More Boats

There are other boats you can take to dive at Cocos Island. The 120' Okeanos Aggressor carries 21 passengers and runs 10- and 11-day trips out to Cocos. The boat leaves from Puntarenas on the Costa Rican mainland. (800-348- 2628 or 504-385-2628.)

The 115' Sea Hunter runs eight- and eleven-day trips and carries a maximum of 18. The 90' Undersea Hunter carries a maximum of 14 divers. Both depart from Puntarenas. (800-203-2120 or 506-228-6535.)

Our candid reviewer of the Inzan Tiger has not been on the Okeanos Aggressor but rates the Tiger a little higher than his trip on the Undersea Hunter. On the Tiger he was aboard with four and five people while the other Cocos boats carry 14 to 21 divers.

As for Panama, the 115' Coiba Explorer, which has been doing charter fishing trips off of Panama for the past ten years, is slated to offer diving this summer. (800-733-4742 or at www.coibaexplorer.com.)

Rumor is that the Coral Star, a boat I once boarded when it was in Saba (before it moved to do whale trips on the Silver Banks), is being spruced up by a new owner. The owner apparently intends to offer diving off Panama by this July.