Scuba Diving Fishing Land Rafting Xtreme Adventures Things 2DO

RODALES ARTICLES ARTICLES FROM RODALE´S SCUBA MAGAZINE Date: 2004-12-03

Ten Days In Costa Rica's Guanacaste Region and Arenal Volcano

Another notable and frequent sighting was octopus. I absolutely love watching an octopus on the hunt but rarely get that pleasure in a daylight dive. I was struck by the sheer numbers that we saw on practically every dive. Although we did not do a night dive, our divemaster told us that we could expect to see even more at night.

Catalina Islands:

A 45 minute boat ride took us to the group of islands called Catalina. The lure of the extended range trip is the hope of seeing massive schools of rays and other predatory fishes. Although the Catalinas are noted for the cownose and golden rays, sometimes in massive schools, we failed to see any significant sightings of the schooling rays. However, the diving at the Catalinas was filled with other exciting sightings like turtles and blacktips sharks lazily sleeping under the many rock outcroppings. Numerous spotted eagle rays were also spotted. Macro sightings were also prevalent and we found three different species of nudibranchs in one dive.

The vis on our first strip to the Catalinas was about 70-80 feet which was very much welcome, however the water temps plummeted to the low 60’s with a fairly brisk current. Encouraged by the vis, we returned two days later to find 30 ft. of vis and the same water temps.

Bat Island:

The 2+ hour ride to Bat Island was very pleasant with dead calm seas and numerous dolphin sightings. As we neared our final destination, several turtles were seen mating on the surface. The big reason to journey to Bat Island was the dive site “Big Scare”. This sight gives the diver perhaps the greatest chance to witness the sheer size and grace of the big bull sharks. A very detailed briefing was completed and we entered the water with high expectations and some degree of caution around these big animals. The dive consisted of descending to a depth of about 45 ft. and waiting for the big bulls to find us. In our case, the wait was short. Less than 5 mins from entering the water, we sighted our first bull, a 7 ft. beauty, which circled around us curiously and repeatedly. Although the vis was less than ideal, we had no problem keeping his massive midsection in focus. A few minutes later, an absolute monster appeared from the distant gloom which was later estimated at a healthy 10+ feet. Later several other smaller bull sharks were sighted to bring the total to 5. Not bad for a 40 minute dive. The second dive was done at a nearby outcropping where vast schools of jacks hastily destroyed schools of baitfish in the distance.

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