THE DIVE
We daily schedule two dives in the morning (8 AM and 11
AM), one in the afternoon (3 PM) and a night dive at 6 PM.
After a dive briefing from our Divemasters on the mothership,
our guests board the two skiffs that each accommodate up
to nine divers plus Divemaster, who always dive with the
group and the Skiff Driver. After a short ride, each of
the skiffs will reach a different dive site that is switched
on the following dive allowing the two groups to dive the
same areas but at different times of the day.
On the way to or from the divesites it is very common to
find exciting snorkeling opportunities with Pacific Mantas,
Bottlenose Dolphins or even a Bait Ball that will keep the
adrenaline brewing all day long.
Between the dives, as the tanks are being refilled there
is time for Sea Kayaking or to go back on the skiffs for
a photo tour or land excursions.
GOIN ASHORE
Several excursions on the island can be planned during our
trips. Most popular is the visit to the isolated Ranger
Station at Chatham Bay where pirates, whalers and yesteryear’s
visitors left their ships names carves in stone on the numerous
boulders along the beautiful sandy beach.
Other excellent options are walks to one of the beautiful
waterfalls where, after a short hike through the impressive
tropical jungle, you can take a treasured bath in one or
several fresh water pools.
Also available, depending on weather, are guided tours of
the trail linking Chatham and Wafer bays. This hike offers
marvelous panoramas of Cocos shores and a rare glimpse of
the Island’s dense rain forest. One of Cocos endemic
birds, the Cocos Finch is a common and curios companion
along this trail. So unaccustomed to human presence, they
can almost be touched.
For the serous hikers among us, a long 8 hours trek to Cerro
Yglesias summit, the highest peak in Cocos, can be planed
with prior arrangement and the permission of the national
park rangers. A visit to the main park ranger installation
at Wafer Bay and its adjacent stream and forest can be arranged
when sea conditions permit a safe beach landing.
In between dives ask our Dive-Masters to launch one of our
stable Ocean Kayaks for your enjoyment. Paddling along the
Cocos shore offers a fantastic and relaxing experience during
which hidden waterfalls and countless nesting sea birds
will reveal themselves.
SAFETY
Due to the remoteness of both Cocos and Malpelo, safety
is an absolute priority at all times.
Our Captains are qualified with internationally recognized
seafaring licenses. Many of our crew are Medic First Aid
Instructors or are trained for basic first aid and as DAN
O2 providers. All our crews maintain peak performance skills
for emergencies like Man Overboard, Lost Diver Searches,
Fire at Sea and more.
Since the nearest hyperbaric facility in Panama City is
over 2 sailing days away, we must maintain a safe diving
practice within the recreational diving limits. Thus decompression
dives are not permitted and a maximum depth of 140 ft. /
40 m. is imposed. To increase safety and bottom time while
maintaining safe non-decompression dives the use of Nitrox
becomes essential.
DAN O2 Emergency kits are present on all of our skiffs as
well as on the mother ship.
The total isolation of these Islands and the prevailing
ocean currents play a major roll in our emergency plan and
readiness for when divers might drift away from the dive
sites. With the frequent rainsqualls, surface conditions
are unpredictable at times. For this reason we have hired
and train highly skilled skiff operators who have the knowledge
and the know how to search and locate divers even in the
most extreme conditions.
We conduct extensive dive briefings before every dive and
assign dedicated dive-masters on all dives, the buddy dive
system is highly recommended and a 60-minute maximum dive
time is enforced.
We further provide all guests with our Safety Kit that includes
an extra-large orange dive sausage, a powerful storm whistle
and a special safety light. Furthermore after one year of
testing several Radio Diver Locator systems, we have found
the symbiosis that fully satisfies our rigorous standards.
The ACR miniature Personal EPIRB together with a high-tech
Radio Direction Finder from SimradTaiyo will help locate
a drift diver more than five miles away. These electronic
units are fixed to the individual divers BCD. An on-board
homing receiver will guide the vessel towards the missing
diver, and these units will also transmit the marine international
distress signal that is monitored by all ships and coast
guard vessels.
