Costa Rica Dive

Guanacaste, is Costa Rica’s northern province, famous for the sun, the nice beaches, the volcanoes, the adventure tours and the good diving. The starting point for good diving is Playas del Coco or Coco Beach. Coco Beach is a small fisherman’s town that eventually was turned into a tourist destination in itself. Lots of activities happen around Coco, and diving is one of them. But, how is diving in Guanacaste?

costa rica sharks

In Guanacaste, you would regularly see Southern Stingrays, Spotted Eagle Rays, a variety of eels, White-tip Reef Sharks, tons of Puffer and Porcupine Fish, Octopus, turtles, Seahorses, lobsters, Nudibranchs and numerous schools of many different varieties of fish. At the more advanced sites like the Catalina Islands, and the Bat Islands, you would commonly see many larger animals such as Giant Manta Rays, Whale Sharks, and Bull Sharks. On the surface you would often get the pleasant surprise visit of dolphin pods, hump back whales and pilot whales!

There are various kinds of small coral formations, which include both soft and hard sponges, as well as an unparalleled array of marine plants.  They grow on the amazing volcanic rock formations that make up the remarkable bottom topography here.

One of the local sites that you would often be taken to, Tortuga, has a cute 30 ft. fishing vessel called “Rusty II” at about 70 ft.  There are many stories explaining why it sunk, but Rich coast’s is definitely the best!

All the dives at the Catalina and Bat Islands are drift dives…. You would also drift from Play Penn to Punta Argentina if the current allows you. This is a local dive. The average range of visibility is 15 to 60 feet (5 to 18 meters) depending on the amount of plankton the tides bring in for the big fish.

The night diving here is incredible!  All the marine life that is napping during the day, such as the 6 ft. moray eels and octopus roam the waters creating a spectacular show!

Hacienda Guachipelin has partnered with Rich Coast Diving to offer Guachipelin’s  guests an unforgetable diving experience in Guanacaste. Rich coast operates since early 1993 in Playas del Coco. Rich Coast is a PADI 5 Star IDC facility in Costa Rica offering a full range of PADI scuba diving courses, beginning from entry level courses through to PADI Professional Dive Courses, and of course, fun dive tours and snorkel trips, catering to divers who appreciate personal attention, diving in small groups on the most comfortable boats. The owners, Brenda van Gestel, PADI Master Instructor, and Martin van Gestel in-house Course Director, are great hosts and fun to be around, yet serious and very professional with their job. A two tank dive is $80 and $20 for equipment.

Hacienda Guachipelin can arrange diving or snorkeling trips with Rich Coast Diving any time. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity, Adventures in Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, in Hacienda Guachipelin and Diving at Playas del Coco, with Rich Coast Diving, Land and Sea.