Regions / Latin America / Costa Rica / Hotel Colono

Hotel Colono

7 Nights - 5 Dive Days / $1199 USD Per Person Double Occupancy Seasonal Rate

Nitrox $

WIFI Available

Handicap Accessible

Star Rating

Hotel Colono Beach is located in the center of Playas del Coco in the province of Guanacaste. Not only is it near the beach, but many restaurants and entertainment centers are close to the hotel as well. Package rates at the Hotel Colono are seasonal and include ground transportation from Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport Liberia (LIR). Packages include 7-nights standard room accommodations, breakfast daily, and 10 dives. The property offers a limited number of rooms for mobility challenged guests and divers.

Hotel Colono WEATHER

There are thirty-two spacious rooms that each have air conditioning, cable TV, a telephone, a safety deposit box, and hot water. Laundry services and wi-fi are also available. The hotel has its own tennis and fitness club known as the Coco Bay Club. It is located in the heart of coconut beaches and has a large tropical pool with a water slide, fitness room, illuminated tennis courts, a yoga pavilion, and a restaurant. The restaurant offers a range of international and Caribbean dishes served in an a la carte style. The Ocotal Beach Club is just a few steps away from the beach and has an infinity-edge pool, relaxing beach chairs, and free wi-fi.

Playas del Coco is home to many beaches, volcanoes, rivers, forest reserves, and national parks that are perfect for exploration and adventure. Guests are able to go sailing, snorkeling, dolphin watching, and scuba diving in the waters of the Papagayo Gulf. On land, guests can visit the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano, the Santa Rosa National Park, and go on quad rides.

Sirenas Diving Costa Rica is located in the Playas del Coco / Playa Hermosa area of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, a thirty-minute drive from Liberia International Airport (LIR). We do not have a physical office; our office is on the internet and on the boat. Our boat is located in the Playas del Coco bay. We have a long-term affiliation with PADI and more than twenty years diving and fishing in the Gulf of Papagayo. Our location puts us in the heart of some of the best diving and fishing in the Gulf of Papagayo, including the Catalinas and Bat Islands (Islas Murcielagos).

In our area, there are two seasons. We have the dry season which generally starts in November and ends in March. The dry season is the Costa Rican summer. It is a beautiful time of year to visit and dive in this area. The mountains explode with vibrant colorful flowers, sunsets are epic and the evenings are fresh and great for stargazing. The water can be a bit cooler with temperatures averaging 74 degrees with cooler thermoclines of 65 degrees. It can also be windy this time of year making choppy surface conditions. The water is rich with nutrients (plankton) so our visibility averages 20-30ft. This is the best time to see the pacific manta rays at Catalina Islands and at the local dive sites. This is also a good time of year to see many types of schooling fish, southern stingrays, seahorses plus our many other critters. Sirenas Diving offers EAN nitrox but does not support tech diving or rebreathers.

Narrative text and photographs courtesy of Hotel Colono Beach and Sirenas Diving.

Dive Conditions

Costa Rica- Diving seasons in Costa Rica can be split into rainy season (May to November) and dry season (December to April). Each season brings its own advantages. Depending on the area, visibility usually ranges from 15-30 metres/50-100 feet. June through September generally brings the best visibility. Costa Rica has a tropical and subtropical climate and has a year-round diving season. The water temperature from January to March hovers around 27°C/80F and around 28°C/82F from July to September.

Cocos Island - Don't expect colorful reefs and white sandy beaches. Coco's Island is a volcanic island emerging from the ocean, with steep walls, huge submerged rocks, and a few hard corals. Above water, the land is mountainous with rainforests and the climate is humid and tropical.

Belonging to Costa Rica, Cocos Island is the mecca for divers looking for big animals, open ocean, and advanced diving. Sharks are the main attraction. Cocos is not a place with pretty corals or reefs. It is a gorgeous, uninhabited island, approximately 5 x 2 miles (8 x 3 km) in size. The bottom is a sloping rocky substrate without a lot of colors.

What divers do experience is amazing marine life - prolific shark populations including reef whitetip and scalloped hammerheads, plus a chance of many other species. There is also great schooling fish action, and a good chance of seeing true pelagics like wahoo, tuna, and even billfish. If you are comfortable with deep (100ft) nitrox diving in open oceans, and the possibility of swell, strong currents and low vis, Cocos island can be the apex dive trip of your dive career. It is not a place for non-divers or novice divers. Advanced certification and experience are recommended.

Water temperatures at Cocos Island in June/July is usually 81F degrees at all depths. It stays from 80-82F during the summer. The water can get much colder, down in the lower 70s in the winter. Thermoclines are common, and deep down can get into the 60s. Visibility in June through July is usually 50-70ft. Visibility can be variable but 30-50ft is normal, with even better visibility from January through May.