Our Story

Undersea Hunter founders Avi Klapfer and Yosy Naaman have been operating trips to Cocos Island since 1990. They have extensive experience at sea, and between them they are explorers, engineers, biologists, dive masters, military sea captains, vessel and equipment designers and underwater film and art photographers. 

Over the years, Undersea Hunter has given scientific assistance to organizations like Duke University and DAN (Divers Alert Network), providing statistics and log data on upcoming trends and technologies like nitrox and dive computers. It has also helped with numerous research projects in conjunction with Pretoma, Misión Tiburon, and the Smithsonian, along with the University of Costa Rica.  

In addition to more than two decades of dive logs, every time the DeepSee submarine descends, it catalogs depths, temperatures and other info at various locations. It also records video files with a laser scale, which scientists can then freeze frame by frame, zooming in to count algae, particles in the water, etc. Analyzing years of this information creates a sort of virtual mosaic of the island’s underwater topography.

When it comes to Cocos Island’s preservation efforts, the company has done everything from lobbying to declare it a UNESCO World Heritage Site to providing visual evidence of illegal fishing practices within its boundaries. 

Ocean conservationist John Tresemer (who was involved in transferring control of the island from the coast guard to the national park service in 1978) says “the arrival of the Undersea Hunter Group was a real blessing for divers, the new park personnel and the marine life.” He maintains that its submarine exploration and service to researchers aided in confirming the park’s unique biodiversity – and “helped make Cocos Island one of the best protected dive sites in the world.”