Trip Report : Santa Marta, Colombia
After counting the minutes to get to Santa Marta, my sister-in-laws family and us arrived there on a flight (delayed as always) from AVIANCA flying direct from Bogotá to Santa Marta. We touched base in the Airport and encountered a nice very wet 30C (86F) so it felt a little like a sauna.
So, where is Santa Marta? Santa Marta is the capital city of the Department of Magdalena, Colombia. It is located facing the Caribbean Sea (so I guess this could be posted in the Caribbean section) ; about 3 hours south (by car) from Cartagena de Indias. Its most famous tourist section is known as El Rodadero. Santa Marta has about 400,000 inhabitants.
Some history of Santa Marta: Founded in 1522 by Don Rodrigo de Bastidas as the first Spanish governorship in the American continent. Before them actually 1000 years before, the Tayronas had settled there (the ruins are part of the Tayrona National Park). For about 200 years, the fighting between Spaniards, Indians and pirates and even the French, who were involved when Spain and France were fighting in late 16th century, did not allow the city to grow steadily. During the independence days, Cartagena de Indias and Santa Marta were two cities that fought against each other as the former was pro-independent and the latter was pro-Spain. Simon Bolivar, liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru (with Jose San Martin) died in the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, Santa Marta, in 1830. During early republican years the main industry was the banana industry with United Fruit Co. which left in the 1940s after labor issues. The main attraction today are tourism both sea, hiking and history with the Sierra Nevada (the top two mountains of Colombia are in Santa Marta), Ciudad Perdida (ruins from the Tayrona civilization) and the Quinta de San Pedro being the main attractions.
Enough of history, on to the trip report
We went to the hotel, Zuana Beach Resort ( http://www.zuana.com.co/ ); which I believe is the best hotel in Santa Marta, it has a 5-star rating from Interval. The villa-room was great; three bedrooms and a cool living room with a kitchenette and an awesome ocean view. We got my nephew and niece settled with their mother, and my wife Klijne (also PADI OW), Luisefe (already a member of the scubaboard) and I went to check the PADI Center which was located in Hotel Irotama (a great hotel as well) and was recommended by a friend. The name of the PADI Center is Tienda de Buceo El Rodadero (http://profiles.yahoo.com/tiendadebuceorodadero) located in Calle 8a No.2-21, Phone: (57-95 4228179) . They were in a middle of a training session but were able to talk to the instructors and after talking with the main instructor, Maria Eugenia Pelaez, (tbr@caribenet.net.co) we decided to go for the Advanced Open Water Diver at that moment, with deep, night, wreck, navigation and multilevel adventure dives. We went to their scuba center in the city to pick up the books, so we had some pre-reading to do.
Day One Cantil in Granate
We started the next day at 10am going to the Irotama Marina were we tried on the equipment (we did not take anything with us) which was in fair condition. We went to their main scuba center and picked up some more people and dogs!! We were a little surprised by this, but were thoroughly explained. As it was Sunday, family members of the main instructor, Maria Eugenia, had come to visit her and they had decided on a boat ride and scuba (some of them) and one brought a dog (a poodle) , the boat captain had Max, his Labrador, and the scuba center had Scoobie; a miniature Doberman so all they went. So all of us together sat and enjoyed the ride towards Isla de Aguja (Needle Island). The ride was not very smooth, actually there was a lot of wind and the water was very choppy; and we had quite a few jumps on the boat which made all of us to hang on to anything tight on the boat. They told us that it was very unusual the wind to be so strong. So, we had to settle to go to Cantil (Granate) instead of the Isla de Aguja due to the wind and choppy waters.
They told us the water was very cold it was 22C (72F), and decided to go try out some deep diving techniques on the first dive and go for underwater navigation on the 2nd dive. We dived following the islands slope until we hit the bottom at 80 feet. Due to the new location, we were only able to go to 80 ft vs. 100 ft. but did some exercises on the bottom to check our responses. We did spend exploring the flora and fauna and it was mainly corals with parrotfish, morays, butterfly fish and porcupine fish and scorpion fish.
After some Gatorade and a cheese & ham sandwiched we went down again in the same place but with a different purpose. We did underwater navigation exercises, both natural and using compass and were able to return to exactly the same place we started 20 minutes earlier. We were pretty pleased with ourselves. During the navigation, besides watching the compass and some big brain corals, we were able to see more morays, parrotfish, some very big fish schools, trumpet fish, and all the other typical coral fish.
After we were done, we started going back, and surprisingly the wind was gone, so it was a much smoother ride on the way back; and, we did not know we were going to enjoy an incredible experience. Out of nowhere we found ourselves in the middle of about 100 dolphins which were following the tuna schools!!! We were all elated in the boat (the captain had a hard time keeping us in one place). The dolphins were doing somersaults in the air (probably due to the amount of tuna in place) and were following us. It was an amazing site, seeing them so close, usually swimming in pairs or in threesomes, and jumping all around us. We were able to listen to them during the voyage and the dogs were going completely crazy, probably hearing more than us. This was an incredible ending to a very cool day!
Day 2 We spent reading the material and on theoretical classes, we did some naturalist course to identify the fish, overview of navigation and deep diving and post-analysis of our dives from previous day. But in essence we spent time with our families in the beach and swimming pool. We did not go diving.
Day 3 Banco Hundido and the Morro de Santa Marta
This was the long day. We started with multilevel training and wreck review. After that we went to a site called Barco Hundido (Sunk Ship) were we went down a little over 90 ft. This boat was 90 ft. long and was a boat which was confiscated several years ago by the Colombia Navy as it was used to smuggle marihuana. It was rotting on their pier until they decided to sink it for snorkeling purposes. However, one day with strong currents, it was moved from its original place to its current place. While on the snorkel place, it was filled with clams and they are still there. There are also a lot of corals and tipical coral fish. The deck is at about 70 ft and we also spent some good time going over it.
After this dive, we went to the Morro (rock, pinnacle) de Santa Marta, where we did a multi-level dive; first at 90 ft, then at 30 ft. We encountered a very strong current on the way back which forced us to paddle quite strongly. At this moment, my buddy Luisefe had a mishap. His BC started to inflate, and we were about 70 ft still and I had to assist him in pushing the air out of the BC and purging it. We were able to do it, and we did not go up too much, so we stayed at that particular depth and continue to join the group and then dived at 30 ft. Once we finished the safety stop and were finally on the boat, we told the DM of what had happened and she mentioned it must be a valve on the BC and check it for future fixing.
We then, finished our day dives and went home to get ready for the night dive. The night dive was going to be in Barco Hundido (Sunk Ship) as they recommended the site should be one that we had already experienced. We showed up at 6:00pm where there was still light and set to the Sunk Ship (which is very close to the city) and set up our gear. Since the ship is not marked by a buoy (because, they told us, the fishermen kept going there to fish); our DM went down to tie the rope to the mast of the ship. Once that was done, we all (3 + the DM) went down hanging onto the rope with our lights all the way to the mast of the boat. Night diving is completely different from day diving; you are much more aware of your surroundings, the colors are much stronger, you keep your focus on the light beam and swim much closer to your buddy. We saw several eels around the hull of the ship, huge angelfish, and several other coral fish. On our way up, and while doing our safety stop we turn off all the lights and saw the plankton with its luminescence we felt surrounded by stars all around us.
Day 4 rest
We stayed with our families, enjoying a day on the beach in front of the hotel. Got heavily sunburned, had really good fish for lunch and went sightseeing Santa Marta during the afternoon. There is really not much to see with the exception of El Rodadero (a boardwalk in front of the beach in a section of the city) and the boardwalk that goes through the center of the town towards the port. People are very nice and friendly as it is usual in coastal Caribbean cities.
Day 5 Morrito Largo and Salidero
We arrived a little late and the crew didnt think we were going to show up. However they put the additional tanks and we set out to about 30 min from their port a place called Morrito Largo which is a rock in the middle of the ocean. We did a multilevel dive reaching 110 ft. and then diving at 60 ft. Saw a huge lobster (60 cm / 24 in) in the holes from the corals. We caught a little current which was fun since it pushed us forward.
After an hour break and the standard ham and cheese sandwich we went to Salidero which is a section of Isla de Aguja (Needle Island) and we did a cool (not only because of what we saw but because the water has gotten cooler somehow) dive which was great for photos since we only dived at about 40-50 ft. We encountered huge angelfish and schools of a lot of coral fish. Definitely the highlight of the scuba.
Overall, we had 7 dives in Santa Marta, had a great time diving in warm waters and the PADI Dive shop was great, they obviously enjoy what they do specially Francisco Martinez and Maria Eugenia Pelaez, our instructors - and definitely recommend anyone to go to Santa Marta which is not considered a typical diving place (like Cartagena, San Andres or Malpelo) in Colombia, for a lot of fun.
We just arrived from the plane and wanted to post this before we went to sleep, it was definitely a lot of fun!! Luisefe, my buddy dive for the whole trip is waiting here at home while we head out again to the airport so he and his family can fly to Lima.
Regards,
Guillermo.
:type:
After counting the minutes to get to Santa Marta, my sister-in-laws family and us arrived there on a flight (delayed as always) from AVIANCA flying direct from Bogotá to Santa Marta. We touched base in the Airport and encountered a nice very wet 30C (86F) so it felt a little like a sauna.
So, where is Santa Marta? Santa Marta is the capital city of the Department of Magdalena, Colombia. It is located facing the Caribbean Sea (so I guess this could be posted in the Caribbean section) ; about 3 hours south (by car) from Cartagena de Indias. Its most famous tourist section is known as El Rodadero. Santa Marta has about 400,000 inhabitants.
Some history of Santa Marta: Founded in 1522 by Don Rodrigo de Bastidas as the first Spanish governorship in the American continent. Before them actually 1000 years before, the Tayronas had settled there (the ruins are part of the Tayrona National Park). For about 200 years, the fighting between Spaniards, Indians and pirates and even the French, who were involved when Spain and France were fighting in late 16th century, did not allow the city to grow steadily. During the independence days, Cartagena de Indias and Santa Marta were two cities that fought against each other as the former was pro-independent and the latter was pro-Spain. Simon Bolivar, liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru (with Jose San Martin) died in the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, Santa Marta, in 1830. During early republican years the main industry was the banana industry with United Fruit Co. which left in the 1940s after labor issues. The main attraction today are tourism both sea, hiking and history with the Sierra Nevada (the top two mountains of Colombia are in Santa Marta), Ciudad Perdida (ruins from the Tayrona civilization) and the Quinta de San Pedro being the main attractions.
Enough of history, on to the trip report
We went to the hotel, Zuana Beach Resort ( http://www.zuana.com.co/ ); which I believe is the best hotel in Santa Marta, it has a 5-star rating from Interval. The villa-room was great; three bedrooms and a cool living room with a kitchenette and an awesome ocean view. We got my nephew and niece settled with their mother, and my wife Klijne (also PADI OW), Luisefe (already a member of the scubaboard) and I went to check the PADI Center which was located in Hotel Irotama (a great hotel as well) and was recommended by a friend. The name of the PADI Center is Tienda de Buceo El Rodadero (http://profiles.yahoo.com/tiendadebuceorodadero) located in Calle 8a No.2-21, Phone: (57-95 4228179) . They were in a middle of a training session but were able to talk to the instructors and after talking with the main instructor, Maria Eugenia Pelaez, (tbr@caribenet.net.co) we decided to go for the Advanced Open Water Diver at that moment, with deep, night, wreck, navigation and multilevel adventure dives. We went to their scuba center in the city to pick up the books, so we had some pre-reading to do.
Day One Cantil in Granate
We started the next day at 10am going to the Irotama Marina were we tried on the equipment (we did not take anything with us) which was in fair condition. We went to their main scuba center and picked up some more people and dogs!! We were a little surprised by this, but were thoroughly explained. As it was Sunday, family members of the main instructor, Maria Eugenia, had come to visit her and they had decided on a boat ride and scuba (some of them) and one brought a dog (a poodle) , the boat captain had Max, his Labrador, and the scuba center had Scoobie; a miniature Doberman so all they went. So all of us together sat and enjoyed the ride towards Isla de Aguja (Needle Island). The ride was not very smooth, actually there was a lot of wind and the water was very choppy; and we had quite a few jumps on the boat which made all of us to hang on to anything tight on the boat. They told us that it was very unusual the wind to be so strong. So, we had to settle to go to Cantil (Granate) instead of the Isla de Aguja due to the wind and choppy waters.
They told us the water was very cold it was 22C (72F), and decided to go try out some deep diving techniques on the first dive and go for underwater navigation on the 2nd dive. We dived following the islands slope until we hit the bottom at 80 feet. Due to the new location, we were only able to go to 80 ft vs. 100 ft. but did some exercises on the bottom to check our responses. We did spend exploring the flora and fauna and it was mainly corals with parrotfish, morays, butterfly fish and porcupine fish and scorpion fish.
After some Gatorade and a cheese & ham sandwiched we went down again in the same place but with a different purpose. We did underwater navigation exercises, both natural and using compass and were able to return to exactly the same place we started 20 minutes earlier. We were pretty pleased with ourselves. During the navigation, besides watching the compass and some big brain corals, we were able to see more morays, parrotfish, some very big fish schools, trumpet fish, and all the other typical coral fish.
After we were done, we started going back, and surprisingly the wind was gone, so it was a much smoother ride on the way back; and, we did not know we were going to enjoy an incredible experience. Out of nowhere we found ourselves in the middle of about 100 dolphins which were following the tuna schools!!! We were all elated in the boat (the captain had a hard time keeping us in one place). The dolphins were doing somersaults in the air (probably due to the amount of tuna in place) and were following us. It was an amazing site, seeing them so close, usually swimming in pairs or in threesomes, and jumping all around us. We were able to listen to them during the voyage and the dogs were going completely crazy, probably hearing more than us. This was an incredible ending to a very cool day!
Day 2 We spent reading the material and on theoretical classes, we did some naturalist course to identify the fish, overview of navigation and deep diving and post-analysis of our dives from previous day. But in essence we spent time with our families in the beach and swimming pool. We did not go diving.
Day 3 Banco Hundido and the Morro de Santa Marta
This was the long day. We started with multilevel training and wreck review. After that we went to a site called Barco Hundido (Sunk Ship) were we went down a little over 90 ft. This boat was 90 ft. long and was a boat which was confiscated several years ago by the Colombia Navy as it was used to smuggle marihuana. It was rotting on their pier until they decided to sink it for snorkeling purposes. However, one day with strong currents, it was moved from its original place to its current place. While on the snorkel place, it was filled with clams and they are still there. There are also a lot of corals and tipical coral fish. The deck is at about 70 ft and we also spent some good time going over it.
After this dive, we went to the Morro (rock, pinnacle) de Santa Marta, where we did a multi-level dive; first at 90 ft, then at 30 ft. We encountered a very strong current on the way back which forced us to paddle quite strongly. At this moment, my buddy Luisefe had a mishap. His BC started to inflate, and we were about 70 ft still and I had to assist him in pushing the air out of the BC and purging it. We were able to do it, and we did not go up too much, so we stayed at that particular depth and continue to join the group and then dived at 30 ft. Once we finished the safety stop and were finally on the boat, we told the DM of what had happened and she mentioned it must be a valve on the BC and check it for future fixing.
We then, finished our day dives and went home to get ready for the night dive. The night dive was going to be in Barco Hundido (Sunk Ship) as they recommended the site should be one that we had already experienced. We showed up at 6:00pm where there was still light and set to the Sunk Ship (which is very close to the city) and set up our gear. Since the ship is not marked by a buoy (because, they told us, the fishermen kept going there to fish); our DM went down to tie the rope to the mast of the ship. Once that was done, we all (3 + the DM) went down hanging onto the rope with our lights all the way to the mast of the boat. Night diving is completely different from day diving; you are much more aware of your surroundings, the colors are much stronger, you keep your focus on the light beam and swim much closer to your buddy. We saw several eels around the hull of the ship, huge angelfish, and several other coral fish. On our way up, and while doing our safety stop we turn off all the lights and saw the plankton with its luminescence we felt surrounded by stars all around us.
Day 4 rest
We stayed with our families, enjoying a day on the beach in front of the hotel. Got heavily sunburned, had really good fish for lunch and went sightseeing Santa Marta during the afternoon. There is really not much to see with the exception of El Rodadero (a boardwalk in front of the beach in a section of the city) and the boardwalk that goes through the center of the town towards the port. People are very nice and friendly as it is usual in coastal Caribbean cities.
Day 5 Morrito Largo and Salidero
We arrived a little late and the crew didnt think we were going to show up. However they put the additional tanks and we set out to about 30 min from their port a place called Morrito Largo which is a rock in the middle of the ocean. We did a multilevel dive reaching 110 ft. and then diving at 60 ft. Saw a huge lobster (60 cm / 24 in) in the holes from the corals. We caught a little current which was fun since it pushed us forward.
After an hour break and the standard ham and cheese sandwich we went to Salidero which is a section of Isla de Aguja (Needle Island) and we did a cool (not only because of what we saw but because the water has gotten cooler somehow) dive which was great for photos since we only dived at about 40-50 ft. We encountered huge angelfish and schools of a lot of coral fish. Definitely the highlight of the scuba.
Overall, we had 7 dives in Santa Marta, had a great time diving in warm waters and the PADI Dive shop was great, they obviously enjoy what they do specially Francisco Martinez and Maria Eugenia Pelaez, our instructors - and definitely recommend anyone to go to Santa Marta which is not considered a typical diving place (like Cartagena, San Andres or Malpelo) in Colombia, for a lot of fun.
We just arrived from the plane and wanted to post this before we went to sleep, it was definitely a lot of fun!! Luisefe, my buddy dive for the whole trip is waiting here at home while we head out again to the airport so he and his family can fly to Lima.
Regards,
Guillermo.
:type:
