Trip Report Trip Report - Islas del Rosario, Colombia

[chillyinCanada]

Would you consider Carricou? This is a small island belonging to Grenada.

 

[NCK]

Not really impressed with the diving in Sta Marta and it's really polluted. It's also the place that made me decide to get a dive knife because I got tangled up in a net there; the only place I have dived where I saw any kind of debris. It's also very polluted especially the supposedly nice Rodadero area. The person that convinced me to take up diving once participated in a clean up operation in Sta Marta. They got divided into groups and her friend was assigned to El Rodadero; this friend ended up getting covered in poop. I imagined that she was exaggerating but just this January I dove in Sta Marta and although we didn't dive in El Rodadero the dive operator was there and as we were leaving via a canal that dumped into El Rodadero he told us to not touch the water because they were dumping raw sewage "again". One place I'd like to dive in that area is Parque Tayrona; the land portion of the park always closes for a month in late January or February but not sure for diving.

Nearby Taganga has a bit better diving and is known for really cheap courses. Cartagena has dead reefs and nearby Baru is really not that all great but a bit further out there's Islas del Rosario which even though it is not clear clear water like Providencia or San Andres it has great coral and it's a protected park. If you want to dive there I recommend Diving Planet.

Ya, I was actually planning to dive the park not SM proper. I think you can still dive the reef in the park or just outside in Jan/Feb.

Just not a big fan of the "crazy wind" in Jan/Feb.

 

[NCK]

Taganga is really cheap; it has kind of a backpacker vibe and like I said in one of the above posts it's known for cheap courses. Quite a few hostels and some of the dive centers give you a discount on lodging if you dive with them. I might go there for a deep diver course if they offer it there. No shore diving that I know of but dive centers are really cheap in Colombia. For Taganga I recommend Tayrona Dive Center | Buceo y hotel en Taganga The owner's name is Muñeco and is a really nice guy; this place has a no frills hotel and is 2 blocks from the beach where you can find all kinds of restaurants and places to chill at. My son and I did our OW there.

Ya, that's basically one of the areas I was thinking of when I said SM. I'll contact Tayrona dive center. Their website doesn't really have info on fun dives.
Thanks

 

[Jafo19D]

Ya, that's basically one of the areas I was thinking of when I said SM. I'll contact Tayrona dive center. Their website doesn't really have info on fun dives.
Thanks

Tell them that Olaf sent ya