Costa Rica is an eco-tourism paradise with rain forests, exotic wildlife, volcanoes and much more.  This little Central American country is also an interesting place to scuba dive.  Most of the diving in Costa Rica is done on the west coast Pacific Ocean side with an area up in the Guanacaste region located in the northwestern part of the country and another south of the capital city of San Jose near the middle of its west coast.  If flying into San Jose, one would have to do some internal traveling to get to either of these two locations.

The Guanacaste area is a bit easier to get to especially if one could arrange a flight right to the town of Liberia in northern Costa Rica.  There are some seasonal charter flights from North America directly to Liberia.  The town of Playas del Coco which is used as the main base for divers is a short cab ride from the Liberia airport.  There are restaurants and small hotels in Playa del Coco including a few American owned scuba dive operators.   These dive operators usually have special package deals available which include both diving and accommodations with one of the local hotels.  Everything in town is within easy walking distance.

I made a trip for scuba diving here during the late fall season.  The operator I used was Rich Coast Diving.  The local Costa Rican divemasters from Rich Coast they took all of the scuba equipment including tanks down to the beach every morning by pickup truck.

The dives ranged from about 60 feet to 85 feet with mild to moderate currents.  One thing that all divers will notice here is that the diving in Costa Rica is very different from the usual Caribbean reef diving.  The visibility is a lot poorer and there are some noticeably colder thermoclines.  The poor visibility is due to higher amounts of plankton in the local waters compared to the Caribbean Sea.  In some dive sites, we had to swim through sections of water which turned into an almost brown color soup. This cut the sunlight from the top drastically. However, there is a huge plus side to this poorer visibility.  The plankton attracts larger marine animals and if divers came here to see the big ones, they will not be disappointed.

Even some of the reef fish here are larger.  For example, the trumpet fish we saw down here are significantly larger than the ones found in Caribbean waters.  Also, there are much more porcupine puffer fish here.  Previously in Caribbean waters, I’ve seen only a few porcupine fish and they are usually alone.  Here in Costa Rica, I saw large schools of them.  We encountered large schools of other fish types on a regular basis as well.

The local divemasters here definitely work in a different way compared to their counterparts elsewhere.  In many Caribbean locations, the divemasters would promote a ‘look only, no touch’ rule.  Here, the divemasters actively turned over every rock to find interesting creatures for us.  They would catch them in their hands and pass them over to the other divers.  Over three days of diving, I held a seahorse, an octopus, a spotted eel, an orange color frogfish and a puffed up porcupine fish.  Of course this practice of handling marine wildlife is debatable in terms of ethics but it was certainly an interesting experience holding these creatures in my hands.  The divemasters were certainly hard working for sure though as they were eager to make sure that the guests had good dive trips.

Large animals such as giant sea turtles, stingrays and white tip sharks were also spotted.  On one occasion which I will never forget for the rest of my life is when a very large school of cow-nose rays headed straight for our group of divers.  They looked like a huge squadron of alien spaceships.  They went right through and past us while we watched in wonder.  Then they disappeared.  This memorable experience was much too short lived.

So for a very different type of scuba diving compared to the Caribbean without traveling too much further, Costa Rica is an interesting destination for divers to consider.  There won’t be crystal clear visibility but the marine life will be different with more large animals to see.  The diving itself is also very reasonable in cost being significantly lower than in premium priced locations such as the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.  In addition, there are many other things to see and activities to do on land besides the scuba diving which makes Costa Rica a very full vacation.

Stop the Genocide in Darfur

I am writing to draw your attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur. According to UN officials, over 400,000 people have been killed and over 2 million more forced to abandon their homes. Women and children in the region live with malnutrition and in constant fear. They face the possibility of rape, torture, and murder on a daily basis. Many try in vain to flee from these atrocities. Helping these victims deserves the utmost attention of our government.

I wish to emphasize the importance of the following resolutions in need of your support:

1. H. Res. 1290: Joining the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in observance of World Refugee Day and calling on the United States Government, international organizations, and aid groups to take immediate steps to secure urgently needed humanitarian relief for the more than 2,000,000 people displaced by genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

This resolution:

· Calls on the United States Government to continue and strengthen its leadership role in the international community in response to the people of Darfur who have been displaced by genocide, including the most vulnerable populations who endure sexual violence, human trafficking, forced conscription, and exploitation,

· Demands that all armed groups in the region immediately cease their attacks on civilians, peacekeepers, and humanitarian operations and halt all recruitment activities in camps for displaced persons, and

· Calls on the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the resettlement of an appropriate number of Darfuris who have been displaced and have little chance of returning to their homes by formulating a program of resettlement of Darfuris in fiscal year 2009.

I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 1290, introduced by Representative Howard Berman (D-CA). Please contact him by phone at (202) 225-4695.

2. H. Res. 1462: Condemning ongoing sales of arms to belligerents in Sudan, including the Government of Sudan, and calling for both a cessation of such sales and an expansion of the United Nations embargo on arms sales to Sudan.

This resolution states that:

· The United States supports United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591, which impose an arms embargo on all belligerents in Darfur;

· All United Nations member states should immediately cease all arms sales to the Government of Sudan; and

· The United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations should use the voice and vote of the United States to seek an expansion of the arms embargo to cover all of Sudan, with an appropriate exception for non-lethal assistance to the Government of Southern Sudan.

I urge you to co-sponsor H. Res. 1462, introduced by Representative James McGovern (D-MA). Please contact him by phone at (202) 225-6101.

3. H. Con. Res. 423: Calling for a comprehensive strategy to address the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and condemning the ongoing assaults and obstruction by the Khartoum regime.

This resolution:

· Urges the President, the UN Secretary-General, the African Union and other key members of the international community should pursue a comprehensive solution to the Darfur crisis;

· Condemns the Government of Sudan for its continued obstruction of the deployment of UN-AU peacekeepers;

· Condemns the ongoing acts of violence in an obstruction of aid to Darfur committed to all parties; and

· Calls upon the Government of Sudan and armed parties in the region to declare and respect an immediate cessation of hostilities, abide by the UN embargo on the importation of arms, cease predation and attacks upon humanitarian organizations, and participate in international efforts to negotiate a lasting political settlement for the region.

I urge you to co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 423, introduced by Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL). Please contact him by phone at (202) 225-0837.

4. H.R. 3844: To establish the United States Commission to Monitor Slavery and its Eradication in Sudan.

This resolution creates a commission to:

· Report on and document existing cases of slavery in Sudan,

· Identify those individuals and groups responsible for slavery in Sudan, and

· Recommend action to be taken by the United States Government to end slavery in Sudan.

I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 3844, introduced by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ). Please contact him by phone at (202) 225-3765.

Thank you for your compassionate leadership in this dire situation.

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