Rocket Frog Divers

A dive shop on a fishing coast

Playas del Coco is one of Guanacaste's busiest boat towns. Sportfishing crews, sunset catamarans and dive boats all work out of the same bay, and the Gulf of Papagayo that opens in front of it is just as good under the surface as on top. Rocket Frog Divers has been part of that scene since 2011. When we first profiled it in 2013 it ran one boat out of Playa Ocotal. It has since grown into a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center with its own fleet and a shop in the middle of Playas del Coco, 50 meters north of the post office.

If you're in town to fish and someone in your group would rather dive, or you want a day off the rods yourself, this is one of the shops that can take you to the big-animal sites as well as the easy local reefs.

The 3 kinds of trip

Local dives. Rocket Frog says it runs about 30 sites in the Gulf of Papagayo, all within roughly 15 minutes of Playas del Coco. These are rocky reefs and pinnacles where white-tip reef sharks, rays, moray eels and big schools of fish are regular sights, and where people who like small creatures spend a lot of time looking into cracks. This is where most courses and first dives happen.

The Catalina Islands. The Catalinas are a chain of rocky islets south of Coco, off Playa Flamingo and Playa Grande. They're best known for Pacific giant manta rays, plus devil rays, eagle rays, turtles and reef sharks. Rocket Frog runs them all year. Conditions change quickly, with visibility the shop puts at 15 to 80 feet and water at its coolest in January and February. Our guide to diving the Catalina Islands has more.

The Bat Islands. The Bat Islands, or Islas Murciélago, lie about 30 miles across the gulf off Santa Rosa National Park. The draw is bull sharks at a site called the Big Scare, along with mantas and schools of devil rays. This is advanced diving: currents can be strong and dives often go past 30 meters (100 feet). Rocket Frog says visibility is usually best from May to November, when the wind eases, and that sea conditions are checked every morning before the boat goes. See our guide to diving the Bat Islands for the park rules.

The boats

Rocket Frog's boats page lists 6 purpose-built dive boats running out of Coco Beach. The biggest is the Devil Ray, a 45-foot boat that carries up to 24 divers and is used for full days and big groups. Next come 2 40-footers, the Guitar Shark and the Eagle Ray 2, the second with an upper deck for spotting rays and bait balls on the way out. The Blue Orca (34 feet) handles quick local runs, and the Jelly Fish 2 and Whale Shark (both 30 feet) take small groups and private dives. The shop's pitch is speed: twin outboards that cut the run to the Catalinas and Bat Islands, so you spend more time underwater.

Courses

Rocket Frog teaches the full PADI ladder: Discover Scuba Diving, Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Enriched Air (nitrox), Emergency First Response, Rescue Diver, a divemaster internship and an Instructor Development Course. Nitrox is available for certified divers on the boats.

Booking and practical tips

You can book through the form on the shop's contact page, by phone or WhatsApp, or by email. The shop picks up from hotels in Playa Hermosa, Playas del Coco and Playa Ocotal.

If you want the Catalinas or the Bat Islands, say which day you'd like when you first get in touch. Both trips depend on the weather and on having enough divers, so the shop can't promise them on a set date. Bring your certification card and logbook, especially for the Bat Islands, where experience counts.

Plan your last dive at least a day before your flight home from Liberia, and check our Playas del Coco guide if you're mixing diving with a fishing trip.