Diving in Santa Marta is one of the top locations for diving in the Colombian Caribbean. The second day that we were in Santa Marta, we went scuba diving with Santa Martha Dive and adventure with my friend from the Netherlands. We left in the morning from the hotel and when to the Padi Divecenter Santa Marta Dive and adventure, with diving instructor Marvin Duarte. After we checked in and fixed our diving gear, we walked with the group to the beach; the boot was ready to take us to the two diving spots.
Two spots are magnificent do dive on; there are much sea-life and high marine biodiversity. Geographically underwater, the area looks remarkably the same as in Aruba, but here you can see every 5 minutes new species on a square meter.
An excellent book to read about the marine life in Colombia is ‘Biodiversidad de Magen Continental del Caribe Colombiano; the book is in Spanish,
In this book, the marine life around the Colombian coast is well explained and written, and I hope this area will be protected for the future. While diving, we saw seahorses, sea snakes, and we could dive in groups of fish and be surrounded by them.
Later in the month in the month of November, I went diving again, and we made a really nice dive. Again, good diving experience and I think one of the beautiful places in the Caribbean to go diving, because of the variety of precious marine life that can be seen here in Santa Marta, and an array of different hard and soft corals and many kinds of different fish can be seen.
El paso del Ángel y en punta granate.
On the first day in November, we made the dives at el Paso del Angel and Punta granate.
The second day we went with the boot to Calichan and Cantil.
The diving course in Santa Marta is less expensive then in Cartagena, here you pay pesos instead of the price in American dollars. So if you want to do do a course or make multiple dives, I would advise that it is more economical interesting to go to Santa Marta. It is one of those brilliant places to learn diving in an excellent location for a staggeringly good price. You can follow lessons in small groups under the excellent attention of a dive instructor.
How to get to Santa Marta?
It is easy to get in Santa Marta, by air or land from all over Colombia and then by bus or taxi into the city of Santa Marta. The beaches around Santa Marta are also reachable by a boot in day tours, you leave in the morning, and you can choose to visit different beaches and come back in the evening. Or you can go the bus and the walk to the different beaches depending on which beach and location.
In the evening, we went back to the restaurant Carmesi Cocina fusion.
My friends, they went the next day to Minca, and I wen the next day on an adventure with Wiwa tours to Cuidad Perdida; if you love hiking and adventure, this is the hike to do by the way.
This information I had from Marvin from the diving shop and he give me the advice to go with WiWa Tours. It was the last day possible because on the 28th of august the last group of visitors is allowed to enter the Sierra Nevada, after this they do cleaning ritual in the Lost City and visitors are for a while not more allowed to enter the region this is also for Tayrona park, so if you like to visit those places ask if it is open to the public. Later in the month, I visited the next place, which is full of diving stores; it is called Taganga.
Scuba diving in Taganga
In Taganga and Santa Marta you can have world-class diving experience, it’s in the Caribbean and a variety of gorgeous marine life can be seen, as well as an array of corals, the beauty is found in detail and in different time of the years there are different experiences deepening on the current and the weather. Here are a sheer number of dive operators in the little towns, and the cheapness of doing courses here are nice. Taganga is one of those brilliant places to learn to dive in an excellent location for a staggeringly good price. You can walk from the diving shop with the gear straight into the water for the diving course, and later on, the day, when all is executed well, jump on the boot to a beautiful dive spot. Because of the variety of operators here in Santa Marta and Tangana means that you can ask for an instructor for your self.
Getting there: By air or land to Santa Marta from all over Colombia, then by bus or taxi to Taganga. The city of Taganga is charming, and there are some nice beach bars.
On Isla de la Aguja, there are diving sites for all tastes and certification levels. The places we visit frequently are Paso del Angel and Calichan. More advanced and experienced divers can ask to make dives in Morrito Largo.
The other nice is dive site: Salidero, but this depends on the weather, the current and the waves in the time of the year.
Salidero is a beautiful dive site, but depending on the current, it can be an easy or difficult site. The maximum depth in Salideo is not deep around 14 meters, so with the air consumption standard, you can reach to visit the next dive point known as Torìn.
In Salidero there are massive brain corals, a great diversity of fish and right at the tip of the Island, when you turn the corner, it is common to see barracudas hunting, then very shallow, you can see a lot of elkhorn corals and sea life.
Every time we can go diving to Salidero, it is always was a satisfying experience. We ever went out with a happy smile.
Where is your favorite scuba dive in Colombia?
I love to receive new information about beautiful places to visit: you can email me directly, and if you like to leave a helpful comment down below, it will make my day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask and send me a message.
Other blogs that I wrote about diving in Aruba and trimix rebreather diving in Bali are on the links enclosed.
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