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Dive Review of Nautilus Explorer/none in
Costa Rica/Cocos Island

Nautilus Explorer/none: "A New Destination for Nautilus Explorer", Sep, 2023,

by Jeanne Downey, PA, US (Top Contributor Top Contributor 57 reports with 21 Helpful votes). Report 12584 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Now that Guadalupe is at least temporarily shut down, Nautilus Explorer needed to find another dive location, so we were on their first trip to Cocos Island, although much of the crew has worked there previously on other boats, including the captain, so we felt safe.

We were split into two groups on separate pangas. Tanks and BCs stayed on the pangas unless traveling. Befor back rolling into the water, weights and fins were passed out and we were helped into our tanks. It was awkward at first, but we all soon got into a rhythm. Dive guides switched between boats.

The ranger station controls who goes where, limiting how many dives are done on each site per day, to lesson stress on the animals. There were a couple of less exciting sites, but only a couple. Of course, Alcyone, Dirty Rock, and Manuelita were the most exciting with the chance of hammers. Even though El Nino is present, making the water a too warm temperature of 77-82 degrees (I wore a 5mm wetsuit and was comfortable even at depth), we still had good encounters. Sometimes we had to go a little deeper, but we still managed 45-60 minute dives. If the action was slow on the site itself, we would lift off and head to the blue, following the guide. Many times we saw more on our 20-30 minute floats than being stationary. That's when we saw walls of hammers, a pod of dolphins, tuna, Galapagos sharks coming up to investigate, and schools of eagle and mobula rays. Oh, and the manta ray.

As divers ran out of air, they would head for the surface as a buddy team, inflate an SMB, and quickly get picked up. Most of us were able to stay with the guide until our hour was up, and sometimes we would see something exciting right before getting onto the boat.

The Nautilus Explore is the same dependable boat as always; it was our last trip to Socorro before the pandemic, and it was nice to be back. The 32-hour crossings were pretty calm, although a few people were seasick. The food, although not fancy, is good and filling, and the desserts are awesome. Meals were mostly buffet style, which I prefer. My only complaint was not enough leftover cookies!

My husband and I will probably put their Cocos trip into our rotation with Socorro and the Sea of Cortez, and Guadalupe if it reopens.

And the dreaded tiger sharks? Didn't see even one.
Websites Nautilus Explorer   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Bahamas, Caribbean, Cocos, Socorro, Tahiti, Malaysia, Indonesia, Micronesia, Galapagos, Cayman Islands, Philippines, etc.
Closest Airport San Jose Getting There Easy flight on United through Houston.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas calm, surge
Water Temp 75-82°F / 24-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 50-70 Ft/ 15-21 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions One hour including safety stop.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals N/A Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Not a good setup for cameras on the bouncing pangas. Large rinse barrel on the main boat.
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Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By steven klotz in PA, US at Nov 06, 2024 15:50 EST  
My wife and I attended could go silent on the Nautilus Explorer in the fall of 2024 immediately after a refit of the boat. Someone had suggested that they added cabins, I do not know about this The diving was extraordinary, balls of hammer heads and Galapagos sharks, or rare manta, a few frog fish. Simply extraordinary the diving of a lifetime On the other hand the boat was simply unfit. I have dove off of the Nautilus Explorer in Socorro. I have dove with Nautilus Little reports at least 6 times. Despite complaints the downstairs had a persistent fecal sewer smell that would not go away. The cabins were felt with flies. At night they told us to cover all the drains with wet towels to prevent the smell from causing nausea. When I returned I reached out to the company rather than post publicly. Having done numerous times with them and found Nautilus profoundly responsive and was tragically disappointed when I got an automated response things somewhat get in touch with me. Weeks later kept in mind never returned in the mail or call. I kept getting the same automated note that my concerns were noted in someone would recheck My findings were hardly alone, nearly everyone in the lower deck at the same complaints. It is unclear whether the dry dock caused a problem with sewage backup, but certainly the diving was mine billowing but the boat I will not go back on; there were too many other options
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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