Costa Rica scuba diving

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Overview
Costa Rica is a rapidly emerging scuba diving destination whose underwater wonders cover coastal coral reefs and offshore islands. The water is warm (75-85°F), and what surprises divers is the tremendous underwater activity, thanks to high nutrient concentrations. The dive spots are varied, and visibility ranges from 30-120 feet. The marine life is abundant and includes giant manta rays, sharks, angel fish, sea turtles, intricate coral formations, sea slugs, spiny puffer fish, sea fans, dolphins and, at the right time, whales. The country contains enough marine life for the most experienced of divers and for snorkelers. Costa Rica is also a great place to learn how to scuba dive; many dive centers offer relatively inexpensive certification courses in English that can be completed in less than a week. Most lodges or hotels offering diving have their own in-house dive operation, or more commonly create packages in conjunction with a nearby dive center.The most popular diving areas are: Nicoya Peninsula and Osa Peninsula (Pacific Coast), Cocos Island, and the Caribbean coast. The 4 best dive sites are islands: Cocos, Caño,  Bat and Catalina.

North Pacific
The Pacific has possibly the country's best general diving; plenty of large fish, but with less coral than the Caribbean. The favorite Pacific diving area is the northwest of Nicoya Peninsula. Here several dive centers are located in Playa del Coco, Ocotal and Hermosa. They provide dive trips to several spots in the local areas, in Culebra Bay, to the Bat Islands (Islas Murcielagos) to the northwest, and often to the Catalina islands. At both Bat and Catalina, large pelagic fish can be seen which frequently include sharks and manta rays. The dive centers in Flamingo usually take people to Catalina islands, about five miles off shore, sometimes go to Bat Islands in winter (approximately May-December, when the strong trade wind does not blow), and dive closer onshore. Best visibility and water temperatures are from June to September, although the conditions can change from day to day.The diving off Costa Rica's northwest coast is on volcanic rock pinnacles. Most of these formations are at 40-90 foot depths. Typical dives start at about 40 feet, gradually going deeper around the pinnacle, then back along the inland side of the pinnacle. The entire dive normally has colorful angelfish, pufferfish, jewel and pacific moray eels as well as several different types of parrotfish and occasional sea turtles. At about 50-60 feet, often there are huge schools of jacks, grunts, mackerel or spadefish. This is the depth where the most manta rays, bat rays, eagle rays, and white-tipped sharks are seen. At Bat Island, extremely large bull sharks are often seen; at Catalina, both bull and tiger sharks.

South Pacific
In the south, the best diving off the Pacific coast is found at several underwater reefs near Caño Island, an 800-acre national park one hour from the coast. This is best explored on dive trips offered by some of the lodges in Osa Peninsula. Contrary to the northwest, the best visibility in the waters around Caño occurs in summer (ie the dry season, from Dec-April approx). In general the water is quite clear year round.Caño Island and selected Osa Peninsula coastal sites provide "unequaled parades of pelagic fish" (Skin Diver Magazine): clouds of fish literally block the sun's rays in the clear waters as divers penetrate the fish schools. Brightly colored tropical fish, snapper, tuna, grouper, mackerel, jack, shark, trigger fish, barracuda (typically in schools), manta rays, eels, porcupine fish, sea urchins, octopus, lobster, sponges, sea cucumbers, and other marine species are seen.There are 15 or more types of stony coral species as well as the attendant coral eaters (starfish, mollusks, and hermit crabs). The terrain varies widely and includes 20' reefs, 50' underwater pinnacles, canyons, walls and caves. Visibility is good to excellent all year round; often marine life can be viewed 70' below the surface. Surface sightings include porpoises, Olive Ridley sea turtles, whale sharks, sea snakes and humpback whales.Caño Island and the Osa Peninsula coast are a part of a large marine ecosystem which covers Rio Sierpe, Rio Terraba, and Caño Island. More than one hundred thousand acres of mangrove wetlands and one thousand miles of fresh and salt water rivers, estuaries and tributaries interact with the Pacific ocean through tides which provide for an incredible abundance of marine life. This area of the Pacific is south of the trade winds and therefore characterized by gentle swells and breezes.

Cocos
Cocos Island is a national park about 330 miles southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. Its isolation tends to explain why it has the country's best diving. The Island is itself covered with virgin forest, and the surrounding ocean contains an incredible abundant marine life. Divers often see manta rays, dolphins and schools of 30 or 40 hammerhead sharks. It takes about 36 hours to reach Cocos Island, and some companies have ships that run regular dive cruises there, which last ten days and include three dives per day. Visibility is typically good at all times. 

Caribbean
The main diving places are in the south. Puerto Viejo, south of Cahuita, has a coral reef that is suitable for diving. Punta Cocles and Punta Uva, slightly further south of Puerto Viejo, have better coral formations with plenty of fish. Manzanillo, a small fishing hamlet close to the Panamanian border, also has some reasonable diving. There are also a few good dive spots near Limon, further north, for example beside Uvita Island. Water conditions can change daily, but generally the Caribbean's visibility is best from March- early May and from mid August - mid November.