsharks on Instagram.
The crossing to Cocos Island was a bit rough, which is to be expected at this time of year, but we all made it in one piece. The first day was nice, with an easy check out dive and lots of whitetips, colorful fish, tiger sharks and some hammerheads.
At Punta Maria we saw Glaapagos sharks coming into the cleaning station, and some marble rays as well as bluefin trevally hunting around the pinnacle. Then during the safety stop, a giant manta came and played with us for over 20 minutes!
At Dirty Rock we saw hammerheads at the cleaning station and schools of 50+ out in the blue. The huge school of jacks we saw there was amazing!
On afternoon dives at Viking Rock we saw lots of small creatures, from moray eels to mants shrimp, as well as bigger pelagics like manta rays. At Pajara we encountered tiger sharks and sea horses.
Photo by Catherine Cushenan @catsharks
We had fantastic visibility at Submerged Rock, with so much life in the swimthrough including whitetips, snappers, black jacks and 3 octopuses.
At Alcyone we saw hammerheads streaming in to use the cleaning station, as well as Galapagos sharks, blacktips and tunas hunting. Out in the blue there were schools of 70+ hammerheads.
Our final day at Cocos, we observed 4 tiger sharks, 1 giant manta ray, a mobula ray, eagle rays and some hammerheads at Manuelita Channel. Then there were hammerheads and frogfish in the Coral Garden. Lastly, Small Dos Amigos gave us a phenomenal sendoff with 5 Galapagos using the cleaning stations, as well as hammerheads and wahoos at the safety stop!
Then of course we encountered the pod of orcas on the crossing back to Puntarenas. What an incredible way to wrap up this expedition!
Overall absolutely fantastic. For me definetely the best I experienced so far. One big, big school of hammerheads, Tigers and the beautiful Galapagossharks. Seen Silkies hunting underneath the boat, Orcas on the trip back. Hard to describe. You gotta see this!
The most favorite dives of course were the one with better visibility and when the sharks came close to the divers but of course thats just luck. The seahorse was awesome but kind to sleep all day, frogfish we,re hopefully see tomorrow. The total amount of sharks here is totally amazing!!
Diving at Cocos was a real adventure for me. I never saw so many different shark species at a time before. Diving at Small Dos Amigos was one of my favourites. The Hammerheads and Galapagos sharks came really close. And of course Manuelita Channel was just “amazing” (like lovely Pipi would say!) There I saw the first time a Tiger shark soooo close . The only thing that I am so far still missing at my Cocos experience, is swimming in between a big school of Hammerheads. But the trip has not yet finished… One more day of diving at one of the most incredible places on earth that I have visited so far is waiting… can’t wait to jump into the water again tomorrow ! Muchas gracias a todos del SeaHunter crew! Everything was excellent. Staff was alwys really helpful, food was delicious and the cabin was really spacious! The hot shower in the cabin was super!
Best dive spot is “Small Dos Amigos” Hammerhead-, Galapagos-, White- and Blacktip-Sharks. Eagle-Ray and Manta on the surface on way back. We feel so welcome on board, the crew is everytime helpful, the varios of food is excellent and everz time perfect cooked. A big applause to the effort of the crew.
Small Dos Amigos is best dive spot- so much life and big animal even very close – drift in blue is always amazing as we always saw hammer head schools or manta.
Our favorite dives were at Alcyone, Manuelita channel and both small and big dos amigos. Variety of marine life, specily Sharks (Tigers, Hammer head, Gallapagos… ), Mantas, Eagle rays and even one Turtle. For the very happy end, we observe Orcas on the way back. There is only two words to describe the overall experience: “PURA VIDA”. And still it was one of my best experience (and i had a lot of experience and thousands dives). The crew, begin with Raul the Capitan, the Chef and the delicios food, the inside staf (Javier and his co) and THE two amazing dive masters , Brian and Hector, were incredible. Brian and Hector showed us the best of the best and allways, with a very secure fillings.
My first Manta Ray encounter happened during this cruise, I will never forget it ! Staff is great, always available and helpful. Food and wine tasted great, that’s something coming from a french guy!
Small Dos Amigos and Baja Alcyone for the Tiger, Hammerhead and Galapagos Sharks and Submerged Rock for the striking scenes. I saw all that I had dreamed of and much more beyond my expectations. Photography wise, our schooling hammerheads were below us, rather than above, something to bring me back! The professional Sea Hunter team made the ship our home for 10 days, where our every need was attended to with enthusiasm and interest. An experience I will tell others about and never forget. Our Dive Masters, Brayan and Hector, excelled themselves.