Scuba Diving in Cocos Island: Unsurpassed Marine Life [Updated May 2024]
Scuba diving is one of my favorite hobbies, and is the primary reason I have traveled to some of the remote corners of the planet I’ve visited. When I was a beginner diver, a well-traveled diver told me that Cocos Island in Costa Rica is one of the 4 best dive locations on the planet. I instantly made it one of my life goals to visit all 4 of those locations. In August 2022 I had the opportunity to go scuba diving in Cocos Island, and the marine life did not disappoint! In this article I will focus primarily on the logistics of making a trip to go scuba diving in Cocos Island, and of course I’ll add the video I created as well. I’ll also add some thoughts on diving with Aggressor Adventures, who I’d chosen as my operator.
Scuba Diving in Cocos Island: Unsurpassed Marine Life
- How to Scuba Dive in Cocos Island
- Marine Life while Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
- Difficulty of Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
- Temperature at Cocos Island
- Travel and Logistics of Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
- Aggressor Adventures
- heli
- Final Thoughts on Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
How to Scuba Dive in Cocos Island
The first question one might ask is: where exactly is Cocos Island?
To go scuba diving in Cocos Island, one must take a boat from the west side of Costa Rica. If you depart from Puntarenas, which is approximately 2 hours from San Jose, it is approximately a 36 hour boat ride–assuming seas are calm. I heard a story from another diver who told me that his boat took 60 hours in rocky seas to get to Cocos! Due to the long distance, to scuba dive in Cocos Island you must do it by liveaboard. There are no accommodations on Cocos Island itself; in fact, the only accommodations on the island are for park rangers.
As far as I am aware, there are no leisure activities held in the waters surrounding Cocos Island other than scuba diving.
Marine Life while Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
Cocos Island has both reef species and pelagic species, but the latter are the star of the show. (Pelagic species are those that don’t live near the shore and yet don’t live at the bottom of the ocean.) If you’re a fan of pelagic species, scuba diving in Cocos Island is for you!
The most famous species present at Cocos Island include:
- Whale sharks
- Hammerhead sharks
- Galapagos sharks
- Manta Rays
- Dolphins
- Tiger sharks
Other, less sexy species present at Cocos Island include:
- Marble Rays
- Octopus
- Yellowfin Tuna
- Frogfish
- Sea Horses
Of course, the above just comprise a small selection. As you may expect from a protected marine reserve, the area is teeming with untold numbers of species!
Difficulty of Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
Diving in the open ocean is very different from diving in places like Belize. Most consider Cocos Island an advanced dive location, due to currents and surf which can change at any moment. Moreover:
- Most safety stops will occur out “in the blue” where you can’t see the ocean floor or any landmarks to orient yourself.
- Sea urchins are prevalent amongst the rocks and as such, your buoyancy should be good enough to avoid getting stung.
- Divers should be comfortable deploying a Surface Marker Buoy (SMB or “sausage”).
That all being said, I have dived in locations far more difficult than Cocos, and think an intermediate diver would be fine. However, to best make use of your money, it would be wise to have more than (say) 150 dives under your belt.
As is usually the case for liveaboard trips, Nitrox certification is strongly recommended. Frequent dives reduce your bottom time, so diving with air will get you less value for your money!
Temperature at Cocos Island
Situated close to the equator, both air and water temperature are warm, above 80 degrees. If it is during the rainy season, you may feel a little chilly coming out of the water. I tend to run cold and found a 3mm wetsuit, vest with hoodie, and 1.5mm pants to be sufficient.
If you choose to go with Aggressor, the temperature is regularly cold in the indoor public spaces on the boat. Dress accordingly.
Travel and Logistics of Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
Liveaboards to Cocos Island
As mentioned previously, scuba diving in Cocos Island requires you to stay on a liveaboard. If you have not experienced a scuba liveaboard, I highly recommend it! Some of the best scuba locations in the world, even if accessible from shore, are far more exciting when done by liveaboard. Moreover, your accommodations and meals are included, and the itinerary is much more robust to inclement weather.
If you have never dived via liveaboard, I would not recommend scuba diving in Cocos Island as your first liveaboard location for several reasons:
- The 36 hour boat ride in open seas can be painful if you have never been on a boat before.
- This also means that if you decide you need to go back to shore, you are stuck on the boat for the length of the trip.
- Liveaboards are quite expensive; end to end, I spent upward of $7000 on this trip. If it is an experience you ultimately dislike, you will have burned a lot of money.
For all these reasons, I would recommend choosing a more affordable liveaboard in a less remote location to try out the experience first.
Of course, if you are experienced with liveaboards, you already know what you’re getting yourself into!
Flights
For most travelers, you will fly to Costa Rica via the capital, San Jose (SJO), or Liberia (LIR). Unfortunately, nonstop flights to Central America from major cities in the Northeast have dramatically reduced in recent years, but it shouldn’t be difficult to find a reasonable connecting flight.
Depending on your operator, you may have to stay at a particular hotel (of the operator’s choosing) if you’d like to ride in their provided transportation to the boat. I have done 8 liveaboards to date and no operator has ever chosen an unreasonably priced hotel.
Equipment to Scuba Dive in Cocos Island
Most liveaboards will allow divers to rent whatever equipment they need. I generally recommend to all divers, liveaboard or not, to purchase and travel with their own regulator. I had sticker shock when I first bought my own regulator during my divemaster training in 2019, but it is one of the best choices I ever made!
I’d also strongly recommend bringing gloves, as you will frequently be in currents or surf, requiring you to hold on to rocks.
Amongst “lesser” equipment, I’d advise bringing a reef hook. I found mine super helpful during times when others were struggling in strong currents. You will spend much time sitting and waiting in place, and you will be far more relaxed (= better air consumption) if you let the hook do all the work fighting the currents.
Aggressor Adventures
I’d like to offer a quick review of my chosen operator, Aggressor Adventures.
Scuba diving in Cocos Island was my second trip with Aggressor. On the first trip (Socorro in February 2021), the Nitrox compressor was in disrepair. Divers were only able to receive 26-28% Nitrox which greatly reduced bottom times for everyone on the boat. Aggressor proactively offered us discounts for another trip, with a generous time to expiration. Furthermore, we could use the discount if booking through an agent, which is crucial to me as I always book through heli. (Disclaimer: at the time I wrote this post, I was not affiliated with heli, but at this point in time, I am a heli Ambassador.)
In fact, my experience with Aggressor was subpar in Socorro; so it was exclusively due to the discount that I booked Cocos with them. What a mistake! The experience was even worse this time.
- The boat was fine, but for the amount of money we paid, I expected better. I have stayed on outstanding boats for 50% of the price.
- Aggressor added a $200 fuel surcharge after booking, with no means for divers to pull out of the trip without paying a penalty. Shady business practice, in my opinion.
Disorganization
The above points are certainly irritating, however the disorganization on the ground really set the tone of the trip. On Day 1, the driver left the hotel without me; when I called him to ask where he was, he told me I was not on his list and it was not his fault. After the trip I submitted a complaint to Aggressor, who falsely declared that the bus waited outside the hotel for an additional 15 minutes. They claimed I was thus responsible for my own transportation to the docks. They also included details which were inconsistent with what the driver had told me on the phone as well.
To be sure, my complaints are directed at the poor customer service at corporate, along with the staff on the ground in Puntarenas. The staff on the boat were outstanding.
I was able to make my boat due to the outstanding customer service delivered to me by my agent at heli. More on this below.
Value
In terms of the quality of the trip itself, having been on 8 liveaboards, I didn’t find any part of the operation worth the cost I paid.
The food was good, but not great. I am a strict vegetarian and they catered to me precisely. I found the food on every other liveaboard to be better, and in all cases, for a much lower cost.
The quality of the boat was subpar – definitely an older boat and could use some refurbishment. The “social” areas were not designed in a way that encouraged socialization. Snacks are available in the lounge, however they are far from appetizing. (Probably for the better, for those on a wedding diet like myself 😉)
The diving operation was good – dive staff were communicative, spoke fluent English, and made safety a priority (without encumbering anyone’s dives). A panga was inoperable on the first day of diving, which took the crew some time to fix. Guests on the broken panga had some fear that they would have to miss a dive. When you spend $6000 on a liveaboard, you expect everything to operate flawlessly.
If I were to go scuba diving in Cocos Island again, I would choose a different operator.
heli
The boat may have literally left port without me if my agent at heli hadn’t gone above and beyond the normal call of duty. He responded to my frantic email immediately and ensured the appropriate emergency contacts at Aggressor knew what was going on. He also then asked Aggressor to open an investigation into why the driver left the hotel without me.
As mentioned above, Aggressor was quick to turn the blame back on me (after the trip was long over). I already had a bad taste in my mouth following the trip, and the reaction from their team makes me quite unlikely to ever dive with Aggressor again. Heli, upon receiving the communication from Aggressor, offered me a generous discount on a future booking even though heli didn’t cause the problem. Heli almost exclusively books adventure trips, and not all my trips are adventure trips; but I will definitely never book one again without them!
Disclaimer: at the time of this trip and at the time this article was written, I had no relationship with heli. Unrelated to the writing of this article, Jetsetting With US is now an official heli ambassador.
Final Thoughts on Scuba Diving in Cocos Island
Scuba diving in Cocos Island is a must-do for any scuba diving enthusiast. The remote location of the island, coupled with government protection, ensures a world-class diving experience like none other. It is expensive but well worth the cost! Of course, for those who can’t (or don’t want to) get their scuba certification, I love sharing my videos and encourage any interested readers to watch mine at the top of this article!