Sea Hunter July 27 – August 6, 2023 | Cocos Island Trip Report

The crossing to Cocos was smooth with a calm sea, sunshine, and enthusiastic divers. Upon reaching Cocos, we experienced similar calm conditions with excellent visibility (+70 ft), but very warm water temperatures (86F) due to El Niño. This expedition we enjoyed an incredible week of diving, which included huge schools of hammerheads, close encounters with tiger sharks and watching a breaching humpback whale and calf from the panga!

Day 1: Chatham Bay and Manuelita Island

During our checkout dive in Chatham Bay, we saw numerous juvenile white tips. The cleaning stations at Manuelita Channel and Outside were not very active, but we had the chance to see a giant moray eel, a blacktip reef shark, a black turtle, and a few hammerheads buzzing around.

Day 2: Punta Maria, Dirty Rock & Pajara

Day 2 at Punta Maria we encountered a strong current and thermocline. Some white tip reef sharks, bluefin trevallies, and black jacks were hunting around the pinnacle, with just one hammerhead in the distance. The dive at Dirty Rock was great with sightings of a turtle, 3 marble rays, and a Galapagos shark. The highlight was at the end when a small group of about 20+ hammerheads came up from the bottom, getting extremely close to the group. The afternoon dive in Pajara was lively, with a healthy coral formations teeming with snappers, rockmover wrasses, and lobsters.

Day 3: Alcyone, Submerged Rock, and Pan de Azucar

Alcyone was lovely with two large eagle rays around the rock and a few hammerheads, especially during the safety stop, along with schools of jacks and mullet snappers. Submerged Rock was quiet with some reef fish and whitetip reef sharks. Pan de Azucar, a new dive site, was impressive with its healthy coral formation full of life, a frogfish, and a curious sea turtle playing with the group.

Day 4: Dos Amigos Grande and Manuelita Coral Garden

The arch at Dos Amigos Grande was bustling with life, including a large school of jordan snappers and hunting black jacks. Small Dos Amigos was also very active. The thermocline (82F) was at about 100 feet, with many hammerheads using the cleaning station. The dive in Manuelita Coral Garden was good, with many white tips, snappers, morey eels, and sea stars along the sandy bottom.

Day 5: Dirty Rock, Punta Maria and Manuelita Coral Garden

Dirty Rock was excellent, with a cold thermocline under 100 ft and an active cleaning station with hammerhead sharks. Punta Maria was quiet with a turtle, bluefin trevallies, and hunting black jacks around the pinnacle. The afternoon dive at Coral Garden was fantastic, with many hammerheads close to the sandy bottom and small groups in the blue.

Day 6: Manuelita Outside, Alcyone, and More Eagle Rays

Manuelita Outside had a cold thermocline (78F) at 100 ft, with hammerheads and marbled rays close to the sand. At Alcyone, we had five eagle rays swimming in front of the group for 20 minutes, schools of jacks, and some hammerheads during the safety stop. Wahoos swam around the group during the drift.

Day 7: Alcyone for the win!

On the last day, we enjoyed a phenomenal dive at Alcyone with three Galapagos sharks, two oceanic blacktips in deep waters, two eagle rays, schools of jacks, and the best part – a school of around 100+ hammerheads around the group for a full 10 minutes. Although visibility at Dirty Rock wasn’t the best, the big sharks were there, including Galapagos, some hammerheads in deep waters, schools of jacks, marble rays, and a large school of hammerheads during the safety stop. What a fantastic way to wrap up the trip!