With coastlines on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica is a country of beautiful beaches, lagoons, rainforests and nature reserves, home to a rich diversity of species on land and underwater. Scott Bennett tells of his adventure there.
Contributed by
As ecotourism destinations go, Costa Rica needs no introduction. Translated as “Rich Coast”, this small Central American nation packs a serious ecological punch, boasting a diversity of species and ecosystems surpassing countries many times its size. The Ticos, as Costa Ricans call themselves, take conservation very seriously, protecting approximately 28 percent of the country in national parks, reserves and wildlife refuges.
Although it has been on my travel radar for over a decade, I had never considered Costa Rica as a diving destination. Although the Cocos Islands are world-renowned, I was totally unaware of the diving scene on the mainland.
That all changed at the 2019 DEMA Show when a booth entitled “Bill Beard’s Costa Rica” caught my eye. I wandered over and met marketing manager Vanessa Willing, who gave me a comprehensive rundown of the diving. The prospect of a trip combining diving and nature proved irresistible, and after a 15-minute chat, I was sold on the spot!
Getting there, however, proved a bit more problematic, with prior commitments and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic causing numerous delays. Fast forward four years, and the time was finally right. With travel back to normal and an open schedule, the time had finally come. I contacted Vanessa, and she immediately started planning an itinerary for the following September.
The two-week trip would be a combination of land and sea, featuring two dive destinations with nature excursions from three land-based resorts in between. I would also have some company. I had mentioned the trip to my buddy Jeff Dickson, and he asked if he could tag along. Although he was not a diver, we had been talking about going to Costa Rica for years.
We would be arriving in the wet season, but Vanessa assured us that the rains would not be perpetual. Best of all, low season meant minimal tourists, a definite win in my book. The biggest hurdle would be enduring the anticipation during the ensuing 10 months!
Playa Hermosa
From the airport, it was a 20-minute to the Villas Sol. Situated in a dramatic location in the hills above Playa Hermosa, the views were spectacular, especially at sunset. My favourite part was the swim-up bar, which we put to good use! During dinner in the open-air dining room, I saw my first animal, and it was a rather unexpected one—a raccoon.
The next morning, I was awakened at 5 a.m. by a guttural roar that reverberated down to my very bones. The culprits were howler monkeys, reputedly the loudest of all land animals, an assertion I can readily endorse.
Diving
After breakfast, I was picked up by divemaster Daniel Renes of Rocket Frog Divers. Hailing from Madrid, he would be my personal guide for the next four days. He was also an avid photographer, so I knew I was in good hands.
The dive shop was in Playa Ocotal, a 20-minute drive from my resort. It was a much bigger operation than I expected, with a large staff and seven dive boats. Upon arrival, I was immediately fitted for gear prior to the day’s diving. Some 22 dive sites are situated around the Gulf of Papagayo, the majority of which are within a 20-minute boat ride from Ocotal. Several others, such as the Bat Islands and the Catalinas Islands, are further afield.
Once on the beach, we were transferred via skiff to our dive boat, which was anchored offshore. Rocket Frog was a large operation, with seven dive boats taking up to 40 divers a day during the high season. Numerous other vessels lay anchored, many of which hosted snoozing pelicans. Above, frigate birds and black vultures drifted lazily in the thermals.
Punta Gorda. Our first site was Punta Gorda, a 20-minute boat ride down the coast. Entering a bay encircled by rock walls fringed with forest, we anchored and geared up for the first dive. Although a few others were diving, I had Daniel as my personal guide and soon realised how spoilt I was going to be.
When we plunged in, the water was a balmy 30°C. Unfortunately, the water was decidedly green, with visibility limited to around 5m. Was it discouraging? My answer is a resounding no! Although the rock walls were seemingly devoid of life, closer inspection painted an entirely different picture. There was a lot going on here, and Daniel proved adept at finding the action.
Due to its location in the western Pacific, the region has an interesting mix of species. Along with some familiar faces, the stage featured a cast of new characters. King angelfish and barberfish were species I had seen in Socorro, Mexico, but others, such as giant damselfish and beaubrummel, were new. Eels were especially numerous. Along with snowflake and Panamic green morays, there was a jewel moray, strikingly patterned with brown rings encircling golden spots.
The biggest surprise was the number of octopuses. In many places, you would be lucky to see one, but here, they were everywhere. On the first dive, I stopped counting after seven!
Escorpiones. After our surface interval, we headed around the point for our second dive at Escorpiones.
With a depth of 18m, it was similar to Punta Gorda but even more packed with life, including schools of black surgeonfish, yellowstripe goatfish mingling with spottail grunts, barred serrano, a juvenile king angelfish and spotfin pufferfish. A zebra moray peered out of a crevice while bigscale soldierfish and Panamic sergeant majors hid beneath rocky overhangs. The sandy areas were home to abundant leopard round stingrays, a small eastern Pacific species. Harlequin shrimp can also be seen here.
After a superb pair of dives, we headed back to Rocket Frog. “Would you like a beer?” asked Daniel. I was surprised to see that it was called Rocket Frog beer, produced and bottled for the shop at a nearby brewery. A dive shop with its own beer, how cool is that?
Bat Islands. The following day took us further afield to the Bat Islands. An hour’s boat ride away, the islands are a marine protected area off the coast of Santa Rosa National Park. The main attraction here is bull sharks, which can come quite close to divers. As this is the only place in Costa Rica where people can dive with bull sharks, marine biologists are currently tracking the sharks to better understand why they visit the area.
Big Scare. The site was ominously named Big Scare, a moniker that unnerved a few of the other divers on the trip out. During the dive, though, the only things that were scared were the sharks themselves. We saw several sharks, but they warily kept their distance. The dive was still fun, with more octopus to photograph, along with a free-swimming snowflake moray and a large blunthead triggerfish, a new species for me and thankfully more docile than its aggressive titan relative.
Black Rock. Approximately halfway back to Playa Ocotal, our second dive site was Black Rock. The visibility was still not exceptional but distinctly clearer than the day before. There were a lot more corals, with small white fan corals dotting the walls. Schools of surgeonfish and bigeye jacks cruised the blue while Mexican hogfish, razor surgeonfish, needlefish and bluechin parrotfish languidly patrolled the walls. There were also plenty of whitetip reef sharks. I even managed to approach a pair resting on the bottom, one of which was amongst the biggest I had ever seen.
The show was not over, though. On the way back, we encountered several humpback whales, one of which did a full breach. Naturally, my camera was packed away in my bag at the time. I got back to the resort in time for lunch and a snooze before our mandatory trip to the swim-up bar before dinner. Life is hard in Costa Rica!
Pelonas Islands
With water visibility less than stellar, Daniel had recommended that I switch to macro for the day. Our destination was the Pelonas Islands, situated off Playa Hermosa and clearly visible from my hotel terrace. I even felt adventurous enough to bring my camera drone.
Argentina Point. First up was Argentina Point, and I was immediately grateful to have the macro lens on my camera. Daniel pointed out an Agassiz’s hypselodoris (a new nudibranch species) followed by a tiny blenny poking out of a hole. Larger subjects included spotted sharpnose puffer, three-banded butterflyfish, flag cabrilla, Panamic graysby (a small grouper) and more octopus.
Encrusting corals added splashes of colour to the rock, along with orange cup corals and some very colourful starfish. One in particular caught my eye, and I moved close to photograph it. While perusing the images on my laptop, I was astonished to discover a tiny flabellina nudibranch between two of its arms. And beside that nudibranch was an even smaller one!
I even managed to get my drone in the air during the surface interval. Flying it from such a small boat was a bit intimidating, but I brought it back in one piece.
Tortuga. Next up was Tortuga, named after the turtle-shaped cement block at the bottom of the mooring line. From the mooring line, it was a quick 12m descent to the large rock formation that marked the start of the dive.
In true Murphy’s Law fashion, no matter what camera setup you use, something will appear and make you wish you had a different one. In this case, that something was whitetip sharks—the sandy bottom was packed with them! With the 60mm macro lens, I was able to get close enough to snap some portraits before they inevitably moved off. Leopard round stingrays were more compliant subjects, allowing a much closer approach.
Back at the wall, Daniel found plenty more subjects to photograph, including starfish, Panamic porkfish (there sure is an abundance of “Panamic” creatures in these parts), flag cabrilla and spotfin pufferfish. A snowflake moray shared a crevice with an arrow crab, the latter of which I only saw back at my laptop when viewing the photo. And did I mention more octopuses? Seriously, I have never been to a place where I have seen so many.
After further exploration, we ventured deeper to a wreck at approximately 21m. Lots of fish were there, including a large school of golden snappers. Once again, wrong lens and more portraits. On our return, a group of five mobula rays zoomed by, providing a wonderful conclusion to the day’s diving. Getting back to the resort was a bit of a rush as we were switching resorts, and I had to be out of my room by 2 p.m. Jeff had already checked out, and we made it just in time for lunch.
On to the beach. Our second resort, Bosque del Mar, was a real stunner. Situated right by the beach at Playa Hermosa, its name translates to “forest by the sea”. We each had a junior villa, and I would have been happy just to cocoon myself within it. No time to rest, though, as there was a beach to photograph!
I took my camera drone outside and spent a happy hour photographing the scenery. That is, until I crashed it into a tree just before sunset. I did not see where it landed on the beach, but by some small miracle, someone nearby saw it and retrieved it just as the tide came in. Apart from some broken propellers, it remained intact.
Return visits
My final day of diving in Guanacaste saw a return visit to the Bat Islands and Black Rock. Unfortunately, the visibility had worsened, which added an extra adrenaline rush to the bull shark dive at Big Scare. The sharks came closer this time, but you could not see them coming. We saw about five in total but photographing them proved impossible. At one point, I turned around, and one swam by less than two metres away—no photo, but an amazing, albeit unnerving, encounter!
Conditions were similar at Black Rock, but there was no shortage of life. Stone scorpionfish, blue and gold snappers, flag cabrillas, guineafowl and whitespotted puffers abounded, while a large overhang revealed a massive spiny lobster. Back on the boat, we discovered that everyone else had seen a manta ray.
Cloud forests & nature reserves
After five nights on the coast, it was time to head inland. Our destination was the town of Santa Elena, situated near the world-famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
Spring Paradise Nature Reserve. En route, we made a detour to the Spring Paradise Nature Reserve outside the town of Bijagua. As a long-time wildlife enthusiast, I know that wildlife viewing is not a guaranteed thing. That is, unless you are in Costa Rica!
As we met our guide for a 90-minute walk, he asked me what I wanted to see. “Well, I would love to see an eyelash viper, a poison dart frog and a red-eyed tree frog,” I replied, knowing it was something of a tall order.
For starters, he found the viper just one minute away from the parking lot. Ten minutes later, he found a poison dart frog, followed by a pair of red-eyed tree frogs. All were perfectly positioned for photography, allowing me to use my tripod. This was followed by a yellow-billed toucan, a three-toed sloth at eye level and a hive of stingless bees. I was in photography heaven!
Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at a local “soda” (cantina) for a traditional “casado” dish of rice, beans, pork, fried plantains and pico de gallo. With our bellies full, we enjoyed a scenic drive through the countryside, arriving in Santa Elena by late afternoon. Stepping outside at the Hotel Poco a Poco was literally a breath of fresh air, with the humidity of the lowlands replaced by the cool mountain air.
Monteverde Cloud Forest
Our full day in Monteverde started with an early morning hike to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Unfortunately, it was sunny as the wind had pushed out all the clouds. We started with a stop at the hummingbird garden, followed by a hike through the reserve. It was certainly beautiful but hardly the conditions for photography.
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
Fortunately, the afternoon proved more successful. Vanessa had arranged a tour of the Santa Elena reserve, half an hour outside town. By the time we arrived, the sky had clouded over, providing the optimal conditions I wanted. The reserve was stunning, and my photos could finally do it justice.
La Fortuna. I could have easily spent days in Monteverde, but it was time to move on to the Casa Luna Hotel near La Fortuna. Arriving by mid-afternoon, there was time for a stroll around the resort. Amidst the lush forest, a path followed an idyllic stream with waterfalls and mossy boulders, while the conical summit of the Arenal volcano provided an imposing background. Even after a week, I could not get over how beautiful this country was.
That evening featured a special treat: a spotlight walk in a nearby reserve. The two-hour walk was incredible. There were twelve different frog species, four eyelash vipers, a fer-de-lance (the country’s second most deadly snake), owl butterflies, giant walking sticks, bullet ants and even a kinkajou, an arboreal relative of the raccoon. I have been on spotlighting walks before, but never as good as this. It was off the charts!
The ensuing two days proved just as enthralling. The next morning, after breakfast, we met Diego Casto, our guide and driver for the next three days.
Sendero Bogarín. As the day started with a downpour of nearly biblical proportions, Diego suggested a change of itinerary. We started with Sendero Bogarín, a nearby estate with several hiking trails. The highlight here was the bird feeders at the reception area. Although we had not seen many bird species during our first week, this all changed within minutes.
There were tanagers, guans, orioles, chachalacas, parakeets and numerous others gorging themselves on fresh fruit. In two hours, we saw 31 species. After a stop at the Fortuna waterfall, we went to Doña Mara’s house for a tasty home-cooked lunch. Along with several Costa Rican dishes, she made fresh tortillas, which we helped to make. I can safely say that her version was better than our attempts. Her back verandah overlooked a forested ravine, where we got to see several toucans as we ate.
Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge. The next day saw us at the Caño Negro reserve in Los Chiles, very close to the Nicaraguan border. We boarded a private boat for a river cruise, and the wildlife kept on coming. Along with a myriad of waterbirds, we saw iguanas, caimans, green basilisk lizards (the “Jesus Christ lizards” that run on water) and howler, spider and white-faced capuchin monkeys. The latter were especially bold, with an entire troop coming down to check us out. One even jumped onto our boat. It was so close to Jeff that I thought it was going to steal his phone!
After two days of wildlife bliss, it was time to head to Drake Bay in the far south of the country. Diego was to drive us back to San José to catch our domestic flight. However, he had one final surprise in store. On the way, we stopped at a soda that had, you guessed it, bird feeders. Some were specifically for hummingbirds, and the activity on them was furious, with miniature aerial dogfights being staged in a show of territorial dominance. The setting was spectacular, with the verandah overlooking a forest-fringed waterfall enveloped in wafting mist. My camera was in overdrive for two solid hours.
On to Drake Bay
Arriving in San José, we sadly bid farewell to Diego and caught our flight. En route, we stopped at Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula. Oddly enough, there was a cemetery right beside the airport, which I found equally amusing and disturbing. From Drake Bay Airport, it was a short drive and an even shorter boat transfer to our last hotel, the Aguila de Ossa. Arguably, Vanessa had saved the best for last!
Sprawled across a forest-cloaked hillside, the resort was stunning. One of the first resorts to open in the Osa Peninsula nearly 30 years ago, it now blended right in with the forest. The cooler air of the highlands had been replaced by the extreme humidity of the coast. We were now in the jungle!
Walking up from the jetty to the lounge/dining area, I spotted a pair of scarlet macaws flying by. I also got a good workout as there were lots of steps. Not surprising, as I had yet to see an elevator/lift in the entire country! The spacious rooms were fan-cooled, ensuring my cameras and glasses would not fog up upon going outside.
Isla del Caño
On our first day, we headed out to Isla del Caño, a biological reserve located in the Pacific Ocean about 16km northwest of the Osa Peninsula. Encompassing an area of around 52km2, the island and surrounding marine area are home to the most extensive coral formations on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
I would be doing two dives while Jeff came along to snorkel. There had been an eight-hour thunderstorm overnight, but the weather was perfect as we set out. As we approached the island, the reefs were noticeably different from those in Guanacaste. The visibility was better, no doubt due to the offshore location.
The undersea terrain was similar, but there was a lot more coral, including some decent-sized sea fans. In addition to schools of grunts and snappers, there were lots of loggerhead and green sea turtles—the first I had seen on this trip. Whitetip reef sharks were also present, along with a couple of longtail stingrays resting on the sandy bottom.
The second dive yielded some surprises. As I finned above the sand, Cortez garden eels followed my approach before ducking into the safety of their burrows. At that moment, an unmistakable sound brought me to a dead halt. Whale song! I was overwhelmed, as hearing it on a TV documentary was no match for the real thing. Even now, the memory still sends shivers down my spine!
Back on the boat, we were thrilled to see nine humpback whales cruising just off the island. Between July and October, they migrate up from Patagonia to give birth and mate. Although none of them breached, we did see a few tail flukes. Back on the mainland, towering cloudbanks heralded another downpour, and we made it back just in time.
Corcovado National Park
On our last day in the Osa Peninsula, we did a hike in nearby Corcovado National Park, the largest park in Costa Rica. Encompassing over a third of the Osa Peninsula, it is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, home to tapirs, jaguars, pumas, scarlet macaws and squirrel monkeys. As there were no roads inside the park, we took a boat from the resort to the park headquarters. Although the trail was flat, the heavy rain had created a lot of mud and puddles to negotiate. It was a tiring slog but quickly forgotten when I spotted some scarlet macaws. The exhilaration skyrocketed with a very close encounter with a wild tapir!
After one last night in the Osa, it was time to start heading home. From San José, we transferred back to Liberia for our last overnight stop at an airport hotel. However, there was one final wildlife encounter to be had. On the drive back, we stopped at a restaurant complex for a snack. In the trees beside the parking lot, we found a small flock of scarlet macaws, even closer than we had seen in Corcovado.
A rich coast indeed! ■
