UNDERSEA HUNTER at sunset, heralded by a Cocos Island booby.
All photos on this page provided courtesy of vessel owners.

© Copyright 1995 - 2008 U.S. Dive Travel Network.

COSTA RICA: COCOS ISLAND

[ Please call U.S. DIVE TRAVEL at 952-953-4124 for price & cruise-itinerary updates for 2009 & 2010 in this fast-paced market. Many wonderful new opportunities coming in the next year. You will need to book these vessels normally 20-36 months in advance, as they rank among the top 5 most assertively sought-after dive yachts in the entire world -- EVERY year, season after season.]

DEEP SEE -- a new submersible being prepped
to enhance COCOS ISLAND diving off Undersea Hunter.

• Our classic 10-day Cocos Island Diving Vacation Package Price = USD $4,195 in 2008.

• National Parks Fee is about $35 per diver / day. For a 10-night trip there are 7 days spent at the Cocos Island Marine Conservation Area. Therefore the total park fee will be about $245 per diver which must be added to the above package price.

• All Costa Rican national park fees & attendant taxes are subject to periodic change.
  12-day Cocos Island trip park fee is approx $340.
  12-day Malpelo/Cocos Island trip park fee is approx $340.
  13-day Malpelo/Cocos Island trip park fee is approx $370.
  15-day Malpelo/Cocos Island trip park fee is approx $470.
  
  

SEA HUNTER + UNDERSEA HUNTER -- dynamic duo of
legendary COCOS ISLAND diving, Costa Rica.

GROUP LEADER INCENTIVE:
Pay for 12 divers & 2 more divers go free --
(vessel package only, air is extra / comps go to clients # 13 & 14).

Call us about special expeditionary dive cruises of 12-14 days to Malpelo,
the Marquesas & the Tuamotus. These are beautifully appointed vessels
with ace diving crews & superior management HQ'd in Costa Rica.

These sister vessels, Sea Hunter & Undersea Hunter, are an ideal way to check out the exciting sea pinnacles that surround this remote & still untrampled Cocos Island, nearly 300 miles West of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Cocos Island seems tailored by Poseidon himself for one reason only -- to delight & amaze scuba divers from around the world. Cocos Island is a pelagic photographer's vision of the afterworld. Cocos Island is also the largest uninhabited island in the world, which only adds to its considerable mystique. Because the diver numbers are modest on the Sea Hunter & Undersea Hunter, you're unlikely to scare away the shy hammerheads that are a main attraction here, schooling & tooling in majestic silent droves just off one of the world's largest uninhabited islands.

The Undersea Hunter is 90 feet long & carries 14 passengers; the Sea Hunter is 115 feet long & carries 18 passengers. The Sea Hunter is a powerful & comfortable meld of utility vessel & spacious luxury yacht. She has the grit & gristle of a commercial cargo vessel, with hefty engines; yet she also sports eight newly refurbished cabins with en suite heads & modern fixtures. Sea Hunter of Cocos Island has a fuel capacity of 20,000 gallons, water storage capacity of 46,000 gallons & a 5,000-mile cruising range at 12 knots. There's almost nowhere on Earth this sturdy vessel can't get to in a single push from port. But she's dedicated to the awesome marine environment of Cocos Island.

The Sea Hunter of Cocos Island, Costa Rica is that rare ocean vessel built to please both demanding professional clients -- ie. photographers, adventure divers, experienced instructors -- & also casual sport divers of the sort most of us weekend warriors are. The Sea Hunter has a spacious deck, separate photo labs & first-rate photo development facilities. A professional film crew might have, for example, one photo lab entirely to themselves, along with their own private skiff, while at the same time the recreational diver-photog's can have the main camera shop & their own skiff as well.

Sea Hunter of Cocos Island, Costa Rica, is blessed with 1,000 square feet of deck space, a helicopter landing pad, a large lounge area that doubles as a movie & slide-show theater, a library & an office with a personal computer. In 1995 & '96 the Sea Hunter hosted world-renowned wildlife cinematographer Howard Hall, as his team produced a National Geographic Special documentary on Cocos Island. This is typical of the oceanographers, photographers & diving personalities who just may choose to be aboard your trip any season of the year. The dive world knows that Cocos Island, Costa Rica, is a unique marine environment, on a par with the Galapagos for sheer abundance & diversity of flora & fauna underwater. And the two Hunter vessels are acknowledged as the best vessels extant that can take you out to Cocos Island. So the scuba divers who want unrivaled pelagic action choose these boats. That is where you find the heart & soul of Costa Rica diving.

Live-aboard mavens would agree that Cocos Island is a good bet for hosting the healthiest & wildest array of big underwater critters of any island in the Central American region. On virtually any Cocos island diving trip you'll see huge schools of whitetip & hammerhead sharks cruising peacefully in their regal silence, marbled stingrays sometimes reaching 6-7 feet wingspan, giant manta rays that grow to be 12 feet across, huge moray eels waving from their lairs like monster cobras (though vastly gentler!), sometimes even the coolest big'un of all -- the rare, elusive & prized sighting of a whale shark. Yep, "Senor Beeg" himself visits these waters from time to time. If you've never seen the side of a barn moving, well word is: that can be a religious experience. In addition to these fish there are, in great abundance & dancing colors: huge schools of jacks, tuna, Moorish idols, barracuda, Creole fish; & there are lobsters, octopi, silky sharks green turtles, marlin, sailfish, goat fish & scores of other exotic species too numerous to name here now. Starting to see what we mean about Cocos Island diving being one of the world's primo big critter epicenters? Costa Rica diving, in large part, owes its good name to Cocos Island.

Scuba diving is a little more athletic on this trip than perhaps you'll find on many laid-back Caribbean vessels. For example, one day you might visit big undersea crags & pinnacles that are accessed on swift drift dives that whisk you bodily through hefty schools of jacks, tuna, rays or hammerheads. Talk about adrenaline from your hair follicles to your toenails. There's a rush a dive on this Costa Rica scuba vacation trip, no worries on that score.

Both of the Cocos Island Hunter vessels offer comfy & private 2-person cabins, most of which have a private en suite bathroom. Divers board big fiberglass skiffs then zip out to the dive sites from the mother ship, which makes it easier for you to locate right next to your drop-down point. You spend more time scuba diving on Cocos Island, since your time there is decidedly precious, & less time moving around needlessly, fussing over multiple daily anchorages.

Getting out to Cocos Island is not a problem. In fact it's a cinch. You fly in on Continental (we have the lowest-priced wholesale tickets in the country to San Jose from most major U.S. cities); & you spend the first evening in a San Jose hotel, then the next morning you travel by bus about three hours to the Pacific coastal city of Puntarenas, where you meet the lovely & alluring sisters -- Sea Hunter & Undersea Hunter. It takes about 32 -35 hours to cruise westward out to Cocos Island, where the vessels anchor in bays, & release their dive launches.

Virtually every Cocos Island dive group in the last five years has seen schooling hammerheads by the scores (don't worry; they don't see divers as neon-colored appetizers!), plus a gargantuan school of many hundreds of jacks that glide en masse around Manuelita Island. You'll also likely be treated to some more eyeball candy from manta rays, wahoos, sailfish, maybe even a humpback whale if you're lucky.

After your excellent Costa Rica diving adventure, the buses carry you back to San Jose -- while you're singing triumphantly to the driver, "Do you know the way to...?" -- & you'll spend another night in the capital. Then you fly home the next morning, asking yourself, "Why don't I live here? What is the eternal meaning, anyway, behind those ubiquitous numbers 9 to 5?

If you're looking for big sea animals & some heart-thumping action, it's tough to beat Cocos Island of Costa Rica, a Pacific citadel of pelagic power that's likely to satiate even the most die-hard dive adventurers.

Try the Sea Hunter or Undersea Hunter, amigo, you may feel some big changes taking place while you're down here; & when you return too -- as yet another gratified member of the Locos for Cocos Club.

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All Cocos Island diving package prices listed here are subject to possible change in this steadily evolving travel market. Lodging, side tour & diving prices are traditionally stable, as are live-aboard package prices; however air prices can fluctuate daily. Until air tickets are issued, all airlines reserve the right to change airfares without notice -- an industry standard per FAA rules. We at U.S. Dive Travel will price-protect you to the utmost of our professional ability; & that has been our pledge for one decade now. Our Cocos Island diving vacation experts normally secure excellent wholesale discount air tickets for our clients who book early enough to secure limited seats in the best price categories. Remember please, the federal government has deregulated all U.S.-based airlines, so only they control their pricing -- not any travel professionals. Early is good when seeking the best air ticket rates for your Cocos Island scuba diving tour.

Unless specifically noted, these above scuba diving packages are prices for only the live-aboard portion of your Cocos Island diving trip, in most cases reflecting double-occupancy rooms. On Cocos Island live-aboards, there will be no triple-occupancy staterooms offered. International air tickets & commuter "island-hopper" seats are always extra above these Cocos Island live-aboard package costs. Nominal service fees are also extra for air tickets & the dive vessel + side tour components. The baseline tariffs for all clients start at $55 per person for the Cocos Island live-aboard portion + $45 pp for the air tickets. Late-booking clients may receive slightly higher tariffs on the lodging + diving at many of our dive resorts. Solo clients will always pay a single supplement to secure a private stateroom -- normally 65% more than the standard double-occupancy rate for the Cocos Island live-aboards you choose.

The preferred payment mode for all of our Cocos Island live-aboards, dive resorts, side tours & air ticket specials is by cashier's check or wire transfer in U.S. dollars. All clients living outside the USA or Canada will need to pay for their dive vacations via direct wire transfer only. No personal checks will be accepted for any Cocos Island live-aboards. Thank you for your gracious understanding. Our service level is the highest & our prices the lowest in this industry, & thus we need to preserve a reasonable margin. For published-fare air ticket bookings, USDT always accepts Visa & Mastercard. For ultra-discount wholesale air tickets, USDT accepts only cashier's checks or wire transfers, please.

Remember, all Cocos Island diving vacation clients will be asked by local officials overseas, upon departing the airport on your final day, to pay a nominal government departure tax, usually between USD $35 - $40 per client. USDT cannot collect this tax beforehand, so you simply pay it down there, in your host country. Be sure to stash away a little cash for this final moment at the airport, so you'll get your exit visa stamped quickly with no fuss; & away you go. Best of luck with your plans for Cocos Island live-aboards. We hope your Cocos Island scuba diving vacation is a safe & satisfying adventure. Blessings & best wishes with ALL your Cocos Island diving vacations. Cocos Island live-aboards rock, but never roll, amigos del mar!

Best fishes too!

>////*>   <*\\\\<

John Hessburg & Susan Hessburg, Mgrs.
U.S. Dive Travel Network.