Costa Cocos

Who would ever thought that people who searched for Cocos Island on the web would use the combination of the  island’s first name and the country of its origin. Intrigued by this keyword search, the top search results for Costa Cocos would include a popular eyewear, a resort hotel in Mexico and another one in Brazil. Nevertheless, for whatever reason, one of the top search results also includes the offshore island of Cocos which is located west from mainland Costa Rica.

Diving: The #1 Reason for searching Cocos Island

If there is one logical reason in searching for Cocos island on the web, it would be about scuba diving. It so happened that this offshore island is a paradise for scuba divers wishing to explore a pristine habitat that is filled with big pelagic fish where it has been considered one of the Best Scuba Diving Destination in the World. Divers that had been to the island said that they never ended a single dive without seeing or interacting with the big boys of the deep. Yes, you read it right, sharks of all sorts are thriving in various dive sites scattered around the island. Diving in Cocos island is not just about marine wildlife. Exploring the underwater habitats allows you to observe unique landscape where you can see offshore seamounts, single or twin pinnacles, reef flats and sudden drop-offs. There is also a popular spot where you will directly descend down to a sandy channel and choose two different dive spots where your deciding factor will be the general direction of the water current.

Hammerhead shark is the primary showcase when you go diving in Cocos island where you can almost see one in every dive spot. But there is one place where you can have a remarkable experience with them. The offshore seamount of Bajo Alcyone gives you an upfront view where the thick population of hammerhead sharks represents like a wall of passing-by sharks. Speaking of the word “passing-by”, there is one shark species that perfectly demonstrates the description: a huge and highly feared shark where at first glance, identification can be almost near to impossible. But as this huge predator pass by you, you will realize and notice their body stripe where you will instantly identify it as a Tiger shark, after which, the pounding of your heart will commence to beat faster and faster.

Another heart pounding experience takes you to the shallow reefs of Silverado. With a maximum depth of just over 18 meters (60 feet), this reef can easily be filled with fast and swift-moving silvertip sharks where their presence usually comes from nowhere. So, the element of surprise is always present.

Have you ever experienced being bumped by a shark underwater? During night? Yes, you can experience this in Manuelita. While this reef, located at the northern coast of Cocos island, is calm during the day, it is filled with action once the sun sets in where whitetip reef sharks are awaken, hungry and busy searching for a meal. This food search can become more intensified with our presence. It’s not that we become their meal but the beam coming from our underwater torch triggers their excitement as they can now easily see and hunt for food like crabs, squids and small fish taking refuge at the reef for the night.

Historic treasure yet to be found

It’s not just divers who are searching Cocos island on the web. Even during the dark old days where computer and internet is not yet invented, perhaps electricity too, treasure hunters have been actively searching all the information on this offshore Costa Rican island particularly on a great treasure buried somewhere in the island.

It is believed that the island holds several pirate treasure of immense quantity. Historic accounts will tell you that during the Golden Days of Piracy, looted treasure around the globe where buried on the island thinking that it is the perfect hiding place for it. However, as the saying goes “there’s no such a thing like secret”, the story was eventually spread through-out all those who are interested and the race to find it first had started centuries long ago.

To cut the story short: we will end this article with a good news and a bad news. The good news is, the great treasure has not yet been found. Stories and news have been made just to divert the attention of treasure hunters claiming that the treasure has already been found by the park rangers guarding the island. But this news was ruled out and was found to be a hoax. The bad news is that Cocos island has already been declared as a National Marine Park by the Costa Rican Government and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. With this, the management policy of the island includes the strict prohibition of human settlement on the island, except for the ranger station, and the total ban on treasure hunting.

But for us, you can still find treasure of immense value in Cocos island. You don’t need shovels, rakes, metal detectors or any treasure hunting tools. You just need to sign up for a liveaboard trip, set-up your gear, plunge down under and see an immense wealth of marine resources where only a few places on Earth have it.

Reference

Undersea Hunter Group: www.underseahunter.com

Dive the World: www.dive-the-world.com

Dive Zone: www.divezone.net