Scuba diving & snorkeling in Costa Rica

This little Latin American country is a tropical paradise with magnificent rain forests, exotic wildlife, majestic volcanoes and much more. Costa Rica is also a perfect place for scuba diving and snorkeling, offering excellent beaches for this outdoor activities. The best places for scuba diving in Costa Rica are located on the west coast at Pacific Ocean, in the Guanacaste region; a another great place for this activity is located south of San Jose.
The Guanacaste area is easy accessible, especially if you fly to Liberia, in the northern region of Costa Rica. From North America are some seasonal charter flights directly to Liberia. The town "Playas del Coco", which is used as main base by many vacationers and divers, is located at a short ride from the airport of Liberia.
Playas del Coco has restaurants, resorts and small hotels, and there you can find also a few American scuba-diving operators. This dive operators have special vacation packages available and usually the packages include diving and accommodations at one of the local hotels or resorts.
Not long ago, Tamarindo was a quiet little beach community on the western coast of Costa Rica. Over the last 15 years, the town has become a hot spot for ex-pats with accompanying development not far behind. Although some of the luster is gone, Tamarindo is still worth a visit if for no other reason than to compare it to the rest of Costa Rica.

Dive resorts

One thing that all divers will notice here is that diving in Costa Rica is very different from the usual Caribbean reef dive. The visibility is a lot poorer and there are some colder waters. The poor visibility is due to higher amounts of plankton in the local waters compared to the Caribbean Sea. However, there is a huge plus side to this poorer visibility. The plankton attracts larger marine animals and if divers came here to see the big ones, they will not be disappointed - to see one or more whales here is not uncommon.
The local dive masters work in a different way compared to their counterparts elsewhere. In many Caribbean locations the scuba-diving operators would promote a "look only, no touch" rule. Here, the dive masters help you to find interesting marine creatures. They catch them in their hands and pass them to the other divers. This practice of handling marine wildlife is debatable in terms of ethics, but holding a marine creature in your hands it's certainly an interesting experience!

Rich marine life

Large marine animals such as giant sea turtles, stingrays, white sharks, and whales are present in Costa Rica's waters, so Costa Rica is a very interesting vacation destination for divers. Maybe the water don't allow a crystal clear visibility, but in Costa Rica the marine life is very different, with more large animals to see. The activity itself is very reasonable in cost, being significantly lower than in other diving locations.
After a few days of vacation spent in Costa Rica, you'll see why diving or snorkeling in Costa Rica is a must experience for everyone! Maybe Playas del Coco is a renowned vacation destination, but be sure that entire Costa Rica will offer you splendid memories!
More information can be found on Diving in Costa Rica