Cocos Island National Park

When to dive
  • Rainy season: June – November, best for schooling hammerheads.
  • Dry season: December – May.

Scuba dive Cocos! Encompassed by the deep blue waters of the Pacific, Cocos Island has unparalleled beauty. It has been described as the most beautiful island on earth and one of the world’s top diving destinations. The island is unpopulated, unspoiled, and lies 550km west of Costa Rica.

Only diveable by liveaboard, trips here are highly sought after, and itineraries fill up quickly. Diving Cocos Island is well known for large marine animal encounters. So if meeting schools of hammerheads, tiger sharks, orcas, and dolphins on scuba, is something you are after, there is no better place on the planet.

Get in touch with us, we will help you arrange the dive trip of a lifetime.

Fish

Cocos Diving Highlights

  • Hammerhead Sharks
  • Variety of rays
  • Dolphins
  • Manta ray
  • Sea Turtles
  • Whale sharks
  • Silky sharks
  • Dense rainforests and unique animals
  • Rivers and Waterfalls
  • Orcas
  • Wahoo
  • Sailfish
  • Schooling pelagics
  • Galapagos sharks
  • Seamount diving

Marine Life

Cocos Island is the home to incredible marine diversity and a vast array of marine life, including large schools of hammerhead sharks, white-tip sharks, silky sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, and sea turtles. In addition, you can also find a wide variety of fish, crustaceans, and other invertebrates that dive the Cocos.

Underwater Topography

The underwater topography is extraordinary; Cocos Island is an undersea volcano that has created a unique and diverse sub aquatic sea scape that includes deep walls, pinnacles, and caves that provide a stunning backdrop for diving. The Cocos National Marine Park is also a UNESCO world heritage site due to its unparalleled natural beauty and biological richness.

Incredible Scenery Above the Water

Not only does the underwater beauty leave divers spellbound, but the onshore vistas are also stunning. The dense rainforests are home to various unique birds and animals, and the rugged island’s coastline still echoes with tales of pirates and their buried treasure.

Vegan | Plant-based Divers

Scuba diving Cocos Island is a remote adventure, so sourcing vegan or plant-based options for your liveaboard trip can be tricky. Although, it is possible, and the operators we work with do that well. Get in touch, and we can chat about the best plant-based dive itinerary for you.

Cocos Travel Tips (at a glance)

  • Currency: Costa Rica Colon (CRC)
  • Language: Spanish
  • Capital: San Jose
  • Power supply: 120V|60Hz
  • Plug type: Type A | two flat pins
  • Weather: Tropical
  • Culture: Friendly and welcoming
  • Visa: Visa on Arrival for most passports
  • International airport: Juan Santamaria (SJO)

Diving Cocos FAQ's

Cocos Island mapCocos Island is part of Costa Rica in Central America. Situated around 550 kilometres west of the mainland, you will need to travel here by boat.

After arriving in Costa Rica, travel to Puntarenas, the port where you will embark your liveaboard for the roughly 36-hour trip into the Pacific.

 

 

 

 

Scuba diving Cocos Island is best for experienced divers. This is to ensure your safety, and to guarantee your enjoyment. The best diving in Cocos is around rocky shorelines, seamounts, and boulders. These are all subject to strong currents and surge. A general rule of thumb would be to make sure you are an advanced level diver with at least 50 dives under your belt.

Diving Cocos Island is not cheap. As it can only be dived by liveaboard, and those boats need to travel a long distance to get there and back, the basic operating costs are high. Also, to maintain a good level of service in such a remote place, is going to affect prices. The beginning cost for a Cocos Island liveaboard is around 300 USD per day.

Cocos Island can generally be dived all year round. The favoured time is usually during the dry season which runs from December to May. During these months the ocean is calmer, and the considerably long crossing is more gentle.

The diving in Cocos is exceptional for large marine encounters. If diving with sharks, and large pelagics is your thing, then here is the place to go. If you are searching for beautiful coral reefs then we recommend you take a look at Indonesia.