There are other boats
you can take to dive at
Cocos Island. The 120'
Okeanos Aggressor carries 21 passengers and runs 10-
and 11-day trips out to Cocos. The boat leaves from
Puntarenas on the Costa Rican mainland. (800-348-
2628 or 504-385-2628.)
The 115' Sea Hunter runs eight- and eleven-day
trips and carries a maximum of 18. The 90' Undersea
Hunter carries a maximum of 14 divers. Both depart
from Puntarenas. (800-203-2120 or 506-228-6535.)
Our candid reviewer of the Inzan Tiger has not
been on the Okeanos Aggressor but rates the Tiger a
little higher than his trip on the Undersea Hunter. On
the Tiger he was aboard with four and five people
while the other Cocos boats carry 14 to 21 divers.
As for Panama, the 115' Coiba Explorer, which has
been doing charter fishing trips off of Panama for
the past ten years, is slated to offer diving this
summer. (800-733-4742 or at
www.coibaexplorer.com.)
Rumor is that the Coral Star, a boat I once
boarded when it was in Saba (before it moved to do
whale trips on the Silver Banks), is being spruced up
by a new owner. The owner apparently intends to
offer diving off Panama by this July.