Jeff chats to… Bill Beard and Vanessa Willing about diving in Costa Rica

In this exclusive Zoom interview, Jeff Goodman, Scubaverse Editor-at-Large, chats to Bill Beard and Vanessa Willing about scuba diving in Costa Rica.

Bill Beard is the true pioneer of scuba diving and combining adventure tours in Costa Rica. He started diving in Costa Rica from dug out canoes in 1970. He was the first working instructor and had the first professional dive shop in Costa Rica located in San Jose. In 1974, Bill Beard branched out by opening a beach location in Playas del Coco on the Pacific Ocean and operated daily scuba diving trips from there and Playa Hermosa. Bill has many firsts to his credit, including bringing scuba diving and adventure tours to Guanacaste. Bill’s wife Nadine joined him in 1988 and they formed an association to combine scuba diving and adventure tour packages, the first in the country to do so. Bill Beard's Costa Rica reservation office is located in La Fortuna and all of their agents are scuba divers and adventurers.

Vanessa Willing was born and raised in Oregon and California. She moved to Costa Rica in 2001 and founded Wave Rafting Adventure Company and Find My Costa Rica Travel Agency with the motivation to create personalized trips throughout Costa Rica. In 2013 she also joined Bill and Nadine Beard in managing operations for Bill Beard Costa Rica. Her love for diving, rafting and all things adventure combined with her expertise in Costa Rica allows her to take over all the complexities and logistics of planning a Costa Rica vacation, so her guests can simply enjoy their trip! She is constantly travelling throughout Costa Rica to source every activity, operator and experience featured within their products. One of her favorite locations in Costa Rica is Bajos de Toro waterfall region with mountain landscapes, crystal clear rivers and waterfalls and a natural landscape like no other in Costa Rica.

Visit www.billbeardcostarica.com to find out more!