Dive Review of Diving Safaris de Costa Rica/Four Seasons in
Costa Rica/Guanacaste: Gold Coast

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Diving Safaris de Costa Rica/Four Seasons, Mar, 2009, by Dorothy McDonald, OH, US ( Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 4669.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	As part of a special birthday celebration we were staying at the Four Seasons resort at Peninsula Papagayo. The resort was wonderful but overpriced in our opinion. We did enjoy watching the monkeys play in the treetops outside our balcony! Because of research we did in advance of the trip, we wanted to dive with Diving Safaris de Costa Rica. During a call before leaving home they were helpful and friendly. When I told them which resort we'd be at they said they could pick us up there but that we needed to book through the resort concierge. It seems that booking through the concierge is required for all activities at the Four Seasons - and I imagine they do this to ensure they get a "finders fee" and probably the prices of activities are a little higher because of that. Diving was $135 for a 2 tank dive - that included boat pick up at the resort and all gear. We dove two mornings and had 3 divers the first day and 4 the second day. We did see one of Diving Safaris' other boats - it was larger but looked crowded - we were happy to be on the smaller boat with fewer divers. The boat had a shade cover, no head. The hour between dives was spent at a pleasant beach anchorage and cookies, fresh pineapple and water was available. We could snorkel, but no one did. As expected, the water temperature was cold and the visibility was very limited. There were just slight currents. The pleasant surprise was the abundance of sea life! There were large schools of spade fish and schools of 4' to 5' coronet fish. A variety of puffer fish were crammed on top of one another in practically every nook and cranny, apparently snoozing (perhaps the cold water made them lathargic) - when they were swimming they did not appear afraid of getting close to divers. A variety of rays and eels were also abundent (we were told we'd probably see mantas, but we didn't). There were also the usual characters like grouper, lizard fish, snapper, scorpionfish, etc. We also saw a variety of nudibranchs (including lettuce leaf) and a 1/4" seahorse. If the water were warmer with better visibility divers would be flocking to this area! Everyone we met from Diving Safaris was very friendly and helpful. Both days our captain was Luis who was professional and pleasant while helping everyone don dive gear and get in and out of the water. Bobbie Jo was our guide the first day and she was fantastic - her daughter, Kelly, was our guide the second day, and was also very good. Diving Safaris handled 4 divers with different levels of experience very well - we suited up first and began our dive. After we were in the water the other two divers suited up and went on their dive with Tracy, another guide. This worked out great for us since they were back on board with wet suits off by the time we finished our dive. Tracy was outgoing and fun and appeared ideally suited to working with inexperienced divers. We did see dolphin while on the boat between dives.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, South Pacific, Central America, Micronesia
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	60-70°F / 16-21°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	10-25 Ft/ 3-8 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters	N/A	Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There were 3 divers on the boat - only one had a camera which he held when the boat was underway and put on a cushioned seat while anchored. The crew handed him the camera after he was in the water and handled it carefully. There was no camera rinse tank on the boat.

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Dive Review of Diving Safaris de Costa Rica/Four Seasons in Costa Rica/Guanacaste: Gold Coast

Diving Safaris de Costa Rica/Four Seasons, Mar, 2009,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Diving Safaris de Costa Rica/Four Seasons in
Costa Rica/Guanacaste: Gold Coast