Costa Rica’s north Pacific coast is the diving world’s newest discovery. Few places in the world have waters with such varied and plentiful marine life. Couple this with El Ocotal’s luxurious resort facilities, new dive boats and equipment. El Ocotal Hotel dedicated staff and Costa Rica’s most experienced dive master, the country’s natural beauty and its warm, friendly people, and you have the most exciting alternative to traditional dive destinations. Costa Rica is known today as a unique dive destination, and not only for its marine life, but because of its many other attractions. Divers have the opportunity to visit national parks, go white water rafting, big game fishing, horseback riding, bird watching, swim on secluded beaches, enjoy breathtaking sunsets and warm star-filled nights and feel welcomed by friendly Costa Rican people.
Diving can be great any month of the year. Visibility can vary from 20 to 80 ft. on the same day on different dives. This is primarily die to the abundance of plankton and other marine organisms at the lower end of the food chain that thrive in the warm 75 to 85 degree tropical waters. Although this abundance of food often restricts visibility, it is the principal reason for the profuse and varied pelagic marine population that are seen on every dive. It’s a trade off that divers welcomely accept.
Most dives are around volcanic rock pinnacle formations at 40 to 80 feet depths and there is no telling what the diver will see. On most every dive, regardless where, clouds of small schooling fish meet the divers on descend. Usually these schools of tens of thousands of fish allow divers to seem freely amongst them. At the dive site Punta Gorda, just 4 miles to the west of El Ocotal, a group of divers watched in amazement as thousands of Cow-Nosed Rays swam by in a column that took more than 10 minutes from start to finish.
The following day at the same spot, divers dropped in on a Whale Shark basking on the bottom at a depth of 40 ft. It set undisturbed for 15 minutes allowing close encounters of a kind most dicers could only dream of. Experiences with Whale Sharks have not been uncommon. They have been sighted by divers every month of the year with the radius of the dive sites most often visited, ranging in size from 18 to 25 ft. in length. Their appearances have been totally unpredictable, but of sufficient frequency that many groups of divers have had their own very special, close-up experiences.
At Las Corridas and Surpresa, a dive spot only one half mile from El Ocotal, divers have come face to face with 200 to 300 Jewfish. At these same spots photographers may catch a tiny Sea Horse or Hawk Fish among the hydroids.
At any of the nearby dive spots, on any given day, it could be a school of 20 to 80 pound Amberjacks sliding in and out of schooling fish. Green or Ridley Turtules, or White-tip Reef Sharks darting curiously about divers, setting that dive apart from any other adventure the diver might ever have had before.
Some settings under water will undoubtedly be a once in a lifetime occurrence, such as a school of 50 or more Manta Rays with 12 to 24 ft. wingspans, a Black Marlin weighing several hundred pounds cruising gracefully about a rock pinnacle, a ten foot long sailfish, or a pod of Pilot Whales that seemed to be entertained with their presence.
The list of unique experiences goes on and on. These is certainly no assurance that a diver is going to have one of these underwater encounters on any particular day, but from the frequency that they have occurred in the past, dive trips to Costa Rica all seem to be on the diver’s side.
Some divers seize the opportunity to arrange for a special trip to the Bat or Catalina islands. These island chains located 21 and 14 miles from El Ocotal present especially challenging Pacific Ocean diving where divers may develop their skill dealing with current and surge. Dive spots in these areas offer good chances to see large Bull Sharks, Manta Rays, and larger schools of four or five differing species simultaneously. Although rare, there's also a chance a sailfish or marlin will make a pass by divers.
El Ocotal Hotel guides take qualified divers on these specially arranged trips to the outer islands on a year-round basis.. El Ocotal's fast and comfortable dive boats make the trip to the Bat Islands in just one hour.
The highly competent dive shop staff will carry your equipment and even take care of the fresh water rinsing of your dive gear at days end.
The dive shop carries equipment for 30 divers and has two new top of the line 13.1 CFM Mako compressors. There are two dedicated dive boats and two additional boats used on longer range dive trips. In addition, all boats have diesel engines.
They are set up with diver comfort in mind offering side mounted tank racks, swim platform, dive ladder, fresh water shower, depth finder, camera rack, and head and large shaded areas.
Although the dive facility might receive groups of up to 30 divers, there are never more than 10 divers per boat. El Ocotal Hotel puts special attention to the quality of our divers' underwater experience. There are never more than 5 divers per guide.
The Costa Rican dive staff are the area's most experienced divers. They know the dive sites like the backs of their hands while showing great concern for safety factors.
El Ocotal Hotel is the only dive shop with a catalogue of maps and descriptions of all dive sites.
El Ocotal Hotel is characterized for its personalized service for divers.
The pleasant and friendly Costa Rican people, excellent hotel accommodations, idyllic year round temperature, land tours and truly exciting diving, makes this a haven for scuba divers and nondivers alike. Definitely it is one of the world's finest new dive destinations.
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Dive Package Rates for 2008
Regular Season rates are provided in the table below Regular (Green) Season is valid May 1 - December 15
For High Season, please add $13.00 per person per night to the rates below
Please call for Peak Season rates
Basic dive packages include lodging at El Ocotal Resort, tanks, weights, boat dives as indicated, dive guide, beverages and snacks on board, standard room, daily breakfast at El Ocotal, and all taxes. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 nights lodging | with 6 days of diving | with 5 days of diving | non-diver |
| Single | $1318.00 | $1247.00 | $ 891.00 |
| Double | $1025.00 | $ 954.00 | $ 598.00 |
| Triple | $ 893.00 | $ 822.00 | $ 466.00 |
| 6 nights lodging | with 5 days of diving | with 4 days of diving | non-diver |
| Single | $1118.00 | $1047.00 | $ 762.00 |
| Double | $ 869.00 | $ 798.00 | $ 513.00 |
| Triple | $ 756.00 | $ 686.00 | $ 400.00 |
| 5 nights lodging | with 4 days of diving | with 3 days of diving | non-diver |
| Single | $ 920.00 | $ 849.00 | $ 635.00 |
| Double | $ 712.00 | $ 641.00 | $ 427.00 |
| Triple | $ 618.00 | $ 547.00 | $ 333.00 |
| 4 nights lodging | with 3 days of diving | with 2 days of diving | non-diver |
| Single | $ 722.00 | $ 650.00 | $ 508.00 |
| Double | $ 556.00 | $ 485.00 | $ 342.00 |
| Triple | $ 481.00 | $ 410.00 | $ 267.00 |
All rates are quoted in U.S. dollars, and are subject to change without notice. | |||
| Diving and Instruction | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boat dives | 2 tanks, weights, guide, boat, crew and snacks | $75.00 | |||
| Night dive | 1 tank, weights, guide, boat and crew | $55.00 | |||
| Discover Diving Course | 2 tanks boat dive | $155.00 | |||
| DAILY EQUIPMENT RENTAL | |||||
| Tanks | $10.00 | Regulator-gauges | $9.00 | BC | $9.00 |
| Belt & Weights | $3.00 | Fins | $3.00 | Wetsuit | $6.00 |
| Mask & Snorkel | $5.00 | Booties | $3.00 | ||
| P.A.D.I. Open Water Certification Course, per person | |||||
| 1 person | $375.00 | 2 persons | $335.00 | 3 persons | $295.00 |
| P.A.D.I. Advanced open water certification | $300.00 | ||||
| P.A.D.I. Dive master( minimum 2 persons) | $400.00 | ||||
| Referral student | $240.00 | ||||
| ADD ONS FOR LONG RANGE DIVES | |||||
| Catalina Islands (minimum 4 divers) | $29.00 | ||||
| Nancite Turtle Dive (seasonal) (minimum 4 divers) | $29.00 | ||||
| Bat Islands (minimum 4 divers) | $65.00 | ||||
| · Valid only as an add one to dive packages with a minimum 3 days diving. · Not available for a-la-carte add ons · All prices are subject to change. | |||||
M. McEvoy-Ohio "I never had to worry about safety, the dives were great and always exceeded my expectations."
J. Hargis-Illinois "Great job, excellent staff."
J. Stewart-Colorado "Perfect, wonderful, excellent."
L. Conroy-Arizona "Employees rate excellent versus the other 20 operations we've done around the world."
P. Connell-Florida "No doubt a better dive than anything I ever made in the Caribbean."
K. Horawitz-California "The people were great. I would like to come back again."
L. Knight-Ohio "Operation quite good, very good relationship with guests. Everyone extremely friendly and helpful."
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