Advanced Diving Days

June 27th - June 29th 2008

I was a little rusty after not scuba diving for 5 years but I picked it up pretty quick. It was like riding a bicycle they say.... I did 2 fun-dives and went down deeper than I have ever gone (67 feet). The blue water is crystal clear and warmly pleasant to swim in. The sun continues to shine and I continue to feel like a happy kid on summer vacation.

The afternoon was spent straight up chilling out after a 20 minute death run up hills in blistering heat. With dinner in mind, I walked down to the sea and sat for 30 minutes watching the local fisherman come in with their catches of the day (Carribean background music from the restaurants that line the beach front). I bartered with one guy to pay $1 USD for 2 fish. He cleaned and de-scaled them for me and sent me on my way. I bought some veggies at the corner store for $1 and went back home. I cooked them up at the hostel after I jumped into the end of a pick up soccer game for 15 minutes. The fish were delicious. Time for bed.

I woke up early, ate some boiled eggs and caught up with some email and blog business. I then re-peated my run from yesterday and tried to rehydrate myself the best I could before my afternoon dive sessions. I quickly made a dash to the nearest town (Santa Marta) that had an ATM so I could pay for my Advanced Scuba Diving course. The ride back was awesome - I accidentally flagged down a motorbike and paid $1 for a very unsafe (no helmet) ride back to Tatanga (I was flagging for a cab).

My first dive was the Deep Dive. I was very nervous about going down to 100 feet (30 Meters) but in the end, it was quite easy. Well, not that easy, decompression illnesses are a concern and I saw why as it was difficult to answer some of the math questions at that depth. Normal tasks take a little bit longer when deep beause the brain doesn't work like normal (mine never has - but that's a different story).

The second dive was a navigation dive to learn how to use a compass and trace your pathway under water. Pretty cool skill and very necessary but the dive was less interesting (just saw a couple cool looking fish).

For the rest of the night I am just chilling out. I have an 8 AM dive session tomorrow, then I watch the final of the EuroCup. For tomorrow night I do my Night Dive, which should be pretty cool to dive with fosflorescence in the dark.

I am getting really use to the tempo of this place. Everyone here is relaxed, cool, super nice - nothing like you think of when you say the word "Colombia". Best of all it is dirt cheap here for paradise-like settings. I highly recommend this gem of a place to people who get over the fear of coming to Colombia - Taganga is actually one of the safest places I have been to (as I sit outside a typical restaurant (private house with restaurant out front) on the street typing on my computer).

Last dive day: June 29th

The morning dives were good - I am mastering the technique of equalizing finally. The best spotting of the day was a Great Barracuda.

Spain deservedly won the EuroCup; I watched with a room full of internationals including some girls from Spain. Now the focus turns to World Cup 2010 in South Africa - I want to visit that one.

My night dive was somewhat nerve racking - jumping into the dark ocean off a boat and descending is probably one of my fears I didn't realize I had until I was about to jump in. In the end, it was a great experience. The life under the water completely

changes. The crabs and lobsters come out from behind the rocks, I saw 2 octopii, and the fosflorescence were illuminating each divers kick. The visibility was only 10 feet in the dark but the dive torches reliably lit the way (good thing we had a back up when my flahlight ran out of batteries). The dive was a success and i am now proudly certfied with my Advanced Diver PADI certification.

Early tomorrow I plan to go to Ciudad Perdida also know as the great 6 day trek to the Lost City.