Posted by MEL on January 08, 2002 at 23:02:00:
In Reply to: Costa Rica posted by Dirk on January 08, 2002 at 19:29:30:
I just got back from Costa Rica last week. I didn't stay at the advertised dive places up in the Gulf of Papagayo (El Ocatal, for examle) since I was with my non-diving family. We stayed in a town called Tamarindo which is the next major bay south of Papagayo. There's a dive shop there that goes to the same places as the boats from the Ocatal area. It's a 45 minute boat ride from Tamarindo to the Catalina Islands. I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the diving - the water was warm enough, but you do need at least a shorty if not a full wet suit. The vis wasn't good, but it might be just this time of year. We didn't see any big anaimals, but we did see a humpback whale on the way back in. There's a lot of smaller fish but nothing spectacular, at least when I went.
The town of Tamarindo has several pretty good restaurants and the hotel we stayed at, the Diria, was excellent. Right on the beach with newly renovated rooms. There's one dive shop in Tamarindo, Agua Rica Divers. It's fine, they have equipment but I recommend bringing your own reg and BCD as their stuff looked pretty old. It was $65 for a 2 dive trip to Catalina (which is a series of rocks, not one large island like here). Costa Rica itself is beautiful and the beaches around Tamarindo are some of the most beautiful I've seen. I'd recommend not making your trip a pure dive trip as Costa Rica has much more to offer than diving (unless you go to the Cocos).