Cocos Islands with Andy Sallmon

Have a hankering for hammerheads? Pack your rebreather and photography equipment for an expedition with Andy Sallmon to Cocos Islands. Divers with rebreathers will be able to find out just how close you can get without bubbles scaring away the animals. Cocos Island offers an endless stream of unforgettable dives. No rebreather? That’s ok, open circuit divers are welcome too.

Legendary Cocos Island is a remote pinnacle that climbs out of the Eastern Pacific like a modern day Jurassic Park. Its thick terrestrial canopy is mirrored below the waves by a kaleidoscopic variety of corals, invertebrates and brightly coloured fish species. Acting like an offshore pantry in an otherwise empty ocean, it is not surprising that Cocos attracts an abundant supply of large pelagic predators including enormous aggregations of silky and galapagos sharks, visiting whale sharks, squadrons of marbled stingrays, manta rays and some of the biggest schools of scalloped hammerheads in the world.

This is an amazing opportunity for divers looking for big animal encounters, especially with sharks. Think of the waters around Cocos Island as an aquatic safari park where lions and elephants are replaced by silvertip sharks, hammerheads, galapagos sharks, whtetips and silkies. Cocos is truly a big game photographer's paradise.

Cocos has an impressive assortment of dive sites to choose from, from deep rocky outcrops swarming with moray eels to shallow reefscapes filled with prowling whitetip sharks. Probably the most spectacular of Cocos' many dive sites is Halcyon where clouds of scalloped hammerhead sharks fill the heavens, presenting photographers with unparalleled shooting opportunities.

Imagine crouching on a rocky ledge 30 meters below the surface, while hundreds of schooling hammerheads glide by. Occasionally, one breaks off and swims towards you in an exaggerated swimming pattern indicating its need for attentions to nearby resident cleaner fish. Be very still while it continues in your direction and then squeeze the trigger capturing the type of shots that you have always dreamed about. This is the essence of Cocos Island.

Undersea Hunter is 90 feet of liveaboard comfort and convenience offering excellent service, food and nonstop underwater excitement. There are six cabins in total: two double bed staterooms and two triples with private facilities and two doubles with shared facilities. The vessel takes a maximum of fourteen guests with amenities such as dryers, towels, private camera and strobe storage shelves with individual 110-volt power supply, individual gear storage and E-6 processing. Two chase boats are used for diver convenience.

The ship`s prime destination is the extraordinary Cocos Island, a place of enchanting natural beauty, and which has recently been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is recognized as one of the most outstanding dive locations in the world and offers more pounds of fish per gallon than you will encounter anywhere: hammerhead sharks, tuna, jacks, snappers, whitetip sharks, manta rays, marlins, dolphins, goat fish, groupers and even occasional whale sharks and humpback whales. The 10-night itineraries depart from San Jose with a transfer to the coast.

Have you ever wondered what lies within the dark Abyss? For years, venturing into the deep was reserved for a few privileged scientists and military personnel. We at Undersea Hunter are bound to extend the list of these fortunate few by offering to the world of adventure travelers a journey deep into the submerged realm where few have gone before.

DeepSee is a custom built one-atmosphere submarine, capable of carrying one pilot and two passengers down to a depth of 1,500 feet (475 m). It is the first deep submersible designed and developed from its keel up with the ocean enthusiast and underwater explorer in mind and as a dedicated filmmaking observation vehicle.

DeepSee was professionally built by SEAmagine USA to our exact specifications under the rigorous testing and classifications process of ABS (American Bureau of Shipping).

Unlike most other submersibles that require its support vessel to launch and retrieve the sub for each dive, DeepSee was designed to allow its passengers to safely and effortlessly board and disembark the sub while it is floating alongside the mother ship. No decompression required… it’s like moving from one dry, comfortable and safe space to another. Guests on board can combine their regular scuba dives with several 2 hour submersible dives.

DeepSee is equipped with a High Definition video camera, and an impressive array of HID lights, that will document all the DeepSee dives. Passengers can use their video or camera equipment from inside the acrylic sphere taking advantage of the sub’s powerful external lights. The perfectly clear 4 inches thick sphere literally disappears when submerged and offers the viewers an unparalleled and unobstructed 360’ view of the undersea world.

DeepSee has a dive autonomy of 6 hours at a speed of up to 1.7 knots. However, it can remain submerged and operational for as long as 72 hours with its onboard life support system reserve and back-up power supply. Constant surface-to-sub communication and accurate sub positioning is maintained, at all times, by the DeepSee pilot using state of the art electronics.

DeepSee is generally operated by Sea Hunter, but is available for use by Undersea Hunter divers when both vessels are at Cocos simultaneously. Please check with your agent for availability and schedules, and don`t miss out on this state-of-the-art opportunity.

Andrew Sallmon is a freelance underwater and nature photographer specializing in images of marine life and the marine environment. His love of the oceans came at age 5 when his father first swam him through the surf of coastal California. He took up Scuba diving in 1979 and became a Scuba Instructor by the end of 1980. It was the slower pace of observing and trying to approach marine life closely that helped him to see and understand the intricacies and miracles of the ocean ecosystem. As he learned to appreciate the living sea, his photographic skills also grew. Picking up his first underwater camera that same year he is now one of the fortunate few that earn a living as an underwater photographer. A native of California he spends much of his time diving and photographing the rich temperate waters of his home state but also travels abroad several months each year to create new images for his stock file.