Colombia - Caribbean coast

[pelan-pelan]

Simply - where is the best place to dive on the Caribbean coast of Columbia and why?

We're thinking of going to Columbia Feb-Mar next year. Was looking at the Cartegena are but noticed warnings about pollution. But it must be possible to avoid that.

Thanks in advance for help.

 

[Maxposeidon]

You have this options:
Cartagena, Isla Fuerte, Carpugana and Taganga - Santa Marta
You can find more info in the diveshop locator of PADI.
Max

 

[Pavao]

Where is Columbia????

 

[Wookie]

My friends Oscar and Diebis own Scuba Cartagena in Cartagena, and they dive all over the marine park and at Baru Island. Give them a shout. Scuba Cartagena

 

[pelan-pelan]

Thanks Maxposeidon and Wookie. Will follow up. Asking the guys at Scuba Cartagena might not get a good response to this question . . . Is it true that it's not worth diving at Cartagena because of pollution? I read that somewhere. Can anyone comment?

 

[Maxposeidon]

in the bay of Cartagena its ****ty but all dive in Baru and Isal Rosario where the vis is good . You should check out them on their FB pages where they post lot's of Pics and videos.
See ya Max

 

[lagartijo]

Normally, dive centers in Cartagena use the "Islas del rosario" area for diving due to that Cartagena is not good for it, the trip is a 40 minutes trip with good water temp and visibility, I really prefer the dive centers in the Taganga Area near Santa Marta, they're cheaper with many good spots to dive in the Tayrona Park area, Poseidon and Octopuss are good dive centers there, tha San Andres Island area is great for "relaxed" diving with great temps all year, Isla Fuerte is great place to go in the caribbean, is a small island with just a couple of hotels and great diving spots. For me one of the best places to go diving in Colombia is "Isla Gorgona" is a national park in the pacific, you can arrive by plane to Tumaco and then take a small boat to the island, you have to check the diving conditions in that time of the year.

Finally is Colombia not Columbia

 

[chillyinCanada]

I didn't find the viz at the Rosarios to be very good. That it is better than Cartagena isn't saying much IMO. That said, the reef seemed quite healthy to me. What I paid to dive was outrageous. And all that said, it should be noted that I was not on a dive trip, rather a trip within which I threw in some diving. The whole experience overall was fabulous. I hope to return to Colombia someday and see much more of the country.

 

[lthomas132]

My wife & I just returned from a tour of Columbia. We stayed 3 days in Taganga, my wife did the Tayrona National Park overnight thing while I did some diving. I had already been set up with Tayrona Dive Shop by our guide. We dove in the park off of a small island. Vis 60-80 ft., no currents, 50-60 ft. dives. Brain corals large as a small house, sea cucumbers, barracudas, but not much other fish. OK diving but not as good as Cozumel, Roatan, etc. I wished I had gone out with Nautilus Dive Shop; they had bigger, better boats with a bimini. Our boat as a typical home-made panga with no bimini and NO ladder! They packed 10 people on there sometimes; some being snorkelers and Discover Scuba people. I heard while I was there that Cartagena was not very good at all; it was next on our tour but I passed on any diving there, great colonial city though.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Sounds alright lthomas. How much were the dives?

I saw some fish. Viz was 30-50' but murky. Could have quite enjoyed it if viz had been a tad better and they hadn't been so strict know the 45 minutes. The shallows were lovely but I got the bum's rush back onto the boat.