Dive Review of Rocket Frog/Los Almendros de Ocotal in
Costa Rica/Playa Ocotal, Guanacaste

Other Costa Rica reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Rocket Frog/Los Almendros de Ocotal: "Not the best visibility but big stuff!!", Nov, 2014, by Adam Hartnett, MA, US ( Reviewer 3 reports). Report 8029.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food	N/A
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Having done liveaboards on my last two vacations, I went to the Guanacaste area of Costa Rica to do a little bit of diving, see some rainforests and jungles, and of course relax a bit more. I chose Rocket Frog due to recent reviews on both Undercurrent and Scubaboard. I was very impressed with the operation: staff, boat, briefings, flexibility, etc. The shop also set me up on a couple of tours in the area: Rio Celeste rainforest and Palo Verde National Park tour. If you are into "80-80-80 diving" (especially 80 foot vis) this may not be the destination for you. 30 feet visibility was the average though I believe I never went deeper that 90 feet on any of my 9 dives. There are noticeable thermoclines and a bit later in the dry season, I would have worn my hood with my 3mm. Lots of big animals: Eagle Rays, Diamond Rays Turtles, White-tip reef sharks - one was enormous over 5 feet and looked twice as big as the other. Schools of fish were enormous as well. On the smaller side, there were several types of nudibranchs, blennies, clown shrimp, and sea horses. Did not get to do Bat Islands but made it to Catalina Island where the monster white tip was spotted. I would have done shore diving if I wasn't travelling solo. Interesting snorkeling and tidepools on Ocotal Beach. Many nudibranchs, crabs and blennies get washed in. The condos that Rocket Frog has their shop in is called Los Almendros de Ocotal. Its about 2 miles to the busier Playa de Cocos aka Coco. There's only one restaurant nearby, Father Rooster's and though not outrageously expensive, there are better and cheaper options in Coco. I walked to Coco in the afternoon and took a cab home at night. Gas approaches European prices in CR as well ($7 gallon) so don't get flustered too much over airport transfer and cab prices. Everything else is relatively inexpensive. I would go back but I would stay in Coco or Playa Hermosa. Rocket Frog will pick you up by boat/car on the way to the dive sites. They would stop at the RIU then Playa Hermosa on many days after departing Ocotal by sea. If staying in Coco, they probably would pick you by car.
Websites	Rocket Frog
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Florida Keys, West Palm Beach, Big Island of Hawaii, Puerto Vallarta, North Sulawesi-Indonesia
Closest Airport	LIR - Liberia International Airport	Getting There	Non-stop is now available from Boston on JetBlue which I took.
Dive Conditions
Weather	rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	75-80°F / 24-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-60 Ft/ 3-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Whatever was applicable to the briefing. They wanted you to start to ascend and do safety stop between 800-1000 psi usually depending on depth of dive.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
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	[None]

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 168 dive reviews of Costa Rica and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

All Costa Rica Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Costa Rica
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?

Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest

Reef & Rainforest is an agency for travelers that like to scuba dive. Let us plan your trip to mingle with hundreds of swirling hammerheads, sharks, & rays of Cocos in Costa Rica.

Want to assemble your own collection of Costa Rica reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.13 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Rocket Frog/Los Almendros de Ocotal in Costa Rica/Playa Ocotal, Guanacaste

Rocket Frog/Los Almendros de Ocotal: "Not the best visibility but big stuff!!", Nov, 2014,

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 Rocket Frog/Los Almendros de Ocotal in
Costa Rica/Playa Ocotal, Guanacaste