Cartagena, Colombia, South America

I got to go diving today!!! I was so lucky! I showed up at the dive center in Cartagena at 8am sharp, and luckily someone had already called to cancel. I paid for the day, which was about twice as expensive as the dives in Santa Marta (281,000 pesos compared to 130,000), but it was worth it. The owner of the dive shop, Andres, brought me and three others to the dock to catch our boat. The other three were from Medellin, Andres, Neider, and Neider’s wife Susana. Luckily they all spoke english, and Neider was even a Red Sox fan, so we got to talk about last year’s World Series run, which was cool.

The boat took about one hour and we arrived at Islas Del Rosario. It was absolutely stunning. It looked like something out of a postcard, but a postcard from Bora Bora or something. It was awesome. We got off the boat with the other 20+ people who came to the island, but who were not diving. We were greeted by the Diving Planet staff and we sorted out all our gear. Today was the first time ever I went diving without a wet suit, and we had to take that into account when considering how many weights I would need. They figured it out perfectly, and I had no trouble finding my buoyancy level at all.

The first place we dove was called Ministerios. This part of the sea is not really known for the fish, as much as the coral, and this dive site did not disappoint. It was some of the most colorful and abundant coral I’ve ever seen. It was like canyons under water but made completely out of coral. It was really amazing. The only bad thing I would say about our dive is that there were too many of us. There were two dive masters and five divers, but instead of splitting us up, we all went as one big group. There was also a man in his 70’s who decided to start taking up diving again today for the first time in 30 years, so he was a bit slow and didn’t exactly have the hang of things. This meant that one dive master had to stay with him, and the other one was responsible for the rest of us.

After the first excellent dive, we went back to shore for a quick 15 minute break, and then headed back out on the dive boat. Our next spot was a place called Luis Guerra and it was mostly coral that we saw there as well. It wasn’t as impressive as the first dive, but still very nice. After another 45 minutes under water we headed back to the hotel on shore to have lunch. I had a chicken sandwich and fries with a coke, and the food was excellent. They told us at the dive shop that this is a five star hotel with an excellent restaurant, and I know it’s true now.

We had our lunch and then boarded the boat to get back to Cartagena from Islas Del Rosario. It was a little annoying because we got on our boat and had to sit there for fifteen minutes waiting for something. They wouldn’t tell us what they were waiting for, we just assumed it was some idiot who fell asleep on the beach, but then all of a sudden we just left. Nothing happened. It was like we just waited there for no reason at all. That’s very annoying when you really just want to get home and have a shower. The one hour ride felt like it took about three hours because we just kept getting pelted by water the whole time and it was exhausting.

Andres was there to pick us up at the other end and he brought us back to the dive shop. It was an excellent day and I’m glad everything worked out so perfectly. I was also able to get some tips from the other divers on what to see and where to stay in Medellin. Perfect!

I got back to the hostel and met another traveller in my dorm who is from Oz. We were both starving so Kim and I took a walk to get something to eat and had a great Mexican burger at El Corral. It was her first time eating there, and I think she’s hooked. It was a great burger. I’m back at the hostel now and completely knackered. The diving, being in the sun, and the high speed boat trips really take a lot out of me. I’m looking forward to a nice early night…