This tour is a spectacular snorkeling experience in a truly magical place. It is a chance to swim at a reef in a protected area off the Osa Peninsula. Isla del Cano, also known as Cano Island, is located 10 miles offshore from Drake Bay in the Pacific Ocean.
You will begin your tour at Drake Bay where you will meet your certified guide and other people going with you for a fun day exploring the ocean. A motorized boat will take you out to Cano Island. The boat ride takes about an hour and gives you an opportunity to look for interesting marine life such as dolphins, manta rays, sea turtles, and more. Depending on the time of the year, migrating Humpback whales may be observed and photographed.
Upon reaching the island, you will jump overboard to go for your first snorkeling swim. You will see a variety of colorful fish that may include sharks, barracuda, eels, and even a shark or two! This area has many of the same species of marine life as the Galapagos Islands. Your naturalist guide will swim with you helping to locate and identify the fish, mammals, and reptiles that abide in these waters.
After a while you’ll go over to the beautiful white sand beach at Cano Island to take a refreshing break for a cool drink of water. You can relax or stroll along the beach before going back out to snorkel for a second time. Once you have completed your second dive, you will get back onboard the boat for the return trip to Drake Bay.
On shore, a delicious lunch will be provided where you can share your experiences with others in your group.
The magical part of snorkeling here is enhanced by learning about Cano Island’s historical significance. The island is a protected national park as part of the Osa Conservation Area with relics dating back to pre-Columbian times with human life found here. This island was considered a sacred burial ground by the indigenous people of that time. Artifacts like pottery have been discovered from as far back as 200 A.D., as well as perfectly round spheres that were carved by the inhabitants.
It is believed that this area may have been used as a trading post many years ago and it is believed that the waters contain treasures. The relics are strictly safeguarded by the rangers who are stationed on the island. Because of this, tourism is regulated and visitors are allowed to swim, snorkel, and dive, but hiking is restricted to the beach area only. Only water may be brought ashore to drink. For your convenience, fresh water showers and restrooms are located on the boat.
This tour includes a bilingual, certified guide, all snorkeling equipment, park admission fee, drinking water, and box lunch. One way boat transportation to the island can take from 45 minutes to an hour. Combined time of this tour with round trip boat ride, two snorkeling adventures, and lunch, typically takes between 4 to 6 hours and can be influenced by the number of scuba divers who may also be on the boat.
Please bring a dry change of clothing, your bathing suit and a towel, sun block, binoculars, and your camera. This is the perfect opportunity to take memorable underwater photos in these historical waters where treasure may be hiding!
The Cano Island Tour and Snorkeling - Drake Bay Wilderness Resort is available from Drake Bay
5 and up
Latitude: N 8° 42' 49.44"
Longitude: W 83° 52' 44.04"
08/13/2023
Not much of a snorkeler but enjoyed it.
07/15/2023
For Costa Rica this was good snorkeling. We saw several turtles, and the water was relatively clear.
03/15/2023
Guides were great!
01/16/2020
Great trip although the diving whilst clearly good for Costa Rica was below what we expected re marine scenery and visibility.Fish life was good and setting truly beautiful.Guide tried to get us to wear life jackets when diving despite us being divers.He ended up following us whilst we dived down with him on the surface with our life jackets.Flexibility for divers is required.He was otherwise great and it was a great experience.
08/15/2018
Probably one of the better snorkel tours we've done.