Snorkeling or Diving at the Catalina Islands, Guanacaste Pacific Coast

This was a very cool experience. The staff was very friendly. They pointed out wildlife on the way. We saw turtles mating on the way out to Catalina Island. we didn’t have much luck at our first two spots because of low visibility. On our third spot, we saw tons of fish: huge snapper, starfish, puffer fish, angel fish, parrot fish, a white tipped reef shark and other schools of fish. Andreas was so knowledgeable. He pointed out all types of fish and told us a little about them.

They served cantaloupe and pineapple and they had packaged crackers and cookies. They also had water and iced tea. We were pretty hungry when we got back at 12.

They are not joking when they say you might see giant Manta Rays!! The Manta Rays were 15 ft across. I wasn't expecting it, since we didn't come in the peak season for seeing them, but was spectacular.

This was billed as snorkling but really was a scuba trip that catered mostly to the scuba divers. The snorklers felt unimportant. There was no instruction on using the equipment.

I felt like an outsider on this trip. We were not really greeted at the dive shop, we were not offered wetsuits like other guests (not that I wanted one, but still, it's the principal). It seems like the guides on the boat were more concerned with those going scuba diving than those going snorkeling. Once in the water, the snorkeling guides did not do much as far as guiding. It would have been nice to have some idea of what kind of fish we were seeing as we swam. Plus, a lot of the other swimmers were oblivious to what was going on around them. I had adults swim into me multiple times. It would have been more understandable if it were a child, but it was adults! The second time we were in the water, a girl was stung by a jellyfish and wanted to return to the boat. The guides pushed the group out into deeper water, away from the jellyfish, but we were just waiting in the water for the boat to come back around to pick us up. They had no way to signal the boat for the girl who had been stung.

José and the whole crew were great - extremely helpful and gregarious. But, there just wasn't that much to see; the water wasn't that clear, and apart from some reef fish nothing much showed itself. They definitely know what they're doing, so I'm confident they picked the best spot, and the equipment and everything else was great - so my guess is that the conditions around Tamarindo just aren't that great in general. If you're dying to go snorkeling, by all means go with this group; but if you've snorkeled elsewhere then maybe consider other activities around Tamarindo (of which there are many).

As I mentioned in our full review, we probably could have skipped this experience. The winds were very high, making the water conditions difficult. Life jackets were not required, and a family got into the water, realized they were not strong enough swimmers, and the boat had already drifted away. We had to help call for attention to them and get lifejackets and assistance. The water temperature was cold, they offered us wetsuits. I did not mind the temperature as much as the jellyfish. Thousands, unavoidable. I would have taken a wetsuit for extra protection had I known. The sting was not unbearable, but not pleasant. I was not the only one to get stung. Also there was not much to be seen, a few pufferfish.

Fantastic guides. Made us feel comfortable even though we are not great swimmers. We saw tropical schools of fish, manta rays, sharks, puffer fish and more!