West Coast

Aquila de Osa, March 1995, Joe and Lyn Shanaghy, Jackson, WY. "Beginner divers: amazed at what we saw. Sharks: Bull, nurse, white tip. Barracuda so thick we couldn t see through them. Tons of reef fish. Some surge and currents. Fresh coffee outside our rooms each morning. The trip to get to Drakes Bay and hotel was an adventure vis: 60­80 ft. water: 78°­80°. Some currents."

Diving Safaris/La Costa Hotel, May 1995, Bobby Joe Wilson, Baton Rouge, LA. "Ranged from sites anyone could dive to advanced dives at Bat Islands. Visibility was fairly good at beginning the five days I dove, but last 2 days was very good 60'+. The hotel was beautiful; grounds and view incredible. Golf cart style buggies were available to take you around the grounds. People in Costa Ricans are very friendly; dive staff the best I've seen anywhere."

Diving Safaris/Hotel Malinche Real, June 1995, Steven Richmond, New Orleans, LA. "Hotel Malinche Real Resort is a beautiful property and the only 5 star hotel in the area. All inclusive resort with a spa and casino. Never had better treatment by a hotel or dive operator."

Diving Safaris/Hotel El Ocotal, July 1995, Marie Thomassin, Illkirch, France. "Bill & Nadine run an excellent operation. Without them there wouldn't be any reason to stay at the hotel, where I was treated badly by the staff."

Bill Beards Diving Safaris/Hotel El Ocotal, July 1995, Dale Felton, Katy, TX. "Perfect for all levels of divers. Vis less than 30­40'. Huge stingrays and whitetip reef sharks on almost every dive. Tremendous schools of fish unlike Caribbean blocked out the sun on occasion. Dolphins followed the boat on every trip and jumped higher and higher to the sound our applause. Tremendous surge near the surface, current very strong. To stop, you had to hold onto a rock and flap in the breeze. 10­12' bull sharks at the Bat Islands and mantas and eagle rays at Catalina. Diving Safaris owners Bill and Nadine Beard accompanied us on most dives and out-island trips."

Bill Beard's Diving Safaris, December 1995, Harry L. Cure, Jr., Ft. Worth, TX. "Excellent. You get as little or as much supervision as you desire. Divemasters know where the fish are! Visibility is not the best, surge is present on best sites, but lots of fish! Water: 77°to 78°. VIS: 25 to 40 ft."

Bill Beards Diving Safaris, December 1995, Jeff Lafferty, Hemet, CA. "Wish I had known how similar it would be to Southern California. I froze in my Polartec suit which everyone assured me would be "nice and toasty". Take a 7 mil suit; water: 70°­72°. Lousy vis. (10­15 ft.), lousy weather, incredible surge (which was actually the fun part). The folks at Bill Beard's were friendly and honest with a good spirit of adventure. Costa Ricans are wonderful, polite, helpful and fun proud of their homeland. If I go back, I'll probably leave my gear at home and trip around the jungle. . . . Who wants to do dive where there's no kelp anyway?"

Bill Beards Diving Safaris, February 1996, Ronald Presutti, St. Clairsville, OH. "On return from Bat Island, ran into 5 humpback whales. Vis: poor to nonexistent. Saw basically nothing."

Diving Safaris/Hotel El Ocotal, July 1995, Mariella Frostrup, London, England. "Dive shop staff helpful and enthusiastic, our guide Rambo could spot sharks, mantas ten minutes before the rest of us. Catalina Island for experienced divers; bay of Papagayo offers plenty of interesting dives for beginners. White tips, bull sharks, manta rays, a school of eagle rays, plenty of eels and tropicals. diving was wonderful, professional operation."

Diving Safaris/Hotel El Ocotal, November 1995, Frank Dunn, Little Rock, AR. "Cold water. Low vis. Medium strong currents and undertow. Very steep hill to walk from dive shop to hotel. Medium to large swells. Not much to see marine wise. Little coral."

Dive Safaris/El Ocotal Hotel, April 1996, Dale G. Johnson, Helena, MT. "Worst diving I have seen. vis: 30­40 ft. Dead coral, few fish, no big fish, not much see but a few small morays. Dive Safari ran a first-class operation and had new dive gear. Apparently the conditions vary considerably. $75/day for 2 tanks and all gear and wetsuit.

El Ocotal, February 1996, Isaac & Lilian Kirshbom, New Orleans, LA. "Accommodations up to par, service good, cleanliness and ground maintenance excellent. View from most bungalows and rooms is breathtaking. Resort is on top of a steep hill, the beach at the bottom and the bungalows in between. . . . Dive operation no longer run by Diving Safaris (Bill & Nadine Beard). New management is indifferent. Personnel helpful, but support is uneven. Vis was 10 feet max. Mantas on trip to Catalina Island."

El Ocotal/Ocotal Dive, January 1996, Alan Mack, Marina del Ray, CA. "Tons of small fish in schools. All animals larger than Caribbean. Free swimming eels. Best dive support service ever! vis: 40­60 ft. water: 68°­71°."

Mario Vargas, November 1995, Bruce Fraser, Bakersfield, CA. "Mario was one of the first to start in Costa Rica. There are lots of dive shops now, but Mario is the pro, and is in a class by himself. Vis. 50­100 ft., water: 78°­82°."

Playa Tambor, May 1995, John Nash, Falls Church, VA. "All-inclusive resort on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. The resort nice, but don't go if diving is important to you. Vis 15 to 20 feet max; rainy season. Not much to see, even in the way of small tropicals, colorful sponges. . . . Dive operation is expensive (US $60 for a 2-tank dive $35 for 1). Excessively and rigidly rule-oriented. Divemaster had to call back to the manager on shore on a trivial question, and went strictly by the tables. Though I was using a computer, I had to come up from a dive with 1700 PSI and 90 minutes remaining, according to the computer."

Playa Tambor, April 1996, Rondi Campbell, Summerland, CA. "Uncrowded boats. They provide all gear, sodas between dives. Beautiful all inclusive resort. Stopped at beautiful island between dives. . . . Follow the divemaster. Repeated several dives. No Cocos Island, but a worthy diversion with nondiving friends. Two morning dives. Wildlife throughout the resort including howler monkeys, reptiles, birds, crabs, etc. Lots of fish on most dives, baby hammerhead, turtle and several white tip sharks : 20­40ft. water: 78°­83°."

East Coast

Azul Profundo/Deep Blue, Las Palmas, October 1995, Gunter Pilz, Managua, Nicaragua. "While the hotel is a little run-down it is a good value; diving course and the attention by divemaster Guilleruno was poor and not worth the money. The natural beauty of the region could make up for that. vis. 50­70 ft. water:80°"

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