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Thursday, April 18, 2024
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Isla del Cocos
Isla del Cocos
It is from Puntarenas that the dive adventure ships head to sea for Isla del Cocos, 535 km (335 miles) out in the Pacific. Besides being a natural wonder and fabulous dive spot, its modern fame came as the supposed island that housed Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur playground, Jurassic Park. The island was misnamed for the type of palm trees growing along its shores; the palm is the Rooseveltia frankliana, named in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who visited the island three times. Chatham, one of its two protected bays, has rock-carved graffiti left by ancient mariners who stopped here.
Years ago Isla de Cocos was a safe offshore haven for pirates and corsairs preying on Spanish galleons. Sir Francis Drake and the Portuguese pirate Benito Bonito are two of the many buccaneers said to have anchored here. The isolated isle is said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Treasure Island. In 1684, pirate William Thompson is believed to have buried the wealth looted from the coffers of Peru, known as the fabulous “Treasure of Lima,” somewhere on Cocos. The entire island is rumored to be riddled with buried treasure – gold bars and pieces of eight – although centuries of treasure hunters have failed to unearth the secrets.
But the secret is out about its underwater treasures – Cocos may offer the best deep-sea diving in the world. Hammerhead sharks are as plentiful in its clear waters as hammers in a hardware store. On the island, sheer cliffs line the shore, sliced by cascading waterfalls from the evergreen forests that cover its rugged terrain. Hiking trails cross the inland rainforest, home to two endemic species of lizards and three endemic bird species: the Cocos cuckoo, Cocos flycatcher and the Cocos finch, related to the famous Galapagos finch that lives off the coast of Ecuador. It is common to see the unusual Holy Spirit dove, a white bird that comes to nest here. It stands out because it hovers over visitors’ heads.
The Okeanos Aggressor is one of the two leading dive groups; the other is Undersea Hunter. A trip to Cocos usually lasts nine days, with six days of diving. Best times seem to be May through November, the rainy season.
Last updated October 29, 2010
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