Discovery and Dive
Highlights
- Dive without a PADI certification
- Discovery Dive plus 2 additional dives
- Visit coral reef gardens and explore up to 36 feet below sea level
Facts
- Location : Puerto Viejo
- Hours : 8 a.m.
- Time length : 6 hours
- Telephone : 2750-0480
- Price : $155 with lunch, equipment, discovery plus 2 dives
That first tepid breath underwater is exhilarating. The second, mystifying. But by the third breath, the tranquility sets in and you're ready for an adventure into a new world of enchanting colors, dazzling shapes and odd and amazing creatures.
read more closeOn dives off the coast of Puerto Viejo, you'll see all this and more. Coral gardens of violet, orange, saffron and chiffon; giant vase sponges with lavender lips and deep ominous barrels; massive brain coral with human-like fissures and grey matter; perplexing spindles and helixes, spongy apparitions, long antennas, and shimmering fins. Within the reefs live hundreds of species of fish, crustaceans and sea urchins; giant sea pearls, Christmas tree worms and tunicates.
The Discovery Tour
For beginners who want to get their first breaths under water and for visitors just trying to squeeze in a dive on their vacation, but not yet willing to commit the time to get their PADI open water certification, Discovery Dives offer the perfect solution.
Discovery Dive tours, also known as resort courses, teach new divers the basics so that they can dive in shallow waters with PADI professionals. At Reef Runner Divers, a dive instructor will teach you the basics about breathing under water, familiarize you with your diving equipment, show you the hand signals and take you out to the beach to practice your new skills in the shallow waters off the coast directly in front of the dive shop. Successfully complete all of the skills, a process that takes as little as 40 minutes, and you'll be ready for an open water dive.
The dive sites
The choice of dive sites depends on the weather, the visibility and the experience of the divers, but new divers having just completed the discovery course can visit any dive site with a depth of 36 feet or less.
At the Holes dive site, you'll back roll from the boat and descend the line into a crater formed during an off-shore earthquake. Ranging in depth from 18- to 30-feet you'll swim over the sandy bottom past crevices in the crater's sinkhole following the rim through a rocky, arch swim-through. Pass by the long antennae of lobsters, the scuttling legs of crabs as lion fish swim in place near the shady coral alcoves while tropical parrotfish swim by in schools. Meanwhile, angelfish and banded coral shrimp swim around sea fans and scroll coral.
At the Frankie Fish dive site, you'll again back roll and descend 20- to 30-feet deep where you'll swim along a coral belt on the side of an underwater hill. Lavender, cerulean and fire orange sponges grow over the rocky surfaces hiding black spiny sea urchins, lobsters and schools of minnows. An occasional eel may peer out from a reef, mimicking its habitat while yellow-head wrasse, grouper and rock beauties swim past. Follow passing schools of fish, let go and let yourself fall into the current, flowing in motion with the school.
Wrap-up
Enjoy a sandwich, some fruit, cookies and water on the boat between dive sites, or, after the dives while heading back to shore. At the dive center, you'll have the opportunity to unwind with your dive instructor and talk about what you saw on the dive site while looking through manuals of different tropical fish and coral you encountered.
Departure & Return
- Departure point : Tour departs from all major hotels in Cahuita, Puerto Viejo Limon, Cocles, Punta Uva and Manzanillo
- Departure time : Hotel pickup is between 20 and 50 minutes before tour start time depending on hotel location.
- Return details : Tour returns to original departure point between three and four hours after tour start time