Diving Cocos

The wild, untamed look and feel of Cocos doesn’t stop when you leave the surface. There are more pounds of fish per gallon than you will encounter anywhere: Hammerhead sharks, tuna, jacks, snappers, white tip sharks, manta rays, and marlins. If you have been to Baja or the Galapagos, the underwater world of Cocos will seen like familiar territory. It’s part of the Panamic Region, and most of the fish species are the same as would be encountered elsewhere in the area. Except everything is more concentrated. For example, Baja has its world- class sites like El Bajo and Gorda Banks. At Cocos, every dive is a Gorda Banks, but you do not have to go deep. Because Cocos is the only offshore land mass in hundreds of miles, it has generated its own eco-system.

The primary reason people come to Cocos is to swim with hammerheads. They may be seen on almost every dive. And I am not talking babies or adolescents; these are big, full-bodied sharks up to eight feet long. Like hammerheads everywhere, they are shy in the presence of divers. They do not like bubbles, so the best way to get one to come close is to hold your breath. Or even better, learn how to use one of their high-tech rebreather units. It’s possible to get with-in less than feet, plenty close enough for photos and videos.

Although hammerheads in this part of the world are virtually harmless to humans, you will encounter big jacks or snappers with gaping wounds from the sharp teeth of these primeval hunters, attesting to their predatory efficiency. The fascination of hammerheads is that these animals are so bizarre, yet graceful and fluid. It’s like being in an underwater Jurassic Park, among living survivors from when the earth was young.

But there’s lots more than hammerheads. White tip sharks are everywhere, resting on the button or swimming along the reef. For every hammerhead you encounter, there will be about a hundred white tips.

You almost ignore in among them with a feeling of invincibility like a pedestrian in an protected crosswalk. Most are small, in the three to live foot range, and they go about their business of hunting as if we weren’t there.

Cocos has more pounds of fish flesh than I have ever seen in the water at one time. Even without the sharks, there are huge numbers of fish: Schools of jacks and snappers so dense you can not see water between them. Pelagics like wahoo, tuna, and even marlin swim through the schools to hunt. On one dive, a panicked rainbow runner dashed into the BC of my wife., Mia, as if to hide inside. When she reacted, it bolted for the dive master. Suddenly a huge yellow fin tuna, in the 250 pound range, charged after the unfortunate fish. I’ve never seen anything so big move so fast in the water.

Observing behaviors up close is one of the high- lights of Cocos diving. If you know what to look for you can see cleaning stations and mating sessions. Predation, of course, goes eagle rays are common visitors, but the huge marble rays are everywhere. These circular bodied stingrays are typically four to five feet across, and like the white tips totally ignore divers. I’ve never seen them in Baja or the Galapagos, but they are at Cocos in force.

The crew anticipated our every need, from meals and snacks to handling dive gear. I’d honestly have to rank the Undersea Hunter vessels among the best all-around live-aboards I’ve ever been on. My only regret is that the trip was not long enough. Veteran divers who have been everywhere keep coming back to Cocos Island. Now I know why, and will probably join their ranks.


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