Diving at Cocos Island

Upon landing at the Juan Santamaría International Airport, fast-track through immigrations and transfer by custom-designed SUV to your hotel. Converted from a Victorian mansion, Hotel Grano de Oro fronts a shady street just off the Paseo Colón in downtown San José. Its 40 guest rooms and suites evoke a cozy colonial feel, with some featuring small private patios set in a tropical garden. Gather with your host, Geoffrey Kent, and fellow guests for a festive welcome dinner this evening.

After breakfast, transfer by helicopter to Costa Rica’s western coast to board your vessel, ‘Remember When.’ This 162-foot pleasure craft is your welcoming home after a day of exploring, featuring sumptuous staterooms, stylish gathering spaces and a dedicated crew complete with dive instructor, masseuse and private chef. Weigh anchor and begin your cruise to Cocos Island, roughly 300 nautical miles off the Costa Rican coast. Spend this full day of cruising the Pacific Ocean relaxing with your expert hosts and fellow guests, learning about the destination and spotting marine life.

Arrive at the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cocos Island, dubbed “the most beautiful island in the world” by Jacques Cousteau. Your next five days offer a rich variety of aquatic activities. Choose between scuba dives or submersible dives from ‘Argo,’ your expedition vessel and home base for each day’s adventures on the water. ‘Argo’ serves as mothership to the two-man submersible ‘DeepSee,’ your entry to a world yet to be discovered on the ocean floor. Your deep-sea submarine dive helps contribute information and data vital in preserving and protecting Costa Rica’s oceans — and offers access to depths no scuba diver can reach. Among the sites that can be visited aboard ‘DeepSee’ are: Everest | Depth of 260 feet (80 meters) This is a unique seamount teeming with marine life. The base of Everest starts at 300 feet (100 meters) and its peak rises to 150 feet (50 meters). Everest is still fed by sunlight and so is rich with corals, reef fish, rays and sharks. The dive starts at the foothills of the seamount, climbing slowly along the face of the inclined wall toward the peak. At these depths, you may observe schooling hammerhead sharks, mobula rays, silky sharks and big tuna fish cruising around the seamount. Some of the local residents of Everest include a family of large groupers that often greets ‘DeepSee’ and approaches her for a closer look. Dive duration: 1 hour. The Wall | Depth of 1,000–1,500 feet (300–450 meters) On this dive, leave the mobulas behind and head down along the wallbreak described above as you venture into even deeper waters. Explore sheer vertical sections of the wall, as well as ledges, overhangs and steep sandy slopes. At these depths, there is no penetration of sunlight, and the fish, corals and fauna are unique and adapted to life in complete darkness. A variety of exciting fish species can be observed here, including the ancient-looking jellynose fish (Guentherus altivela), the goosefish and a few as-yet-unidentified species. One possible highlight of your exploration around Cocos at this depth is an encounter with an almost mythical deep-water shark known as the prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookei), which has been spotted at depths from 800–1,200 feet (250 to 400 meters). Dive length: 2–2.5 hours. When not exploring via submersible, you can opt to dive both morning and afternoon. There are typically two dives per day, the timings of which depend on sightings and opportunities that may present themselves. After a thorough onboard briefing, head out on skiffs to the chosen sites. Each boat is accompanied by a dive master who always dives with you. On the way to or from the planned dive sites, your skiff pilots seek out the best spots for memorable surface experiences, such as watching dolphins, mantas, whales or a promising bait-ball, or just cruising up to some of the island’s most beautiful attractions, which are only reachable by small skiff. Cocos well deserves its reputation as “The Island of Sharks,” as tiger sharks, whitetips and Galápagos sharks are commonly spotted here, along with dense, thrilling schools of hammerheads. Whale sharks and dolphins are not uncommon, and the island and its surroundings are also home to rays. Great stingrays are often seen gliding freely around the reef and, with a little luck, manta, mobula and eagle rays as well. The health of the ecosystem and the rich and extensive reefs in this diving paradise attract big schools of bigeye trevallies, blue striped snappers and other big fish. And, of course, there is always the option to go swimming, snorkeling or simply stay aboard ‘Remember When’ to relax in the jacuzzi or enjoy a pampering massage.

Bid farewell to Cocos Island as you set out on your return cruise to mainland Costa Rica, spotting marine life along the way and reflecting on your amazing seagoing adventure. Pause to take part in an amazing natural event with huge pods of spinner dolphins in a vast, borderless, open-ocean ecosystem. Living in these unprotected waters, they gather in startling numbers to greet you with an impromptu acrobatic performance, breaching the surface and twisting their bodies into curves and spins up to seven times in a single leap. Those feeling adventurous may jump into the water and swim alongside these wild dolphins in their natural habitat. Afterward, cruise to Cano Island, nearly as renowned a dive destination as Cocos, and make use of your extensive trove of water toys, including stand-up paddleboards, kayaks and more. Stop also at Golfo Dulce for a magical mangrove and bioluminescence experience. Blessed with an abundance of sea life, the gulf has been designated by National Geographic as one of the ocean’s 20 wildest places and is recognized for its unique and diverse ecosystem. During the day, dolphins and whales swim wild and free. At night, bioluminescent plankton light up the ocean with sparkles that can be seen when the water is disturbed by the movement of boats or larger organisms such as fish and humans, making for a magical experience of swimming under the stars amid one of the most incredible bioluminescence spectacles on earth.

After breakfast on board, transfer by air charter to the Juan Santamaría International Airport in time to board your homebound flights.