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Dive Review of Nautilus Adventures in
Costa Rica/Cano Island

Nautilus Adventures: "Ocean and Land", Aug, 2024,

by Daniel Turgeon, QC, CA ( 1 report). Report 13186.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

Hotel Marriott Belen Some trees actually eat each other Mel and I at park entrance Lost plane Future Big Butterflies
Cudas More Cudas Tapir Siesta

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations For Subscribers Only Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude For Subscribers Only Environmental Sensitivity For Subscribers Only
Dive Operation For Subscribers Only Shore Diving For Subscribers Only
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ For Subscribers Only
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced For Subscribers Only
Comments Land and Ocean

My daughter Melanie, the aspiring wildlife photographer and documentarian, was returning to university in a few weeks. After a long summer of working, I decided that it was time for her to experience not just her first liveaboard trip, but also trekking into the rainforest of Costa Rica’s wild southern west coast. Doing some research, I discovered that Nautilus Adventures had an expedition that combined both diving and hiking.
Our departure from Montreal was on a direct flight to Costa Rica, which, five and a half hours later, landed at San Jose’s Juan Santamaria airport. Everything went very well and after getting our gear and clearing customs we overnighted at the beautiful Marriott Hacienda Belen hotel where our shuttle was to pick us up the next day for the journey to Golfito where our ship the Nautilus Explorer was moored.
We awoke to a glorious morning and after breakfast met with our Nautilus representative Anna who informed us that due to traffic conditions our shuttle would be delayed. The drive to Golfito is approximately five and a half hours. To fly takes only an hour, but since these are smaller planes there are luggage restrictions. With all our dive and personal gear, we didn’t fit the bill. So, we decided to bide our time to wander the hotel’s grounds which were spectacular. We got to witness a teaser of what awaited us on this trip. We observed and photographed crimson fronted parakeets, ruddy quail-doves, boat-billed flycatchers, white throated magpie jays, and great-tailed grackles. Between the foliage a large colourful orb-weaver spider also posed elegantly for us in the center of it’s web waiting patiently for its next meal.
The shuttle took us along the western coast through all the many surfing destinations and plantations. We arrived where the Nautilus Explorer was docked to be greeted with welcoming smiles and glasses of champaign. Our luggage was brought to our assigned cabins and the dive gear was taken to our already waiting cylinders. I had been on this ship before on a trip to Socorro where I had the pleasure of being in a state room. This time we were below deck in our own cabin. The two beds we had were quite comfortable with a sink ni ... Subscribe to get the full story. For Subscribers Only  Active subscribers continue reading here
Websites Nautilus Adventures   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Canada (Great Lakes and both coasts), Cayman isles, Bonaire, Florida, Cozumel, Socorro, Cocos, Hawaii, Roatan, Belize, Bahamas,
Closest Airport Juan Santamaria / San José Getting There Direct, non/stop flights from Montreal

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy, cloudy Seas choppy, currents
Water Temp 80-76°F / 27-24°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 0-60 Ft/ 0-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Nitrox profiles, computer diving only, do not go blue
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins 1 or 2 Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales > 2
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish For Subscribers Only
Small Critters For Subscribers Only Large Fish For Subscribers Only
Large Pelagics For Subscribers Only

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter For Subscribers Only Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's For Subscribers Only Shore Facilities For Subscribers Only
UW Photo Comments Great setup table on the dive deck with plenty of charging ports. We also had o ... Subscribe to get the full story. For Subscribers Only  Active subscribers continue reading here
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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