Luxury Diving in Costa Rica

What springs to mind when you think of Costa Rica? We think of lush green jungles, wonderfully diverse wildlife, amazing surf spots and, of course, incredible diving. Costa Rica is one of our top picks for anyone with a love of both land and marine wildlife, and the opportunities for luxury diving in Costa Rica are second to none.

Costa Rica is as beautiful beneath the water as it is on land, thanks to world-class diving destinations like Cocos Island and the Papagayo Peninsula. While Cocos Island is recommended for advanced divers only, the Papagayo Peninsula has something for everyone, with a range of beginner and advanced sites.

If you're looking to combine luxury diving in Costa Rica with other activities like exhilarating rainforest hikes, horse riding and sea kayaking, head to the Papagayo Peninsula. It's an ideal location for mixed-ability groups and families, as there are a range of dive sites within easy reach of fantastic resorts such as The Four Seasons Papagayo.

The Papagayo Peninsula has 20 dive sites in total, all within a short distance of one another. Although the area isn't renowned for coral diving, it is home to a diverse range of underwater creatures. Divers can encounter everything from bizarre-looking frogfish and sleeping white-tip reef sharks, to huge schools of snappers and colourful nudibranchs.

Sites like Cabeza De Mono (Monkey's Head) and Viridor (Turn Around) are both suitable for beginners, but advanced divers can venture even further to the Bat Islands, which is renowned for bull shark encounters.

For those seeking a combination of adventurous and luxury diving in Costa Rica, a trip to Cocos Island is a must. Only accessible via liveaboard, this remote island paradise is 340 miles off Costa Rica's coast, and renowned for a vast array of mega-fauna such as eagle rays, sharks and dolphins. The M/V Argo is one of the few liveaboards to sail to the island, offering ten days of spectacular diving in the pristine waters of Isla del Coco National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Often referred to as the 'Little Galapagos' of Costa Rica, Cocos Island is known worldwide as a top destination for scalloped hammerhead shark sightings. Every year between June and September, the sharks congregate in the area, giving divers the chance to get up close and personal with these magnificent creatures. Other than hammerhead sharks, divers may also encounter tiger, silky, whitetip reef and guitar sharks, as well as several species of rays.

If you're thinking of luxury diving in Costa Rica for your next holiday, our team has the insider knowledge and know-how to help you create the perfect itinerary, both in and out of the water.