Author’s Note: This article uses the term “submersible” instead of submarine to describe manned vehicles for underwater exploration. Submarine is a military term, while submersible is used by the civilian and scientific community.

The growth of ecotourism means that some tourists who arriving in Costa Rica may want to go beyond our national parks and volcanoes. Getting wet at our beaches is one thing; going underwater on a deep-diving submersible and getting underway on an ecologically-themed cruise ship are the latest trends in ecotourism.

Deep-diving Exploration for the Wealthy

Acclaimed film director James Cameron recently completed a very deep dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and was ecstatic upon returning to the surface. In the months Cameron spent preparing for the expedition, Sir Richard Branson also announced his intention to go deep (the Branson family controls the Virgin business empire and has ties to Costa Rica).

Cameron and Branson have seemingly inspired those with very fat wallets to follow in their steps. According to a recent article on the online home of the ABC media network, submersibles are becoming the “new yachts for the wealthy.” The ABC article interviewed Ian Sheard, director of engineering at SEAmagine Hydrospace Corporation, who commented that his company is currently training a customer on the operation of a Triumph Submersible. The customer plans to take the Triumph on his yacht and come to Costa Rica to explore her underwater wonders.

Another company mentioned in the ABC article stated that interest in these $90 million submersibles is picking up among the mega-rich. No longer content with scuba diving or depending on an underwater tourism outfit, the super-wealthy are purchasing submersibles in which: “They can sip champagne, sit around and see things no one else has seen.”

Ecological Cruise Adventures

Colombian newspaper El Espectador recently published a feature on the Sea Voyager, a cruise ship that served National Geographic for many years before returning to South America. The Sea Voyager lacks the luxury comforts of other cruise lines like Cunard, but her passengers are not interested in casinos. Their focus is on adventure, and the Sea Voyager delivers.

The Sea Voyager departs from Cartagena and sails to the San Bernardo Archipelago where she docks in Ceicen. Passengers may disembark and go scuba diving or exploring on a kayak before getting underway again. The Sea Voyager then takes sea routes ignored by other cruise lines until the San Blas islands near the Panamanian Caribbean coast. She does not come to Costa Rica.

Replacing the Sea Voyager at National Geographic is the Sea Lion, a ship that sails from Playa Herradura on the Pacific and continues to Manuel Antonio, the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce before crossing into Panamanian waters. The Coiba National Park and the Canal are her next destinations, ending in Colon.

Each National Geographic sea voyage is accompanied by a team of experts. This particular cruise is geared towards photographers, and thus Michael Melford will be aboard to lend his expertise and decades of experience documenting nature for National Geographic. The Sea Lion photography cruise will get underway in December.