Activities

Snorkeling (in the Osa Peninsula)

By George Ellard ⋅ May 8, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

One thing that Costa Rica may not be very well known for is its sea coral. It was thus to my amazement that I discovered how great this can be when I travelled to the Osa peninsula for the first time and organized a boat trip through a local sea excursion/ tour operator in Drake Bay to go snorkelling at an island not far off the coast called Tortuga Island.

I will admit first of all that, up until this point, I had never seen a coral reef (with the exception of on television of course). Although the guides assured me repeatedly I would enjoy it, seeing as I had not heard Costa Rica was the place to go for these things, I was certainly not expecting much. In truth, I was more looking forward to seeing dolphins swimming in their
natural habitat (also organized through the tour operator for this same trip), than I was to see what I expected would be a fairly pitiful coral reef.

In spite of my reservations and expectations (or lack thereof) about the snorkelling I was very thoroughly impressed with both the price (about $20 USD with a nice lunch included) and the beauty of what could be seen during snorkelling here.

The size of the coral was nonetheless quite impressive at Tortuga . What`s more is that the coral reef was actually not the most enjoyable or memorable part of the experience. For me it was both the crystal clearness of the water that allowed one to truly experience this beautiful coral reef, along with the incredible diversity of coral fish and creatures one could find here, which is another aspect I was really not expecting.

Overall, it was an extremely enjoyable experience. If you`re ever in Drake Bay, whether you`re an experienced snorkeler and/or scuba diver or not, make sure you take a day trip to Tortuga.

Enjoy!