Best Costa Rica Scuba Diving 2024

14 May 2024
Costa Rica sits between the Pacific and the Caribbean. The better scuba diving is on the Pacific coast, particularly in the Northwest: Catalina Islands, Bat Islands and the Gulf of Papagayo. In the Southwest check out Cano Island.

The best diving in Costa Rica, though, is at the Cocos Islands, 300 miles off the mainland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This world class diving destination is a great place to see pelagic species like marlin, sailfish and sharks when they visit the islands to feed and mate.

When to dive in Costa Rica?

Costa Rican sea temperature ranges from 21 to 29 ^oC (70 to 85 ^oF): a 2-3 mm (1/8") wetsuit is may be sufficient for the hardy but at least a 5 mm is needed in the cooler temperatures for thinner divers. The dry season runs from November to May but can be very windy. From June to November is the rainy season when hammerhead sharks are more frequent. May is a good time to go as it shouldn't be too windy or wet.

What you need to know

Take special care when swimming from all beaches in Costa Rica. Rip tides are very common. Avoid using unofficial taxis - "taxi piratas". Violent incidents involving tourists have been reported. Official taxis are red with a triangular sticker and plastic box on the roof with the name and number of the taxi company. Medical care in Costa Rica is of a high standard, but only emergency medical treatment is available free for visitors. Make sure you have adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds to cover the cost of any medical treatment abroad.

Costa Rica has a very high biodiversity, on land as well as underwater. The country is very proactive in protecting its wildlife.

The Diving around Costa Rica

The Cocos Islands have fabulous diving. You get there on a 10 day liveaboard trip. All of the islands have large schools of fish, rays and sharks. Lots of them. Including oceanic white tips, hammerheads, whale sharks, silkies… You can dive the Cocos Islands year round, but the best time is often August.

"Hundreds and hundreds of white tip sharks swarming in crystal clear ebony coloured water weaving gracefully through the nooks and crannies of the coral below searching for a meal. Little fish hiding behind rocks and even divers, hoping not to be spied. Then - CRACK!!!! - a shark finds a morsel and send the hundreds of other shark into a frenzy of movement. Thirty seconds later, the slow graceful ballet of movement resumes as if nothing had happened. What a rush!!
Rebecca Ramaley, 2011.

Rate this dive...

Reviews: (4)

"Massive wall of hammerheads every time. Marble and eagle rays. Friendly whale sharks who enjoy the diver's bubbles for extended periods."
Mauri Sanderford, Norway, 2014.

"Dirty Rock is unbelieveable - we dove it 5 times on our liveaboard trip, and not once did it disappoint - schooling hammerheads, silkies, eagle rays, swarming white tips, and even a friendly dolphin. Definitely a top 20 dive"
Rebecca Ramaley, 2011.

"Huge schools of jacks, schooling hammerheads (up to 100 per school). Galapagos Sharks, turtles..... WOW"
Sacha Webber-Cross, UK

"Great pelagic dive site. Biggest school of rays i have ever seen....Hundreds."
Adrian Trent

Rate this dive...

"Jacque Cousteau's favorite dive site with even more hammerheads, cleaning stations, ++"
Mauri Sanderford, Norway, 2014.

Rate this dive...

A remote island in the south of the Cocos Islands. Diving is by liveaboard between December and April. (In the rainy season from May to November the conditions can get very rough.) Great place to see hammerhead sharks, eagle rays and dolphins.

Reviews: (2)

"Sloping reef with hammerhead feeding stations. Aside from hammerheads, Galapagos and silky sharks and a resident population of very friends dolphins. Not to mention the passing whale shark"
Richard, 2022

"Hammerheads, lots of them and very close up."
Sacha Webber-Cross, UK

Guanacaste is in the North West of Costa Rica. The area includes Bat Island, the Catalina islands and the Gulf of Papagayo. The rainy season is May to November - there are less tourists there then and bull sharks visit Bat Island. The visibility improves and weather is calmer during the dry season - especially March to May.

Located in Santa Elena Peninsula, two and a half hours from Tamarindo. Offers a large variety of species: a major attraction are the Bull Sharks. The depth fluctuates between 9 and 28 m with beautiful rock formations. The islands also offer a refuge of parks where you may camp overnight.

Rate this dive...

Reviews: (1)

"First dive on Bat Island, 70 mins from Coco, I saw the elusive Bull Shark and a Manta Ray within 30 mins. Second dive there we saw enormous schools of fish and a modest collection of the smaller stuff. These islands it seems are better for pelagic and large schools and not so great for macro or coral lovers. Certainly a unique dive."
Dean, Canada, 2016

There are over 40 dive sites in the Gulf Of Papagayo. Some of the more popular ones are Aqarium, Surprise, Virador, Monkey Head, Punta Gorda, Baja Tiburones for normal diving and Los Meros and Escorpiones for shallow dives. All are volcanic rock formations with lots of marine life such as spotted eagle rays, whitetip sharks, schooling fish, mobule and cow nosed rays, frog fish and sea horses.

Rate this dive...

Reviews: (1)

"Closer to shore in Coco you do get some more macro but the nudis are hard to locate but expect octopus, morays, sting rays and eagle rays in large numbers and the occasional whitetip shark and the customary huge schools of fish. Pretty good!"
Dean, Canada, 2016

The Catalina Islands are often visited because they are only 19 nautical mile/ 25 minutes from Tamarindo. It is very common to see white tip sharks, giant mantas, manta rays, fish such as buffoon, giant grouper, morays, and a great variety of many other species of different sizes and colours. It is best to descend to a depth of 18 m to encounter more species. At this depth the visibility is also better (horizontal visibility is approximately between 5 and 35 m). There are 6 dive sites regularly dived here.

Reviews: (1)

"The Main island after 2 separate dives delivered abundant white tip sharks, eagle rays and huge shoals of fish and some of the usual assortment of morays and octopus. On the second dive there was treated to the magic of schooling eagle rays that swooped by in formation in numbers upto 20 strong. Not good for macro or coral and the Mantas are mostly gone by May but one straggler was spotted in the blue. Memorable diving."
Dean, Canada, 2016

"Lots of fish, not too deep, current was moderate, visibility fairly good, about 20-30 ft. Awesome for beginners but experienced divers will enjoy the multitude of sea life."
Angela, USA

Rate this dive...

"More dramatic, with a drop straight dow 60 ft alongside a huge rock. Giant reefs and loads of fish. Good visibility."
Angela, USA

Rate this dive...

Recommended by the locals. You may observe fish typical to the North Pacific and the most special part of Cabo Velas is the reef that looks like a garden under the water.

Rate this dive...

" I just love Caño Island. I had the opportunity to dive there 3 times (6 immersions) and yes, I think is like a mini Coco Island. During the dive is quite normal to see small/medium sharks "parked" in the bottom, turtles, eels and mantarayas. "
Rodrigo V, 2018, dived with Costa Rica Dive and Surf

"Great dive saw a whale shark!!! And like 3 mantas, good visibility. I've been to Drake Bay (which is near Cano Island) 3 years and plan on going these year again, awesome dive sites. Go there!"
Jose Andres Fumero, 2016, dived with Cano Divers

"Saw White tip shark, turtle, Many Jacks, and an eel. Visability was 30 feet. Photography was limited. Snorkeling was part of tour which was actually a little better than the dives. "
Christian Andersen, 2013

"I dove Cano Island and it was AMAZING!!! I also dove in the Northern Pacific near Tamrindo and it was pretty good."
Brian Bohne, 1 May 2013

"I just came back from Costa Rica and dived in the Cano Island near Drake bay, on the South Pacific coast. It was very interesting, lots of Sting-ray, white-tip-reef shark, etc. "
Victor Cartin, 2011, dived with Costa Rica Adventure Divers

Rate this dive...

"Small cave with sharks and eels. We didn't go inside, just dive in the front. But it's possible to see the sharks inside and other creatures. Clean water good visibility."
Rodrigo V, 2018, dived with Costa Rica Dive and Surf

Rate this dive...

Dive Operators and Liveaboards in Costa Rica

For trips to the world class Cocos islands dive sites you will need to take a liveaboard. Liveaboard trips here may last 10 days or more. As well as the Cocos Islands the liveaboard often takes in Cano Island, Guanacaste and Bat Island.

The luxurious steel-hulled argo liveaboard, accompanied by the 'deepsee' submersible, cruises to remote Cocos Island dive sites filled with large, schooling pelagics. Four passengers a day will have the opportunity to descend in the submersible.

Argo liveaboard