Many islands, reefs, caves, and rocks lie off the coast of Costa Rica, providing excellent spots for underwater exploration. Visibility varies with season and location. Generally, heavy rainfall tends to swell the rivers and muddy the waters, even well offshore. Banana plantations and their runoff have destroyed most of the Caribbean reefs, although there's still good diving at Isla Uvita, just off the coast of Lim?n, and in Manzanillo, down near the Panamanian border. Most divers choose Pacific dive spots like Ca?o Island, Bat Island, and the Catalina Islands, where you're likely to spot manta rays, moray eels, white-tipped sharks, and plenty of smaller fish and coral species. But the ultimate in Costa Rican dive experiences is a week to 10 days spent on a chartered boat, diving off the coast of Cocos Island.

Diving off the Shores of Isla del Coco (off the Pacific coast): Legendary among treasure seekers, pirate buffs, and scuba divers, this small island is consistently rated one of the 10 best dive sites in the world. A protected national park, Isla del Coco is surrounded by clear Pacific waters, and its reefs are teeming with life (divers regularly encounter large schools of hammerhead sharks, curious manta rays, and docile whale sharks). Because the island is so remote and has no overnight facilities for visitors, the most popular way to visit is on 10-day excursions on a live-aboard boat, where guests live, eat, and sleep onboard -- with nights spent anchored in the harbor.

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Coast to Coast :You want to Travel from the Caribbean to the Pacific.