Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena is located on Colombia's Caribbean coast. It is a beautiful 17th-century walled city surrounded by forts. It is worth staying in the old part of town to fully enjoy the architecture.

I was there traveling with a large group after a wedding in Bogota. Sort of last minute we decided to check out the local dive scene. After a little poking about the net ended up booking a trip with Diving Planet. The dive shop was excellent in accommodating so many of us at the last minute. We had several people snorkel, others did a discover SCUBA course, and the rest of us did two boat dives.

We had no clue what to expect. After a hour boat trip to a resort on the islands we had a chance to grab something to drink and do final equipment checks before heading out. The first dive was along a ridge in some pretty strong currents at about 60'. The coral was in really great shape which is nice to see. Too many times I have seen pretty much dead reefs. The second dive was even more impressive. The dive was over a large coral bed that had valleys and hills at 40'. Saw a few pieces of coral that blew my mind. Everyone including the newbies and snorkelers reported a great time and great coral. We had an hour to chill out in the resort pool (swim up bar, beer!) before heading back on the boat.

Overall the dive operation was great, taking great care of everyone's needs. The diving in the area should not be missed.