Under da Sea!

Today I went SCUBA diving at Taganga, Colombia! Taganga is a small fishing village a few minutes north of Santa Marta. It is a gorgeous location.

Tayrona National Park, one of Colombia's crown jewels, is just half an hour away from here. I've been told the beaches are beautiful there. However, I don't think I'll be going there. There will be a lot of beaches to cover, especially as I travel down South America's eastern edge towards Chile.

In this idyllic setting, there is the Poseidon Dive Centre. This is where my training occurred. I only did a day course, so I'm not fully licensed. But now I don't have to do the half-day of pool training anymore if I choose to dive again. I got there at around 10:30 in the morning where I was given a quick introduction to diving and then it was into the pool to practice various techniques. After this, we suited up and headed to the Caribbean Sea.

There were two separate dives today. When I first jumped into the water with all my gear, I felt a flood of fear come over me and I wasn't even underwater yet. Then the instructor deflated my BCD (buoyancy control device) and I sank to the bottom. That's when I really started to want to get back on the boat. He left me there to get accustomed to the water while he went to help the other instructors with the people getting their full diving certification. I was nervous and my whole body was tense which didn't help me stay at the bottom. The more I focused on my breathing, the more I relaxed, and the easier it was to stay on the bottom. I was only allowed to go down to 12 metres maximum, but I think the instructor let me go down further. He also let me lead the group as we were diving so I was in the front with nothing and no one between me and the sea. It was a rush. I felt like an explorer.

It was so beautiful down there. The pictures really don't do it justice. The plant and animal life were so alive and vividly coloured. Bright yellows, blues, oranges and reds. As if an artist's pallet had been thrown into the water. And the fish weren't scared of these underwater intruders either, they just went about their business. Some even turned sideways to give me the fish-eye. Flounders, parrot fish, little, medium and big. There is so much life under the sea...no wonder Disney devoted a song to it.

Coming up after my first dive, I saw this little shack on the beach. This shack is in the middle of nowhere (see the panoramic below). There was just a group of people pulling in a net. They were fishing!

On my second descent, my left knee landed on a sea urchin. Luckily, it didn't puncture the skin. But it did hurt. A sea urchin is like an underwater porcupine with a bunch of spines coming up out of it for defense. Other than that, it was an amazing experience diving and I would encourage anyone who wants to do it to go for it. The instructor said I had good balance and positioning underwater and that I should get my full certification whenever I get a chance. Who knew?! Just look at the happy camper below.

Sunset at Taganga