# Cocos Island: Costa Rica's Offshore Shark Sanctuary > Cocos Island is a national park more than 500 km off Costa Rica's Pacific coast, famous for schools of hammerhead sharks, and the only way to visit is on a licensed dive liveaboard from Puntarenas. It's a no-fishing zone under strict 2026 park rules. It suits experienced divers who are happy to spend 3 days of the trip at sea. Source: https://sportfishing-costarica.com/cocos-island-costa-rica/ Last checked: 2026-11-14 Where: About 500 km southwest of mainland Costa Rica Getting there: Liveaboard from Puntarenas, about 32 to 36 hours each way Protection: National park since 1978; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 Fishing: Banned, along with feeding or touching wildlife Dives: Only between 6 am and 5 pm, groups of 2 to 13 with a divemaster Official info: [Isla del Coco National Park](https://isladelcoco.go.cr/) ## A note for anglers first This is a sportfishing site, so let's be clear: you can't fish at Cocos Island. The park's rules ban every kind of fishing, and boats that carry tackle have to keep it out of sight while they're inside the park. That's a good thing. Cocos is one of the few places left in the eastern Pacific where big fish can feed and breed more or less as they did before industrial fishing, and the sharks, tuna and jacks that school there help keep the wider ocean stocked. We'd like to see more places protected like it. What you can do at Cocos is dive, and it's some of the best big-animal diving anywhere. ## Where it is and why it takes so long Cocos Island (Isla del Coco) sits alone in the Pacific, roughly 500 km southwest of mainland Costa Rica. The island itself is only about 24 square kilometers of steep, rain-soaked forest and cliffs, with waterfalls dropping straight into the sea. Costa Rica made it a national park in 1978, and UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1997. In 2021 the protected marine area around it was expanded to roughly 54,800 square kilometers. There are no hotels, no airport and no residents apart from park rangers, who live at stations in Wafer Bay and Chatham Bay. Visitors sleep on board licensed dive liveaboards. The boats leave from Puntarenas, on the Gulf of Nicoya, and the crossing takes about 32 to 36 hours each way, so a typical trip runs about 10 days, with around a week of diving in the middle. ## What the diving is like Cocos is known above all for scalloped hammerhead sharks, which gather in large schools around the island's rocks and seamounts. Divers usually see white-tip reef sharks too, often in big numbers, along with rays, huge schools of jacks and, with luck, mantas, whale sharks or a tiger shark. A typical dive starts with a back-roll from a small skiff, a descent to a rocky ledge or pinnacle, and a wait near a cleaning station, where reef fish pick parasites off passing sharks. Currents can be strong, and the water is open and deep, so this isn't a place to learn. Most operators want you to arrive as a confident, experienced diver with dive insurance. Undersea Hunter, one of the main Cocos operators, has also run a small submersible, the DeepSee, that takes passengers far below diving depths. Ask whether it's operating on your dates if that interests you. ## The 2026 park rules In March 2026 Costa Rica signed a new public-use regulation for the park (Decree 45744-MINAE). The key points for visitors: - **Diving hours.** Dives may start at 6 am and must end before 5 pm, so there's no night diving. - **Group size.** Scuba and freediving groups must have between 2 and 13 people, including a licensed divemaster, and every diver needs a recognized certification. - **Hands off.** Feeding, touching or harassing any animal is banned, as are shark cages. Divers and boats must stay at least 100 meters from feeding frenzies and bait balls. - **No fishing, no marks.** All fishing is banned, and so is carving or marking rocks and trees. - **Night rules.** Recreational boat traffic inside the park is banned from 6 pm to 6 am. Your liveaboard handles the permits, which have to be requested in advance, and briefs you on the rest. ## Going ashore Visitors can land only at places the park authorizes, in groups with a crew member along. Hiking groups are capped at 24 people, with a guide for every 12. Approved trails include the route between Chatham Bay, Wafer Bay and the Pájara lookout, the Gissler caves trail, and a trail up Cerro Yglesias, the island's highest point, which can be walked only when rangers say it's safe. Chatham and Wafer bays also hold rock inscriptions left by sailors, whalers and treasure hunters from the 1700s on. They're protected as historic heritage, so look and take photos, but don't add your own. The island's treasure stories are part of its fame, and the rangers are usually happy to share them. ## When to go Liveaboards run all year. Cocos gets a huge amount of rain, so expect showers in any month. Ask your operator what recent trips have seen at the time of year you're considering, since sea conditions and shark numbers vary through the year. ## Learn more For a detailed look at the island, its history and its liveaboards, see [Visit Cocos Island](https://www.visitcocosisland.com/cocos-island-costa-rica/). Our sister site [scuba.cr](https://scuba.cr/cocos-island/) covers Cocos from a diver's point of view. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you fish at Cocos Island? No. All fishing is banned inside the national park, and boats must keep any fishing gear out of sight. ### How do you get to Cocos Island? On a licensed dive liveaboard from Puntarenas. The crossing takes about 32 to 36 hours each way. ### Can beginners dive Cocos? It's not a good place to learn. Currents can be strong and dives are in open water, so operators expect experienced divers. ### Is there night diving at Cocos? No. Under the 2026 rules, dives must finish before 5 pm.