Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [387]
As beautiful as the island may be, its terrestrial environs are believed by many to pale in comparison to what lies beneath. Named by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) as one of the world’s top 10 dive spots, the surrounding waters of Isla del Cocos harbor abundant pelagics including one of the largest known schools of hammerhead sharks in the world.
Since the island remains largely uninhabited, and is completely closed to overnight visitors, you will have to visit either in a private yacht, or, more realistically, on a liveaboard dive vessel. While nondivers are certainly welcome to make the trip out, it definitely pays to have some significant underwater experience in your logbook – dive sites around Isla del Cocos are as challenging as they are breathtaking.
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History
In 1526 Spanish explorer Joan Cabezas was the first European to discover Isla del Cocos, though it wasn’t noted on maps until its second discovery by French cartographer Nicolas Desliens in 1541. In the centuries that followed, heavy rainfall attracted the attention of sailors, pirates and whalers, who frequently stopped by for fresh water, coconuts and fresh seafood.
Between the late 17th and early 19th century, Isla del Cocos became something of a way station for a band of pirates who supposedly hid countless treasures here. The most famous was the storied Treasure of Lima, which consisted of gold and silver ingots, gold laminae scavenged from church domes and a solid-gold, life-sized sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Isla del Cocos is so renowned for its hidden treasures that authors have speculated it was the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Nonetheless, more than 500 treasure-hunting expeditions have found only failure.
In fact, in 1869 the government of Costa Rica organized its own official treasure hunt. No gold or jewels were discovered, but this expedition did result in Costa Rica unfurling its flag and taking possession of the island, a treasure in itself.
Settlers arrived on the island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, though their stay on Isla del Cocos was short-lived. However, they did leave behind domestic animals that have since converted into feral populations of pigs, goats, cats and rats.
Today it’s the pigs that are the greatest threat to the unique species native to the island: they uproot vegetation, cause soil erosion and contribute to sedimentation around the island’s coasts, which damages coral reefs.
Unregulated fishing also poses further, more ominous, threats, especially to populations of shark, tuna and billfish that get caught in longline nets. The Servicio de Parques Nacionales (Sinac) is aware of the problem, but sadly a lack of funding has made regulation of these illegal activities difficult, if not impossible.
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Orientation
Just shy of 24 sq km in area, Isla del Cocos is a rectangular-shaped oceanic island of volcanic origin. Despite its rocky and mountainous topography, large tracts of moist cloud forest cover the island, which are fed by frequent and abundant rainfall. The island is also crisscrossed by two large river systems that feed more than 200 waterfalls, and drain into four prominent bays.
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Information
In order to protect the conservation status of the island, all visitors must apply for a permit at the Área de Conservación de la Isla del Cocos (Acmic; 2258-7350; www.acmic.sinac.go.cr) in San José. However, unless you’re sailing to the island in a private boat, tour operators will make