Snorkel Trip to Bat Islands - April 26, 2012 (Optional)

A fun snorkel trip to the Bat Islands is planned for April 26, 2012 (Thursday) for the adventurous player or guest at the tournament. A charter boat will pick up people in Tamarindo and transport you by boat to the wonderful aquatic zone around the Bat Islands. Shark, manta rays, fish, and coral await you! Prices TBD.

Bat Islands are located at Site 12 and 13 in the map above. A boat ride will take 1.5 hours from

Tamarindo to the Murcielago (Bat) Islands in Norther Costa Rica.

The Murcielago (Bat) Islands dive are located on the Santa Elena Peninsula and this point offers the largest variety of species and a major attraction are the Bull Sharks. We will explore a beautifully landscaped pinnacle covered with corals and sponges. As we encircle, the pinnacle from bottom to top, we encounter sharks in the depths while swimming with the large schools of tropical fish and rays as we wind our way towards the surface. The expected return time from this dive is 500pm. NOTE: If the conditions are not adequate, we may change the plan and go to the Catalina Islands.

 

Facts for divers in the Papagayo Gulf:

Water Temperature: Generally a comfortable 78º - 84ºF (26º- 29ºC). During the winter months of Dec-Mar, we do get some cooler currents that flow through (as cool as 61ºF, 16ºC) bringing the large pelagics such as humpback whales, pilot whales, giant manta rays, whale sharks, and more.

Visibility: It changes daily but a good average is about 35 ft (11 m). No matter what the visibility, the dive sites are packed with marine life. The best months for great visibility are June through September.

Bottom Composition: Nearly all the diving done in this area is on volcanic rock formations and pinnacles where you will find a wide variety of marine life.

Marine Life: Every dive here is an amazing diving adventure. The rich waters of

Costa Rica are teeming with eagle rays, manta rays, turtles, white-tipped reef sharks, bull sharks, enormous schools of grunts and jacks, and a wide variety of tropical fish, moray eels, and invertebrates. With all of the big stuff there is also a myriad of little stuff to see - Christmas tree worms, fan worms, nudibranchs, tunicates...

Coral Life: The volcanic rock formations are host to a handsome assortment of

small hard corals, sponges and gorgonians. White soft corals and yellow cupcake coral carpet many of the pinnacles. Black corals still thrive at several of the dive sites.

Dive Site Depths: We have more than 25 local dive sites from which to choose as well as 9 sites at the Catalina Islands and 9 at the Murcielagos (Bat) Islands. Maximum depths vary from site to site ranging from 40ft (12m) to 110 ft (34m). We use computers to maximize your bottom time.