Trip Report

“Diving in Cocos is like living in a Nat Geo movie!” -- Krista Shoe, guest Argo July 4-14, 2019

With all of the whale shark sightings this trip, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves! And not just for the whale sharks... on one dive at Manuelita Outside, we saw almost all of the shark species Cocos Island has to offer – 3 blacktips, a silvertip, a tiger shark, several Galapagos sharks and hammerheads plus whitetips. What a dive!

The crossings to and from mainland were easy and mellow, and the weather at the island was exceptional with only a couple of cloudy days and refreshing downpours. Our group was mostly from Colorado, with Ocean First.

We had near constant hammerhead cleaning activity around Manuelita Island as well as multiple schools of them. Galapagos sharks were abundant and we saw several tiger sharks.

Needless to say, the highlights of the trip were the whaleharks! We did several dives with them, and they were not shy about making many passes and coming in super close.

At Alcyone we had an amazing dive with a whale shark passing in front of the group 5 times!! Then at the end we had a huge school of hammerheads out in the blue.

Another favorite moment took place at the end of a dive at Dirty Rock, when a pod of 12 dolphins came to keep us company at the safety stop.

Small Dos Amigos was another hotspot this week, where we once again saw a whale shark!! Plus hammerheads and Galapagos sharks coming into the cleaning station, and 5 dolphins at the safety stop.

Cocos Island saved the best for our very last dive, and sent us off with the dive of a lifetime at Manuelita Outside. A juvenile whale shark passed by 3 times right in front of us, so incredibly close!! Plus a bunch of Galapagos sharks came within touching distance as well as so very many hammerheads. What a finale!