Buceo Gavilana
Dive Center
🌏 Costa Rica – Guanacaste
🌊 Activities : Recreational training, scuba diving initiation, exploration dives
🤿 Instructor languages : French, Spanish, English
📞 Reservation languages : French, Spanish, English
👌 Membership : ADIP
✅ Structure : Professional centre
Belgian family centre installed since 2013 in Playa Garza, offering more than 20 dive sites totally different in a relaxed atmosphere.
You may have the chance to observe white tip reef sharks, manta rays and devil rays (in season), turtles as well as an impressive marine fauna.
All dives are made from the boat and include :
snack, soda (water, Coca, Fanta, ginger) and fresh fruits.
We strive to offer you the best of ourselves so that you are amazed by your dives and that everything runs with the maximum of ease.
Accommodation
Accommodation
Good to Know
Important note
Safety information :
Costa Rica not having a nearby chamber, the closest one is 4 hours away by road and 1000 m above sea level. Dives are therefore limited in depth to ensure safety.
Other activities offered by the center :
Dolphin, turtle, and whale outings (in season).
Opening and annual closure days :
The center is open every day. Mid-September to mid-November closure, according to the rainy season.
Just come with a smile, and remember you are not in Europe but in a "Pura vida" country.
Google Reviews
Meinske
★★★★★
We had an amazing experience with Matt! Super friendly and we had a personalised program, completely private. Would definetly recommend this if you are in the area!
Katelyn Robinson
★★★★★
We had the best day ever scuba diving and snorkeling with Didier and his crew. They provided us with coffee to start the morning and brought snacks and waters for us to have on the boat. The snorkeling was incredible; saw so many beautiful fish and turtles. Didier took us to two different spots for snorkeling / scuba diving. He also shared a GoPro video from our swim (without an extra charge). Highly recommend!!!
Brianna Simon
★★★★★
Had an amazing experience diving with Buceo Gavilana. Huge thank you to Didier and his captain. This was my first time diving in the ocean and Didier made me feel safe and comfortable. He also accommodated for my sister wanting to snorkel while I dove and took us to sites where we could do both. I saw sharks, eels, starfish, rays, and many schools of fish. I would highly recommend diving with Buceo Gavilana if you are in Costa Rica!!
Daniel Beauchemin
★★★★★
6 stars. 🙏 Hands down the best dive shop in Costa Rica.We have been to Galapagos, Greece as well as many place is the Caribbean. This year alone we have done 80 dives. This is the 3rd dive shop we have dove in Costa Rica with and was by far one of my top 3 for professionalism and experience. The sites that Didier brought us to visit were outstanding. They fit our level of diving perfectly. We are booking more dives with this center. He even posts a video on his Facebook page of your dive....no charge. Hard to beat!
Citizen Rad
★☆☆☆☆
DO NOT BOOK WITH GAVILANA. We just returned from a trip to Costa Rica where we took our son to complete his open water certificate with Didier Halbert of Buceo Gavilana in Playa Garza. Here is an honest review: Didier does not speak English well and cannot explain the materials, safety concerns or what he is looking for to see from the diver. I had to translate for him (with my little bit of Spanish) so my son could understand what was happening. The dive suits are old and worn out. There are holes in the arms. We brought our other two children along as he offers snorkelling - which you can see on his website - but in fact you are not snorkelling in any area where there are fish. My two younger children were excited to snorkel, only to have to sit on the boat for 3 hours while my older son did his dives. He charged us $20 per child, to sit on the boat and he called it snorkelling because they were out in the ocean. The experience for them was terrible so we did not bring them back on the second dive day. I went alone with m. son, and Didier completed his certification using a dive master from Playa Samara. He then decided to charge me $20 to sit on the boat - after the fact. And when I learned about this (which came via email the next day) and we refused, he said he would not send in our son's certificate. BEWARE. He does not speak english well enough to teach, he is not honorable, and he adds extra charges at his own discretion. On the positive side, the driver of the boat was really nice and helpful. He did his best to make the experience for my two younger kids as good as possible by allowing them to jump off the side of his boat.