Private Full Day Snorkeling Caño Island Tour

Submerge yourself on a water adventure at the south pacific coast and discover an underwater paradise in this snorkeling tour at Caño Island, where its treasures are not inside a chest, and explore the scenery in the area.

Cano Island is a Biological Reserve located at the south Pacific coast of Costa Rica and to the west of the Osa Peninsula. It was declared as a protected reserve in 1978 to protect 2,900 hectares or 7,166 acres of territory such as rainforest, beach, and coral reef habitats, but also indigenous burial grounds and artifacts found. There are hiking trails on the island, but there is seemingly constant controversy with the ranger station and therefore, visitors should not count on being able to go on land. The island is surrounded by five platforms of low coral reefs with many coral species. The coral reef environments are home to many different species of fish, such as parrot fish, Moorish Idol, Crocodile Needlefish, Guinea Fowl Puffer, Cornet fish and schools of Jack Fish, to name a few), and other aquatic animals such as sea turtles, sting rays, morays and white tip sharks. Coral is a living creature and a colony grows a mere 7 inches per year on average. Therefore, you will be advised that touching the animals could injure or kill the reef, which is why it is protected.

The day of the activity, you will be picked up in the morning from your selected hotel to take you to the operations center. Upon arrival, a guide will be waiting for you for a safety talk, test the snorkeling gear and safety equipment as well as a brief review of the itinerary. Here you will have access to a coffee station (Coffee, Tea, fruits, toasts, natural juice) before starting the excursion. Right after that, you will head your way to Uvita beach on a short land route of 500 meters by vehicle, and then a walk of 150 meters to beach, here a boat will be waiting for you. Be aware that there is no dock or marina in Playa Uvita so the boarding will be done directly on the beach.

Then you will sail from Punta Uvita beach for about 2 hours though the central and south pacific to Caño Island. The boat trip could be a little bumpy or very pleasant, depending on the weather of the day, but these conditions are part of the adventure on this remote and wonderful area of Costa Rica, so please be mentally prepared to enjoy this great adventure. You may get to see some Dolphins, turtles and Whales depending on the season.

Once you arrive to Cano Island, you will be able to snorkel for about 2 hours and a half in two different locations in front of the Island, where you will be able to observe the fascinating underwater wildlife in companion of your guides that will be helping and assisting you to identify the marine wildlife.

After the snorkeling, the boat will head to Violines Island in which a picnic lunch style will be served on a beautiful beach surrounded by a lush vegetation. The visit to Violines Island takes place only if the ocean conditions are normal, otherwise you will return to the coast to serve the lunch on Uvita beach. Violines Island is located 40 minutes by boat to the northeast of Cano Island and near the largest wetland protected area in Latin America, the Terraba-Sierpe Mangroves.

At the end of the day, you will find this experience fascinating from its unique landscapes and rich flora and fauna.

Highlights:

Ground Transportation, Boat Transportation, Bilingual Guide, Entrance Fee, Equipment & Lunch.

Transportation available only from Zone 4: Rio Tico Lodge, Three Sixty, Art Villas, El Castillo & Yaba Chigui Lodge