Dive Conditions
Visibility: 55 ft
Water Temp. 84°F
mild
strong
Weather
sunny
rainy
calm
choppy
Crossings
calm
choppy
calm
choppy
Sea Hunter
Photo by Lyu Yong Sheng
Trip Report: Final Adventure of 2023!!
In our grand finale trip for the year, we were super lucky to have been graced with ideal weather and ocean conditions. The sea was calm and flat all week, with the sun brightly shining down, and the conditions at the island were just lovely.
We began our adventure at Chatham Bay for our check-out dive, where we were greeted by many whitetip reef sharks and a multitude of fish. Our dive at Manuelita Out showed us a marble ray, more whitetips, and three yellowfin tunas hunting. Then in Manuelita Channel/Coral Garden, we played with a majestic giant manta ray! The coral reef here was teeming with fish, and bluefin trevallies were actively hunting creole fish.
Photo by Lyo Yong Sheng
On our second day, we ventured to Punta Maria. Our sightings here included Galapagos sharks and multiple whitetip reef sharks. There was a cold thermocline and a pinnacle full of creolefish. Our next stop was Dirty Rock, where we spotted a hammerhead and a Galapagos shark near the rock formation. However, the true highlight was the massive school of bigeye jacks at the pinnacle. Our afternoon dive at Pajara was calm and serene, with plenty of reef fish.
Day 3 took us to Alcyone for a peaceful dive with Galapagos sharks and five eagle rays. Our afternoon dive in the Coral Garden was equally delightful, with the reef brimming with fish and around ten whitetips hunting beside a few black jacks.
Photo by Lyo Yong Sheng
Over the following days, we visited Big Dos Amigos — which was spectacular with its arch full of fish. At Manuelita Outside, we saw 5 marble rays in formation. At Alcyone we were greeted by 3 blacktips, a silky shark, and eagle rays. Despite relatively low visibility, Dirty Rock offered us a wonderful experience with a school of jacks surrounding the pinnacle and Galapagos sharks.
For our final day, we revisited both Alcyone and Dirty Rock, where eagle rays and a Galapagos shark graced us with their presence. During our last dive at Manuelita Outside, we encountered numerous whitetips and a large oceanic blacktip to bid us farewell.
That’s a wrap to 2023. What an incredible year of diving adventures – Pura Vida!! Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays and a marvelous 2024!
From seeing dolphins chasing our bow wave at night as we cruised to Cocos, like ghostly wraiths of bioluniesence, to seeing hammerheads and galapagos sharks, the trip was great. I plan to come back in the rainy season. Crew was great and the dive guides excellent.
Part of the experience of visiting the Cocos is how remote it is. Crossing the Pacific and staring at all that open water is a humbling experience. Once reaching the islands, there was a sense of relief and excitment as we dropped anchor in paradise. As with any dive, we are visiting nature and there are no garuntees of what will be seen. I understood we were travelling off season and it would be less likely to see big schools of sharks. However, Brayan and the crew worked hard to coordinate with the national park and other boats in order to secure access to premier dive spots with more sharks. On our repeat dive to Alcyone, I had a lone hammerhead approach me from the blue water. It was patient and graceful as it slipped through the water to take a look before disappearing into the blue again. Brayan was courteous and attentive. He made sure all our needs were met and made special accomodations for guests regarding food and dive sites. The dive masters Hector and Fernando were highly skilled and great to dive with. I always felt safe. Most of all they were fun to hang out with. Pollito was a great server/busser ar dinner. Balin and Pipi were very kind and always made sure to say hello