Santa Marta is located on the Caribbean coast and has a lot to see and experience. We took a shuttle bus to our hostel. At the reception, we were given a folder with lots of activities, including the opportunity to get a scuba diving certification at a very low cost. We hadn't planned on doing that, but it seemed like a great opportunity. Colombia is one of the cheapest places in the world to get a diving license. However, Muriel was hesitant because she had a bad experience with a trial dive when she was 12. So we did some research, talked to friends, searched the internet, and spoke to other travelers. After sleeping on it, we decided to accept the offer. We extended our stay at the hostel and the next morning at 8:30, we went to the dive center for the first theory lesson. We had to watch a very long and boring video about diving in English. After that, we had a test based on the information from the video. It felt familiar, like being back in school. Anyway, we were able to figure out most of the answers using logic. We also had a great cook at the hostel who provided affordable meals.After another theory session, we drove to the owners' house where we met our instructor, a 32-year-old Austrian woman. It was great to be able to communicate in German.At the house, there was a pool. We had to set up our scuba gear and put it on. Then we had to do a lot of exercises in the water, such as switching between breathing from the air tank and the emergency air supply, clearing the mask if it gets filled with water, and so on. The most difficult task was breathing through the regulator while keeping the nose out of the water. I had a close call, but luckily managed to avoid breathing through my nose. Filling the mask with water and then emptying it underwater was also a bit uncomfortable. But we managed to do everything and went back to the dive center. There, we had another theory session and a written test. Finally, we had a celebration in the evening. The next day, we went out to the sea. On the way to the dive site, we prepared our equipment. It was still quite chilly. We went to Tayrona Park for the dive. We stayed in the inner bay. Everything happened so fast. We were suddenly in the water. It was quite cold, and we were nervous. When our instructor gave us the signal to descend, my heart started beating faster. We had to do all the exercises we had done in the pool the previous day, but this time at a depth of 6 meters. We were kneeling in the sand and doing the exercises. She told us which exercise to do using hand signals. Luckily, we managed to complete all of them.Normally, there are 2 to 3 dives, each lasting 35-50 minutes. After the first dive, we took a short break. The ascent with the 20 kilograms on our backs wasn't easy. For the second dive, we went down to 12 meters instead of 6. We quickly saw the outline of a huge wooden ship. It had broken in the middle, and we could swim through it. I had to be careful because Muriel was often swimming right above or in front of me and her fins almost hit my head a few times. We had to practice the exercise "remove your mask" multiple times because she almost knocked it off with her fins. Unfortunately, the visibility was not as good as the previous day, but it was still around 15 meters. We reached a depth of 18 meters and did one final exercise. We had to inflate a surface marker buoy underwater and then surface. We ascended and had lunch during the break. Then we went diving for the last time. The visibility was better, about 20-25 meters. I had my GoPro with me this time. I was able to concentrate on filming and we enjoyed the breathtaking underwater world for 43 minutes.In the end, we successfully completed everything and received our diving licenses. Now we can dive alone anywhere in the world up to a depth of 18 meters. Without a license, it would cost about 4 times as much because you need a guide. We will probably take the "Advanced" course in the future, which allows us to go up to 30 meters, cave diving, night diving, and more. But not in Colombia.After a day of relaxation at the hostel, we went out for a night on the town. We found a super cool neighborhood.The next morning, we headed to Tayrona National Park. You can read about that in the next blog post.
Oh, and this is how we drink the water here:Next Stop: Tayrona National Park See you soon,Muriel and Ernesto
