Diving with the Sharks!

Well, we haven't actually scuba-dived with the sharks yet, but on our first snorkle, we saw at least 5 3-5-foot white-tipped sharks, a large hammerhead, and numerous small (about 3 feet long) sharks laying on the bottom. They were scattered all over among the coral heads.

The Argos, off Isla Manuelita, Launching their Sub
We did finally get our official park briefing and checkin. Isaac, the head ranger, and Walter, the Chatham Bay head ranger, stopped by yesterday moring to do the formalities. We paid them $415 for the priviledge of staying in the park 5 days and diving for 2 days. This breaks down to:

5 days for the boat at $25/day (more for a bigger boat)
5 days for 2 people at $25 per person per day
2 days of diving for 2 people at $10 per person per day

The diving fee doesn't cover the cost of anything except an impact fee, and the 'hassle factor' of arranging for a park-certified volunteer to escort us on the dive. We still have to provide all our own dive equipment, air, and a dinghy capable of safely reaching whatever our dive destination is.

Isaac also told us that if we were visiting on an INTERNAL zarpe (transit permission) from Costa and back to Costa Rica, we would have been required to have park permission to stop here. But on an INTERNATIONAL zarpe, between Costa Rica and another country, we didn't need prior permission. We told Isaac we had looked for, and asked about, permission information, and couldn't find anything on the internet. He showed me the info in the brochure, on how to contact the park administration to arrange
for a visit. I have put the contact information for obtaining permission at the bottom of this post.

We are not supposed to dive without a park escort. From what others have said, though, once we 'pass muster' we MAY be permitted to dive without an escort. They want to make sure that (a) you are a qualified diver and won't get yourself killed diving in their park (b) That you know how to control your bouyancy and won't be dragging yourself all over the coral (c) That you understand and respect the park rules (take only photographs, leave only bubbles, and don't harrass the wildlife). They
also strongly suggest that you dive with a tender on the surface (ie someone in the boat). There isn't really a practical way to anchor in any of the dive areas... they are all drift dives. So there is always a 'surface tender'. Dave and I think we can drag the dinghy along... we do it all the time while snorkeling. But we'll see if they'll let us dive on our own after we get checked out.

Tito is the current park diver. From what we know of him, he is a volunteer, and is dive-master certified. I think he is pretty new to the park. This past week he has been diving with the group from the Undersea Hunter, and getting his nitrox certification.

So we are set up for 2 days of diving with Tito (today and tomorrow). After that we will see what we are permitted to do.

We hauled all of our dive gear out of the dark storage (we haven't been diving since Honduras!!), and checked to make sure it works. 3 of our 6 tanks were empty. We had tried to get them filled in Panama City, but had run into a snag with the annual inspection and ran out of time. We took them over to the Undersea Hunter, one of the liveaboard dive boats, and asked if they would fill them (making sure it was a time when all the divers were away). A really nice guy named Raphael did the fills
in about 5 minutes, and refused any payment. How nice! We knew from research before we left Golfito, that there would be at least one liveaboard in the area the whole time we were going to be here.

Yesterday afternoon, just as we were about to lay out a stern anchor to keep us into the swell, the wind picked up and switched 90 degrees, setting us firmly sideways to the swell (too firmly to trust a stern anchor on short scope). So we abandoned that idea and instead moved around to Wafer Bay. This is protected from the east (where the wind is coming from in the next 2 days), and is a LITTLE better protected from the swell. We were able to have dinner last night without clutching our plates,
and slept together in the after cabin.

Cocos Island Marine Conservation Area
Apartado 11384, San Jose, Costa Rica
Fax: (506) 2258-7350 Ph: (506) 2258-7295
Email: islacocos@sinac.go.cr
Web: www.acmic/sinac.go.cr

Isaac says you can obtain all the permissions you need by fax, phone or email. You do NOT have to go to San Jose in person.

There is phone service and internet on the island. They list the phone number of the admin office as (506) 2223-6077.