For Immediate Release, February 5, 2026
Contact: Todd Steiner, Founder & Special Projects, TSteiner@seaturtles.org
Laurel Irvine, Communications Manager, LIrvine@seaturtles.org
Turtle Island Restoration Network Invites Divers and Ocean Enthusiasts to Join 2026 Cocos Island Expedition: A rare opportunity to explore one of the world’s greatest shark diving destinations, while supporting and conducting marine conservation.
COCOS ISLAND, COSTA RICA – Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) is seeking ocean enthusiasts and experienced divers to join a 10-day scuba diving and research expedition to Cocos Island National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from June 25th to July 5th, and one of the remotest dive sites on Earth.
Often called “the most beautiful island in the world” by Jacques Cousteau, Cocos Island lies in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and is the only island in the region with a tropical rainforest. Its remote waters are globally recognized as one of the best places on Earth to dive with sharks and experience large marine wildlife.
Participants will explore dramatic underwater seamounts and reefs that are home to massive schools of scalloped hammerhead sharks, as well as whitetip reef sharks, Galápagos sharks, eagle rays, green sea turtles and an extraordinary diversity of endemic fish species found nowhere else on the planet.
“Cocos Island is one of the most extraordinary dive sites on Earth. After more than 30 trips and 600 dives, I am still humbled by its grandeur and the vitality of its underwater world. Each visit feels like traveling 200 years back in time – before our oceans were overfished and polluted. This is what healthy oceans once looked like – and what they can look like again if we choose to protect them, said Todd Steiner, founder of Turtle Island Restoration Network. “We are especially seeking underwater photographers for this trip to help capture this living time capsule – images that can help our research, protection and global action efforts.”
Dive and Travel with a Purpose
Beyond being a world-class dive adventure, the expedition directly supports TIRN’s ongoing conservation work in the region. For nearly a decade, Turtle Island Restoration Network has conducted shark and sea turtle research at Cocos Island, helping document illegal fishing threats and strengthen the scientific case for expanded protections.
Research conducted during past expeditions has contributed to the foundation for stronger conservation measures at Cocos Island and along the Cocos–Galápagos Swimway (one of the world’s first bi-national marine protected areas to save the marine species that migrate between Galapagos Marine Reserve and Cocos Island National Park).
Participants will have the opportunity to learn about marine research and conservation challenges facing the Eastern Tropical Pacific while experiencing one of the planet’s most iconic marine ecosystems.
Expedition Details
What: 10-day liveaboard scuba diving and research expedition
When: June 25 – July 5, 2026
Where: Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica
Vessel: Undersea Hunter Group’s 115-foot (35m) liveaboard vessel, Sea Hunter
For more information on the Cocos Island Dive Expedition and how to book, visit www.seaturtles.org/our-work/our-programs/cocos-island. To protect the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, visit www.seaturtles.org/the-cocos-galapagos-swimway.
Turtle Island Restoration Network is a global ocean conservation nonprofit with offices in California and Texas, whose mission is to inspire and mobilize people around the world to protect marine biodiversity, the oceans and watersheds that sustain all life on Earth.
