Dive Conditions

Visibility: 58ft

Water Temp. 82°F

Currents

mild

strong

Weather

Climate

sunny

rainy

Sea

calm

choppy

Crossings

to Cocos

calm

choppy

return

calm

choppy

Sea Hunter

We set sail from Puntarenas with a group of divers hailing from Germany, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States. The crossing was choppy at the start, but calmed as we approached the island. 

Our first day at the Coral Garden, we spotted hammerheads and a multitude of colorful fish. Manuelita Outside surprised us with a frogfish and a massive Galapagos shark who swam close to the divers, posing for photos. 

On our second day at Dirty Rock we spent most of our time at the cleaning station observing hammerheads, along with an eagle ray and two Galapagos sharks swimming past. Punta Maria yielded good visibility and an abundant variety of fish around the pinnacle. The afternoon dive at the Coral Garden was lovely – a strong current led to a drift dive ending at Manuelita Outside. We spotted many macro species, like lobsters, moray eels and several fish species endemic to Cocos.

Photo by Stan Jazwinski

On the 3rd day, Alcyone had some strong currents. However, as soon as we reached the bottom, we had the opportunity to observe hammerheads all over the different parts of the rock. We spent a solid 25 minutes at the cleaning station, observing hammers passing near our divers. After seeing a huge school of jacks, we then spent about 20 minutes swimming right beside (and sometimes in the middle of!) a school of over 100+ hammerheads. This truly marvelous experience had us talking about it the entire trip. Bluefin trevallies and whitetips were seen hunting around the cleaning station. Alcyone buzzed with Galapagos, blacktips, and many hammerheads circling. The afternoon was spent at Viking Rock and Pajara, taking in the macro life.

For our 4th day  at Cocos, we made our way to Dos Amigos on the far side of the island. Big Dos Amigos was teeming with life, including blue-and-gold snappers, jacks, eagle rays, whitetips, barberfish, and more. Small Dos Amigos was also excellent, with numerous hammerheads, four Galapagos sharks using the cleaning stations, and even a small school of hammers in the blue. The afternoon dive in Pajara was quiet, with milky water, a single silver tip, and a few whitetips scattered around.

King Angelfish Photo by Stan Jazwinski

Day 5 began by diving at Dirty Rock during a beautiful dive, with some hammerheads passing through the thermocline (in addition to Galapagos sharks and eagle rays). Near the pinnacle, we found a massive school of jacks which let us get nice and close for some photo ops. At Pan de Azucar, visibility wasn’t great but a highlight was the sight of black durgons mating and the surprise visit from a beautiful silvertip passing in close. 

On Day 6, we started our dive at Manuelita Outside with a spectacular dive. At the second cleaning station, we witnessed about 10 hammerheads passing by super close. This was followed by the best moment of the dive at the third cleaning station, where we spent about 25 minutes watching groups of hammerheads repeatedly coming in to get cleaned just 1 or 2 meters away from us! This was the dive where the photographers in our group managed to get their best footage of the trip. At Alcyone, the current was strong. We observed schools of jacks, mullet snappers, and some hammerheads. At Manuelita Out we encountered hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, black tips, yellowfin tunas lurking around the rock and a school of hammerheads in the blue.

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark Photo by Stan Jazwinski

The return crossing back to Puntarenas was peaceful with an overcast but calm sea conditions.

Truely memorable experience, the boat and the staff were exceptional. Great dive sites with my favorites being Dirty Rock, Alcyone and Dos Amigos. More hammerheads, white tips and galapagos sharks than i could count. Staff on the ship are absolutely world class. Amazing, couldnt ask for anymore. Food was great and the facilities did the job.

Damian Wright, New York, USA

Muy buenos buceos, Dos amigos grande y Alcyone mis favoritas. La mejor atencion y servicio de todos los cruceros que he hecho , siempre al servicio del cliente y con toda la simpatia del mundo.

Carlos Gil, Madrid, Spain

What a incredible experience to dive in Cocos Island. Each day brought a new experience for someone who had never seen a Hammerhead before, and had rarely seen any walls of fish as we experienced daily on our trip this week. I was the least experienced diver in the group which kept me close to the dive master at all times so i wasnt missing a thing. Dirty Rock was my favorite site and each time we visited it did not disappoint with loads of Hammerheads. The dive masters were incredibly helpful helping me work on my skills which i had lost during the covid break from diving. I cannot say enough about this area for diving. Whatever you are hoping to see under the water will eventually be seen with there being 3 dives daily. Its a whole new world !

The staff on the Sea Hunter are just as i expected from a crew in Costa Rica. They were always there to help from the moment we came aboard. Fresh towels after each dive, fresh fruit, amazing coffee, clean cabin after diving, and when i stayed behind during a few dives, making sure i was comfortable and didnt need anything. The food was very good, and there was a wide variety of it. I had asked for club soda and there was an abundance of it on board. Evenings were fun when they had a movie which included popcorn. The staff knew everybodys name and always greeted us when they were passing no matter how busy they were. We had a couple of milestones for people – one guest had a 1000 dives under her belt and that was celebrated, and another had birthday which was also celebrated. When the staff discovered we really like local Costa Rican food because we live there part time, we were included in some staff meals that we really loved. Ola de carne should be a lunch for everyone! Thanks to my dive masters Victor and Giovanny for making it possible for me to enjoy the underworld and to everyone else for the comforts of home.

Sarita, Austin Texas, USA

Amazing trip. Everything was fantastic. Dive guides had the perfect balance between safety and fun. And they knew the dive sites and underwater life so well. Giovanni in particular is one of the best dive guides I’ve ever dived with and Nelson is a truly excellent skipper. The sightings of hammerheads were great, especially the big schools and the tiger shark spottings were great. Being torpedoed by a silky from the depths was amazing and memorable too. Great facilities, excellent food and a wonderful team. The skiffs are really comfortable too. Wonderful trip overall and I had one of the most memorable birthdays ever. Thank you

Emma Clark, UK

Great staff and great food. Cabin was very comfortable. Everything ran as planned and on schedule. Boat was well maintained.

Davis Henley, CR & USA

We saw it all. Hammers, a tiger, galapagoes, silky, white tips, black tip, yellow fin, jacks, spotted eaglemrays, marble rays and a manta on the last dive. All crew amazing

Dawn

My favorite dive was Dirty Rock. Alcyone and manuelita outside were also awesome. We saw Hammerheads, Galapagos Sharks and a Manta Ray. Also the school of hammerheads was amazing. Everything provided by sea hunter was excellent. Giovanny and Victor worked extremely hard to provide a safe and excellent dive experience. I was impressed with the dive briefings and thorough knowledge of the area.

Jenny

I had such good dives, definetly amongst the best of my life. I came here to see hammerheads, and I saw them!! Lots of them, schooling, close up, a firework. And little cherry on the top, a very cute frogfish. Thanks for a fantastic diving experience. Staff was very nice and helpful, all was absolutely perfect

Corinne Sandberg, Paris, France

Alcyone and Dirty Rock because of the life around the cleaning stations. I was impressed by the amount of Hammerheads and by the variety of sharks to be seen in one dive. I also liked the large schools of Jacks or Triggerfish. Staff was very helpful and friendly, they were excellent hosts. Food was also excellent, a great variety was offered and also abundant snacks.

Svend Guldbrandsen, Basel Switzerland