cocos islands

want to do 2 liveaboards this christmas and was wondering what the best group to go to cocos island was. also want to make sure this group still offerst the white tip night dive as ive heard some groups have stopped doing it due to the presence of tiger sharks.

want to do 2 liveaboards this christmas and was wondering what the best group to go to cocos island was. also want to make sure this group still offerst the white tip night dive as ive heard some groups have stopped doing it due to the presence of tiger sharks.

I had heard they still do it but at another location that from people that have been to the original said was very disappointing in comparison.

No firsthand knowledge though....

John

want to do 2 liveaboards this christmas and was wondering what the best group to go to cocos island was. also want to make sure this group still offerst the white tip night dive as ive heard some groups have stopped doing it due to the presence of tiger sharks.

I'd recommend the Undersea Hunter Group. Was there in July... you're going to like it a lot!

http://www.underseahunter.com/uh.htm

i was there in august on the argo, and we did the night dive in manuelita with the feeding white tips. the okeanos was there, and they did that night dive too. i believe the tigers were more of a problem last year. they saw tigers sporadically earlier this year, but not recently. as far as which liveaboard, you can't go wrong with any of the boats in the undersea hunter group.

I was just on the Sea Hunter; awesome boat, crew etc.

Still did Manuelita night dives, hunting whitetips etc.

I'm not aware of any changes from previously.

Have to admit though, from my perspective, the night dives are a bonus, but for me the reason to go to Cocos is the hammerheads more than anything else.

Glad to hear it's back on...

is the diving very advandced. i am very competent in the water but only have a couple hundred dives. i am fit young and not quick to scare. just wondering if theres anything i should know before i get in over my head lol.

One point worth making when looking at the operations that go to Cocos:

The Undersea Hunter group (Sea Hunter, Undersea Hunter, and Argo) have been going to Cocos for a long time - they know the area better than anyone else...

This is important for a couple of reasons...

1. Their panga drivers are the best (hand's down)

2. I've been to Cocos 3 times - on two of the occasions we've participated in search patterns for divers (temporarily) lost off the Aggressor. At Cocos this can happen to anyone, however - the Aggressor doesn't have every diver dive w/satellite-based personal locator devices whereas the Undersea Hunter folks hand out 1 to every diver onboard.

This is important because it's the combination of great panga drivers (who know the currents and can find you after a dive) and in the rare case you do come up in an area where they can't find you, you have a way to make sure that you're not going to drift for hours - turn on your personal beacon and every boat around Cocos will know you're out there.

To me it's a matter of personal safety - the Undersea Hunter boats have better (safer) dive operations (and I'm willing to pay the premium $ they charge for that reassurance).

Yet to see how Peter Hughes handles this type of thing on their boat...

- Matt

is the diving very advandced. i am very competent in the water but only have a couple hundred dives. i am fit young and not quick to scare. just wondering if theres anything i should know before i get in over my head lol.

it can be. we dove alcyone 4 times this year. 2 time no big deal. 2 times i saw my life flash before my eyes. i've been to cocos 3 times, and on every trip there has been an incident. one year a guy got down to 200 lbs at 100ft. the next year a guy went to 156 ft on nitrox and we had to take a bottle down so he could do stops at 90, 60, 30 and 15 ft. and this she a diver ran completely out of air at about 70 ft. these are all diver error incidents but it can be tough. in my opinion, these incidents were due to divers watch all the cool stuff, and not paying attention to their gauges. a few dives this year, the current was so strong at the surface that all of us with cameras left the cameras on the skiff and dove without them. turns out on one of those dives, the surface was terrible, and at depth it was very easy. so you just never know. i think the key is having experience and keeping your cool and not panicking. just listen and watch the divemasters. the people who got in trouble did not do this. they are often the ones talking the loudest about their diving prowess.

it can be. we dove alcyone 4 times this year. 2 time no big deal. 2 times i saw my life flash before my eyes. i've been to cocos 3 times, and on every trip there has been an incident. one year a guy got down to 200 lbs at 100ft. the next year a guy went to 156 ft on nitrox and we had to take a bottle down so he could do stops at 90, 60, 30 and 15 ft. and this she a diver ran completely out of air at about 70 ft. these are all diver error incidents but it can be tough. in my opinion, these incidents were due to divers watch all the cool stuff, and not paying attention to their gauges. a few dives this year, the current was so strong at the surface that all of us with cameras left the cameras on the skiff and dove without them. turns out on one of those dives, the surface was terrible, and at depth it was very easy. so you just never know. i think the key is having experience and keeping your cool and not panicking. just listen and watch the divemasters. the people who got in trouble did not do this. they are often the ones talking the loudest about their diving prowess.

Wow...

I am going for a 12 days liveaboard early November. I hope that I'll be able to dive with my camear even if the current is strong.

Wow...

I am going for a 12 days liveaboard early November. I hope that I'll be able to dive with my camear even if the current is strong.

I was there this year with Matt215 when we had some bad surface current days. On two occasions I took my camera and was glad I did because once you got down 5 feet it was fine - you just need to be able to get down quickly. On another occasion I wished I had not taken it. This was at Alcyone and there was a ripping surface current, also our last dive of the trip after a week of 3 dives a day then a 4th dive every day wrangling turtles. (this was the PRETOMA shark and turtle tagging trip) So, I was pretty exhausted at this point. The line under the boat to the anchor line had broken and I failed to understand the protocol for getting to the anchor line. Passed the camera up and still couldn't get down. So, I drifted off while everyone else got in, inflated my sausage so they could find me, and waited. They then dropped me up current from the anchor line and it was a breeze, but no camera. I think if I had done that on the first attempt I would have been fine. You just need to feel comfortable. And if you have any questions just ask one of the DMs. All that being said, I believe my November trip to Cocos had some of the worst currents of any other time. I had my mask blown off at Punta Maria so I am always still a little bit leery when we go there.

I was there this year with Matt215 when we had some bad surface current days. On two occasions I took my camera and was glad I did because once you got down 5 feet it was fine - you just need to be able to get down quickly. On another occasion I wished I had not taken it. This was at Alcyone and there was a ripping surface current, also our last dive of the trip after a week of 3 dives a day then a 4th dive every day wrangling turtles. (this was the PRETOMA shark and turtle tagging trip) So, I was pretty exhausted at this point. The line under the boat to the anchor line had broken and I failed to understand the protocol for getting to the anchor line. Passed the camera up and still couldn't get down. So, I drifted off while everyone else got in, inflated my sausage so they could find me, and waited. They then dropped me up current from the anchor line and it was a breeze, but no camera. I think if I had done that on the first attempt I would have been fine. You just need to feel comfortable. And if you have any questions just ask one of the DMs. All that being said, I believe my November trip to Cocos had some of the worst currents of any other time. I had my mask blown off at Punta Maria so I am always still a little bit leery when we go there.

Wow... I hope that we'll get some good conditions, above and under the surface..