From Stevenson to Crichton to Cousteau to you – Cocos Island Underwater Costa Rica Ecotourism
Thought Costa Rica It is recognized worldwide for its great tourism, the remote and wild Isla del Coco is little known.
About halfway to the Galapagos Islands, Cocos is about 340 from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. At only about nine square miles in area, its fame outweighs its size.
you and I know it as Jurassic Park, Due to its remoteness, it sparked the imagination of Michael Crichton and served as the setting for that famous book and series of films by Steven Spielberg.
And, about a century before Crichton, another author, a guy named Robert Lewis Stevenson, is said to have been so enthralled by stories from his past that he created the beloved adventure novel. Treasure Island and the immortal pirate, Long John Silver.
Cocos’ romance does not come from her remoteness. Not actually. In part, she sparks the imagination because of his past. Pirates, hidden treasure. Real pirates, real buried treasure. Because it was outside the normal shipping lanes of the HMS naval fleet, pirates hid there and buried royal treasures such as the famous Lima Treasury and the Devonshire Treasury. And, to this day, that loot may still be in Cocos.
Long after the real pirates had come and gone, a guy named Jacques-Yves Cousteau discovered incredible treasure off his shores. He described Cocos as “the most beautiful island in the world,” a sentiment apparently shared by Costa Ricans who voted it one of their country’s Seven Wonders.
Cousteau, father of the Aqua Lung, was the first to dive into its waters and discover its incomparable riches. Without a doubt, it is one of the best places in the world for diving, considered by many divers as the best place on the planet for observing large marine animals. There are so many sharks that many who have visited have given it the name Shark Island and some of the largest hammerheads in the world are found there.
It is so special and so unique that it is under consideration as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the earth.
Due to its remoteness and total lack of tourist facilities, Cocos Island is not very visited.
You will only arrive by boat after 30 hours in the open sea. But, once there, you will find a wild and uninhabited island with many famous dive sites off its coast. If you are lucky enough to visit Cocos, you can only go ashore with prior permission from the rangers and no one can stay overnight except in their boats.