Cocos Island – Costa Rica is a top diving spot in the country. Divers from all over the world visit this island year-round to get up close and personal with some of most magnificent sea creatures that live in its waters.
Location
Cocos Island – Costa Rica is located approximately 550 kilometers or about 340 miles off the Pacific Shores of the country.
Getting There
The only way to get to Cocos Island – Costa Rica is via a boat ride. Your best option is to take off from the Puntarenas Port which is about thirty hours away; hence, live-aboard cruises are the best means of reaching the island.
This being said, you will have to book a tour to the island and this is usually provided by several dive operators that you can find right in Costa Rica.
You will have to coordinate with your dive operator for pick-up points as some operators do not have pick-up services in a number of hotels in Costa Rica.
What to See and Do
There is plenty to see and do in Cocos Island – Costa Rica once you get there. You can visit the two bays that are found within the island: Bahia Wafer and Bahia Chatham.
As you walk around the island, you can see rich and colorful flowers as the island has about two hundred and thirty-five different species of flowering plants. It has a tropical moist forest, the only one that you can find in an oceanic island in the east Pacific region.
The best things to see however are the marine creatures that live in the waters of the island. Yellowfin tuna, giant mantas, white-tip sharks, hammerhead sharks and whale sharks can be seen swimming in the waters.
Brief History
In 1978, Cocos Island – Costa Rica was given the status of National Park through an Executive Decree. Almost twenty years later, it was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was in 1997.
Because of its rich flora and fauna, particularly its marine fauna; Cocos Island – Costa Rica was voted as among the top ten best dives sites in the world by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
World-renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau has gone to the island on several occasions and in 1994, he declared that the island is “the most beautiful island in the world.”
Cocos Island – Costa Rica is an uninhabited island except for the park rangers living here to protect the area. There are only about thirty-three of them in the island.
Cost
The cost to visit the island depends on your specific dive operator. The National Park Fee is $35 per person, per day. Expeditions to the island via dive trips and cruises can range anywhere from $3,435 up to $5,845.
Other Information
Cocos Island – Costa Rica experiences heavy rainfall for most of the year, with a short respite between the months of January and March. Lower rainfall is also experienced between the months of September and October.
