Instant Reader Report
on Okeanos Aggressor / [same] in
Costa Rica / Cocos Island on
2003/05
by
Steve Wenc , IN, USA
Report Number 031021003452105

 Bonaire,Belize,Grand Cayman,Cozumel,Roatan,Bahamas,Turks and
Caicos,Fiji,Australia,New Zealand,Canada 

Dive Conditions

Depth limits determined by your nitrox mix. Before every dive you are
required to log your maximum allowable depth.  

    Plenty of tables, shelves and rinse tanks. Cameras were handled with
care. Photo pro did a nice job processing slides.  

Overall Rating

     Nitrox is a must at Cocos Island and the course can be taken on board.
I used an air computer as a backup and it went into deco several times.
This is no place for newbies. We did four or five dives a day with the
first four about 100ft. One day I totalled 459 ft. for five dives. There
is no chamber on the island and it's too far from the mainland for
helicopter evacuation.  Inspite of this there was plenty of dive freedom.
I dived solo in a group all week.  Follow the leader was not the norm,
just stick to the dive brief and get picked up. A safety sausage was
required and provided. We hit a few strong currents and noticeable
thermoclines down deep. The amount of marine life was incredible. Dozens
of whitetips on every dive, scattered hammerheads, abundant marble rays,
several eagle rays, a couple mantas and a few turtles. Massive schools of
fish to feed all these predators and plankton for the rest, to the
detriment of visibility which was 50-100 ft. You would have to do the
night dive at "Shark Rodeo" to believe it. Hundreds of whitetips
on the prowl. The bottom was mostly volcanic rock with very little coral.
Bring your gloves. The Okeanos was old but seaworthy. The food,service and
accomodations were OK. Now for the bad. The dive deck was often permeated
with exhaust fumes from the generator. I didn't see any oxygen kits on the
small dive boats and some divesites were 20 mins. away. The divestaff left
a lot to be desired. They did not pay attention to detail. On one dive,
after handing me my camera and allowing me to descend solo, my divemaster
fired up the Zodiac and zipped out of sight. I took a compass bearing,
beat feet, and was fortunate to find the rest of the group. I suspect he
blew the location and didn't realize his error until I was already down.
The next day I came within arms reach of the props when the driver squared
up the boat in 6ft. swells without checking my position. Our  divemaster
sat out a night dive without telling us about it (regulator problems!). He
also missed the next morning's dive when he forgot his dive gear and
refused our offer to go back and get it. I don't think any of us found the
actual divesite(Silverado), so we didn't see any silvertips. The kitchen
plumbing leaked through the ceiling and onto our bunks and they refused to
fix it until after our 36 hr. journey to port. Whew! We didn't have a last
night's party as is the custom, and we never once set foot on the island
as promised either. However, we did see the park rangers when they came on
board to collect the $35per diver per day park fee($210). Those that didn't
read the fine print were pleasantly surprised. The spectacular diving at
Cocos Island is worth the time, money and inconvenience of getting there.
I"m not sure the Okeanos Aggressor, "The Ultimate in
live-aboards", is the best way to experience it.
 

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