Description
Come for the mantas
The Catalina Islands are about a 30-minute run south of our dock, and they’re the reason a lot of divers point at a map of Costa Rica and pick Guanacaste. The Pacific giant manta lives out here — wingspans wider than our boat is long, banking slow circles through the open blue. Watch one lift off the bottom and the whole dive goes quiet. Even your own bubbles seem to pause.
This is a two-tank boat trip from Playas del Coco. Between the mantas you’ll find schooling cownose and devil rays, white-tip reef sharks, turtles, eels, and bait balls thick enough to throw shade. Whale sharks, humpbacks and dolphins pass through in season — never promised, but we keep an eye on the surface the whole way out.
How the trip runs
Our boats are the fastest in the region — purpose-built dive vessels that get you to the islands and back in about half the time of most shops. That’s more time in the water and less time commuting to it. Our divemasters have been diving the Catalinas for years, so they read the day and pick the sites that’ll be best on it, and we’ll arrange hotel pickup around Coco Beach, Playa Hermosa and Playa Ocotal.
We’ll be straight with you about conditions, because the ocean is. Visibility out here usually runs 15 to 80 feet and can change without warning, and there’s sometimes current. Our team plans the dives to work with it, not against it. Water’s coolest in January and February; visibility is at its best May through mid-November, which also happens to be prime manta season.
Make it your trip
Keep it simple with two tanks, or add any of these when you book above.
Full Gear Rental
Mask, fins, BCD, regulator, wetsuit and dive computer — all sorted, so you can fly with just a swimsuit.
Nitrox · 2 Tanks
Longer, more relaxed dives with less fatigue. Must be Nitrox certified — and we can sort that fast if you’re not.
Add a Third Dive
Three tanks for the day, nitrox included, since the boat’s already out there. Must be Nitrox certified.
Non-Diving Passenger
For anyone who wants the boat ride and the whale-and-dolphin odds without getting wet.
Not Nitrox certified yet? We can sort that quickly with our Enriched Air course — it gives you longer, more relaxed dives on days like these. Comfortable in open water with a few dives logged? You’ll get the most out of the deeper Catalinas sites with your Advanced Open Water card, though it isn’t required for every dive. Newer to diving? Just tell us your experience when you book and we’ll match you with the right guide.
What you’ll swim with
Besides the giant mantas, the Catalinas are known for schools of devil rays, spotted eagle rays, bullseye rays, bat rays and mobulas, plus huge schools of tropical fish from micro to massive. White-tip reef sharks are a regular, turtles cruise the islands, and on the lucky days a whale shark, humpback or even an orca turns up.
Save some air for the surface interval. The devil rays use the water around the islands as a playground — launching, flipping and belly-flopping back down with a crack. It’s thought they’re knocking parasites loose. It’s also just a great show.
Ready to make some bubbles?
Pick your date and number of divers at the top of this page, add any extras, and you’re booked. Still have a question first? We’re one quick message away — mantas willing, we’ll get you out there on the next good day.