Dive Review of Undersea Hunter in
Costa Rica/Cocos Island

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Undersea Hunter, Nov, 2007, by Mike Judd, OR, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports). Report 4146.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Be aware that it's a 30 - 36 hour ride from the mainland out to Cocos. What the crew said was an average passage seemed pretty rocky to me; not recommended for those prone to mal de mer. Cabins we about average size, and the AC and hot water worked. The food was certainly not gourmet, and not a lot of choices, but generally appetizing. Once you set up your gear on a tank on one of the tenders it stays there, which saves a lot of work. Rides from the mother ship to the dive sites ranged from 5 to 30 minutes. The dive guides were competent and pleasant, but nothing special. A couple of the tender drivers seemed to always be racing to get to the sites, which often resulted in wetter and bouncier rides than necessary. The crew on the main boat provided good service and were enjoyable personalities. The big attraction here is hammerheads, which were present on every dive. Didn't see any of the large schools you see in the pictures, but often groups of up to a dozen. Many of the dives were little more than descending to a good spot at 50' - 100' and hanging on to the rocks while we watched the parade go by, which was fine. They would often cruise within 15 - 20 feet if everybody sat still (unfortunately that didn't always happen, as a couple of people in the group often just had to get their camera a little closer for that killer shot!). We saw other varieties of shark on about half the dives, including Galapagos and Silvertip. There were also the smaller white-tips frequently around, to the point where you had to sometimes shoo them away like pesky puppies. Marble rays were everywhere, with a lesser number of eagle rays and the occasional manta. Large schools of tuna (mostly small) and lots of large jacks. All in all, a great place if you like sharks and other big fish. All dives had some current, often quite strong. Costa Rica has enough interesting sights on land that it's worth sticking around for a few extra days. Arenal Volcano is worth seeing. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, and although the top of the mountain was clouded over (as is often the case), stayed up half the night watching and listening to glowing lava rocks roll down the slope only a couple of miles away. There's not much to see in San Jose, and definitely avoid driving there in rush hour. Monte Verde was interesting, but maybe not worth the miles of terribly bumpy road to get there. The Best Western Irazu Hotel is overpriced, and one of the rooms we had there had an unpleasant moldy smell.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Maldives, Fiji, Caribbean, Palau, Truk, Philippines
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	76-78°F / 24-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	40-60 Ft/ 12-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Generally stayed in a loose group with dive guide; not strict.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Undersea Hunter in Costa Rica/Cocos Island

Undersea Hunter, Nov, 2007,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Undersea Hunter in
Costa Rica/Cocos Island