T he Pacific Northwest Coast is surrounded by some wonderful dive sites and a few great ones are accessible within a short boat ride from Tamarindo Beach. Our local dive shops offer PADI programs so that beginners can be trained in a day to experience scuba diving safely, and then taken out to one of these beautiful spots to enjoy the vast underwater marine life. Expert divers can upgrade their experience with further certification, or just rent tanks and enjoy the wonders that the sea has to offer.

Scuba divers are taken to the famous Catalina Islands, a group of different volcanic rock formations that emerge to the surface off the Flamingo Bay providing the special setting for our abundant marine life. The bottom is mostly volcanic and the average maximum depth is 70 – 80 feet. It’s here that divers can visit with Snappers, Jacks, Rainbow Runners, Gafftop Sail Pompanos, Moorish, Idols, Tangs, Eels, Co-nosed Rays, Whitetip Sharks and Pacific Manta Rays. Visibility, currents and conditions in general tend to change every day. Currents, when present, are not strong, divers drift with it and the boat follows to pick them up at the end of the dive. During the Gold Season, there’s the added possibility of spotting the Humpback Whale on the boat ride to the Catalina Islands and back!