Dive Conditions
Visibility: 55 ft
Water Temp. 78°F
mild
strong
Weather
sunny
rainy
calm
choppy
Crossings
calm
choppy
calm
choppy
Sea Hunter
Our first full day of diving kicked off with a bang at Manuelita Outside. Cocos gave us the best kind of welcome with incredible action right from the start. We had big groups of hammerheads coming close to the rocks at the second and third cleaning stations. A large silvertip made an exciting appearance, swimming alongside a hunting pack of bluefin trevallies, even circling our dive group as they chased their prey. More hammerheads joined us as we drifted towards the blue, and we finished the dive in a swirling tornado of bigeye jacks. An unforgettable start to the trip!
On the second day, the highlight was Dirty Rock. We had steady action at the cleaning station with some passing Galapagos sharks. In the blue we encountered a large school of hammerheads circling us in clearer water above the thermocline. It was a great reminder why Dirty Rock is such a classic Cocos dive site!
Day three was pure magic back at Manuelita. All three cleaning stations were packed with hammerheads, schools coming in nonstop. We were lucky to encounter a beautiful whale shark during our safety stop, passing close and slow, giving us an unforgettable experience. Between the hammerheads, a whale shark, and big schools of jacks, it was a textbook perfect Cocos day.
On day four we explored Dos Amigos and Manuelita Coral. Dos Amigos gave us a bit of everything: some nice Galapagos shark encounters, a few hammerheads sneaking by the cleaning station, and a couple of eagle rays gliding along the wall. Back at Manuelita Coral, conditions were a little murky, but we found a cool orange frogfish and a few hammerheads lingering in the deeper part of the dive.
Day five was simply epic! Manuelita Outside delivered one of those special dives where you can barely keep track of all the action. There were hammerheads all over the three cleaning stations, mixed in with a few eagle rays and even another whale shark passing by the group. The activity extended into the blue where we spent time surrounded by hammerheads and bigeye jacks, a real hammerhead festival from start to finish.
Day six was a treat at Dirty Rock and the surrounding sites. We had another whale shark encounter, with the shark making a pass close to the group. The cleaning stations were full of life, with silvertip sharks coming in and large groups of hammerheads cruising by. We also spent time at Punta Maria where a very active cleaning station gave us close encounters with a small silvertip, bluefin trevallies, and a curious dolphin passing by.
For our last diving day, we saved the best for last and returned to Manuelita. It did not disappoint. Hammerheads were absolutely everywhere, at every cleaning station and throughout the dive site. Big schools in the blue, small groups close to the rocks, and constant action from start to finish. To top it all off, we had an incredible pass by a manta ray and some playful dolphins joining us on the ascent. It was the perfect finale to an amazing week of diving.
This trip had it all: hammerhead action every day, multiple whale shark sightings, silvertips, Galapagos, eagle rays, mantas, dolphins, and even some cool little critters like frogfish and mantis shrimp. From the first dive to the last, Cocos Island delivered exactly what it’s famous for, spectacular diving and unforgettable encounters. Another phenomenal week in paradise!
Our group had a wonderful 7 days of diving. We saw almost everything that we had hoped for! Manuelita was by far our favorite dive site this week but I am sure others are just as good during different weeks. We saw schools of Hammerheads on almost every dive and saw at least 1 on every single dive, including the first check out dive. We saw whale sharks, tigers, silver tips, white tips, galapagos, black tips, oceanic black tips, and even some silky sharks. We saw frog fish, giant eels, huge mantas, mobula, cow nose, eagle, and lots of marbled rays too. Large schools of fish were common and I would say we got to swim in giant schools of jacks on 1/3 of the dives, which was always a blast. This is some of the best big animal diving I have ever done!!!
The crew was excellent. The kitchen staff, the engineers, the room cleanliness, the dive briefings, the underwater led dives, the group informational meetings, and everything else was handled professionally with a very fun tone. This was a wonderful trip that I will recommend to others and possibly do again! Juan Manuel, Diego, Luis, Ian, and Rafa were particularly spectacular but the whole crew was amazing. I’m not sure how Juan hasn’t been recruited to Hollywood yet! I hope to see lots of these guys again someday!
Best dive experience ever! Nothing can match the diving in Isla del Coco. We saw hammerheads up close, giant schools of hammerheads, giant mantas, eagle rays, marble rays, tons of different sharks, incl. Silky, Galapagos, Black tips, White tips, massive schools of jacks and various other schooling fish, frog fish and tons of reef life and various eels, and last but not least whale sharks! All in all, unforgettable! Great crew all around!! Juan Manuel stands out as the shining star, always very entertaining, spreading positive vibes, while being very professional and highly skilled dive master. The food was great. I would have expected to eat more fish though.
The first whale shark sighting at Manuelita was very exciting and we were so lucky to see another at Dirty Rock! However, the highlight for me was getting so close to the schooling hammerheads as they seemed to become more comfortable with our presence near the end of the trip. Every single dive was fantastic in its own way 🙂 From the start, I really appreciated the proactivity and communication from the office staff. There was no confusion around the pickup time or location, and that started the trip on an already positive note. Arriving at the boat, everything seemed equally organized so I felt that I would be taken care of throughout the trip…I also liked the drink and snack selection, with the sugar free options especially. Finally, the dive staff for the yellow boat were great and it was nice to have a real boat rather than an inflatable raft to be able to leave the tanks during the week…Finally, I can’t express enough how much of a treasure Manuel was to my trip. The wonderful energy he brought was palpable both above and below the water, and I genuinely can’t imagine this trip being nearly the same without him. I’m relatively new to liveaboard diving and he has set the bar very high going forward.
Every dive was excellent. I liked Manuelita out and dirty rock in particular. Huge schools of hammerheads, hammerheads close and whale sharks were phenomenal. I also enjoyed the dives around dirty rock and Manuelita on slow current day with good visibility to appreciate rock formations and all the life around it. Very good experience. Staff was always ready to help. I really appreciated positive mood and environment that made the entire experience even more enjoyable. Manuel is an excellent cruise director. I appreciated the effort he put into making the experience fun while focused on safety. I also liked guiding style (our group had Manuel and Ian as guides) – instructions were very clear and we were able to dive very well as a group. Food was fantastic – I was very happy to have choices of salads and fruits and all the avo on the trip. I and seems the rest of the group really liked chocopina snack – maybe more f those 😉 Excellent experience and top crew! This is my 12th liveaboard and I would probably the best of all all aspects combined.
The diving was amazing. So many Hammerheads!! The dive team was fun and very accommodating. They gave us the best chance to see all the animals they could. During our trip Manuelita was always a hit and was packed with excitement.