Dive Review of
Jinetes de Osa/Mirador Lodge in
Costa Rica/Cano Island

Hawaii, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel, Cabo san Lucas, Abaco, FL, AK

Dive Conditions

Depth limits, time were discussed prior, but noone scolded afterwards.  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Over Christmas break, 2004, our family of 4,all certified divers went to
Drake Bay, on the Osa Peninsula, in Southwest Costa Rica. We stayed 12 days
in Mirador Lodge, a rustic family operation setting on a hillside
overlooking Drake Bay.  Two rooms  cost $37 per person per day, including
meals.  Mirador Lodge, turned out to be just what we wanted at a price far
below other nearby lodges.  It is located at the edge of a small village.
People who lived there were very friendly and willing to converse despite
the language barrier.  

I chose Drake Bay because of its proximity to Cano Island, one of the more
accessible scuba diving areas in Costa Rica.  It turns out that this
biological sanctuary has only five designated dive sites.  We dove three
sites two times each in three days.  Only one of the sites, El Bajo de
Diablo is world-class although we saw white-tip sharks on every dive.  The
highlight for me was the schools of jacks and snappers drifting in lazy
spirals. Some snappers looked to weigh 100 pounds! There are at least 5
Scuba and snorkel operators trying to dive these sites everyday.  I wonder
how long the sharks will stick around…
Jinetes de Osa is a lodge with dive operation who we went with. It seemed
that they were having internal problems. The dive master was capable but
distracted. Their equipment and safety protocol was fine. After we
complained about crowded boats and disappointment with some dive sites,
they attempted to appease us. We had planned to dive 4 days but cut it to
3, as it seemed we would dive the same sites a third time on the 4th day.

The day hikes through the jungle were fascinating, especially with a guide
to recognize the sights and sounds.  Drake Bay is adjacent to Corcovado
National Park, the largest protected low land jungle area in Central
America.  We found crowding problems there, as well.  On some days, dozens
of boats are trying to access one trailhead at San Pedrillo.  You can't
expect to see the major wildlife when 40 people have been down the trail
that morning already.  
 We also did a horseback ride, I highly recommend. A day on a sportfishing
was a bust, although sailfish hit the teasers twice without getting hooked.
Other parties caught dorado. The canopy tour by zipline was exciting, but
no way to view wildlife. Our sons went boogy boarding quite often. We had
to bring our own inflatable boards as they are not available anywhere in
Drake. All in all a great trip, but I don't recommend it as a full on dive
vacation. 

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