Cocos Island, Costa Rica Pelagic Paradise

Transcription

1 Cocos Island, Costa Rica Pelagic Paradise Guadeloupe Turks and Caicos Islands Cozumel Saba Photo School Snell s Window JAN-APR 2015 Volume 6 Issue 1 US $7.99 / CAN $9.99

2 Luxury LIVE-ABOARD Okeanos Aggressor Pelagic Paradise SOLOMON BAKSH COCOS ISLAND Wayne B. Brown A large school of cottonmouth jacks at Dirty Rock 6 7

3 B The spacious salon has a library, computer and entertainment center The luxurious Okeanos Aggressor The camera table is large enough to hold several full-sized DSLR housings All state rooms have individual climate control and private bathroom Lowering the pangas in Chatham Bay with Manuelita Island in the background 8 9

4 MANUELITA ISLAND Manuelita Garden Viking Rock Manuelita Channel Pajara Island Chatham Bay PACIFIC OCEAN Dirty Rock Wafer Bay Punta Maria COCOS ISLAND Alcyone Big Dos Amigos Small Dos Amigos Lauren Hill A view of the anchored Okeanos Aggressor in Chatham Bay, with Manuelita Island on the extreme left Sailfin blenny Divers listening attentively to a dive briefing The speedy pangas are roomy and exiting and entering is quite easy Wayne B. Brown Manuelita Garden is filled with a wide range of marine life, like these blue-and-gold snappers 10 11

5 A Mexican hogfish foraging for food Wayne B. Brown Marbled rays like this one at Small Dos Amigos, are a common sight around Cocos Island White-tip sharks can always be seen resting under ledges and on wide sandy patches Leather bass are typically solitary but it is not uncommon to see them schooling 12 13

6 The boulder-strewn reef of at Big Dos Amigos is covered with a carpet of blue-and-gold snappers, Pacific Creole fish and barberfish Zebra moray This massive shoal of horse-eye jacks is resident at Dirty Rock Alberto Muñoz There are several species of turtles in Cocos such as this green turtle 14 15

7 Alberto Muñoz A diver is dwarfed by the sheer size of this tiger shark at Manuelita Channel A shy grouper hiding under a large overhang at Dirty Rock Alcyone is Cocos Island s top dive site, filled with a variety of sharks and other pelagics Paul Gruner 16 17

8 Whipper snappers at Manuelita Deep Night dives in Cocos are action-packed with dozens of white-tip sharks hunting in large schools A large swirl of horse-eye jacks at Alcyone Wayne B. Brown Paul Gruner 18 19

9 White-tip sharks can be easily approached for photographs and only swim away when bothered Undulated morays are found primarily around offshore islands like Cocos 20 Wayne B. Brown A variety of fishes at Manuelita Shallow, with a leather bass in the foreground 21

10 CocosMACROS Sonora Goby Juvenile king angelfish Juvenile rockmover wrasse Bluespotted jawfish Cocos serrano Clubhead barnacle blenny Yellowtail damselfish Coral hawkfish Panamic fanged blenny Spotted boxfish Triplefin blenny Starry moray Redsaddled snake eel Bluntspine barnacle blenny 22 The eye of a white-tip shark 23

11 The deep pinnacle at Punta Maria is always busy with fish, sharks, rays and turtles Paul Gruner This golden yellow phase of the bacalao (also known as the golden grouper) at Punta Maria, is uncommon These large marbled rays congregate in the sand channel on Punta Maria The massive arch at Big Dos Amigos, is filled with schools of burrito grunts, leather bass, barberfish and marbled rays 24 25

12 Cocos Island is world renowned for the thousands of scalloped hammerhead sharks that congregate there A group of divers at Alcyone watching in awe at the massive wall of scalloped hammerhead sharks A school of Pacific Creole fish atop the pinnacle at Punta Maria 26 27

13 KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Nicaragua Caribbean Sea Costa Rica Panama Pacific Ocean Cocos Island Overview: Located between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south, Costa Rica is a peaceful and stable country, not even having an army. Cocos Island is about 340 miles off the Pacific Coast and is an oceanic island that is volcanic as well as tectonic in origin. Capital: San Jose Paul Gruner Area: With an area of 19,730 square miles, it is the third-smallest country in Central America. It has both Caribbean, as well as Pacific coastlines, covering a total length of about 800 miles. Cocos Island is 9.2 square miles in area. Moorish idols and a blue-and-gold snapper at Viking Rock Population: Cocos Island is protected and uninhabited so only a certain amount of divers are allowed at any time. Language: Spanish is the official language but English is spoken throughout the tourism and hospitality sector. Currency: The Colon floats against the US$ and its present exchange rate is: 535 to US$1. Banks and hotels give the best rate, not the airport cambios. Electricity: Electrical current is 110 Volts at 50 cycles and standard American-type electronics, will work without problems. Adapters or transformers might be required for European electronics, depending on the resort or hotel. Getting there: There are two international airports, in San Jose and Liberia. There are various international airlines such as: United, AA, Iberia, Copa, Avianca, WestJet, Spirit, JetBlue, Air Canada, US Airways and Delta. There is a Departure Tax of US$29 that must be paid before checking in at the airline counter. Colorful fishes at Alcyone 28 29

14 COCOSSIGHTS Manuelita Island is the largest of the islets around Cocos and is a spectacular dive area, filled with sharks, rays and the occasional whale shark The bridge El Copey, was constructed using confiscated buoys from illegal fishing Red-footed booby There are dozens of swimming pools like this one, scattered throughout the island A mural at the Ranger Station at Chatham Bay There are over 100 waterfalls on Cocos Island There are over 90 bird species on Cocos Island Wayne B. Brown 30 31