Good diveop in Costa Rica?

[Latitude 20]

We're all set for a 10-day Panama Canal cruise r/t out of Ft. Lauderdale in Feb. Ports are Limon, Costa Rica; Panama Canal; Grand Cayman; Cozumel and Belize City. We're already set for diving in GC and Coz with the ops we had to cancel on last Nov. but are looking for someone in Costa Rica. We've decided not to dive in Belize after reading here and other places that it's best to make a dedicated dive trip there.

 

We're fairly (Kathi) and very (Leo) experienced divers, and looking for a diveop who can take us away from the crowds (no cattle boats). We're not terribly price conscious and are in Limon from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. so time shouldn't be an issue.

 

Any suggestions for a great operator (someone with a web site and good about answering e-mail gets extra credit) would be appreciated.

 

Kathi & Leo

[sailingangel]

Hi, I don't know much about limon, but you should check our http://www.scubaboard.com, they will have operator information there. What I can tell you is that diving in COsta Rica can be either amazing (we saw humpback whales and whale sharks along with manta rays and regular sharks) or terrible - low visibility. Its a crapshoot, but when you hit it right, it could be your best dive ever. I don't know how much this is going to help you because I just realized that Limon is on the Carribean side and we did our diving on the Pacific side. Check out the scuba forum though -- its awesome!

[sddiver]

We are doing a similar itinerary out of Galveston. I was unable to find any "good" diving in the Limon Area. We were planning on diving in Belize until the itinerary was changed and Belize was deleted. Turneffe atoll is just offshore from Belize City and offers some of the better but maybe not best diving in the Caribbean. For whatever reason the area around Limon lacks even decent snorkeling opportunities never mind diving.

As the other poster mentioned, I have also heard the best diving Costa Rica offers is on the Pacific side.

 

Good Luck

 

Rich

[sailingangel]

I just read a thread at the scuba board that said that no one dives out of limon because the currents are too strong--- sorry about that, its a bummer when you can't dive.