Swimming with the Fishes - Taganga, Colombia

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The past four days or so I've been taking my PADI Open Water SCUBA Course to obtain my certification. Swimming underwater and taking that first breath of air was an exhilarating feeling. I'll never forget that leap of faith. I'm so happy that I decided to do this course as I was on the fence a little bit about the whole SCUBA thing. I was never nervous or scared, I just didn't think it was worth the time, effort, or cost to dive. I could not have been more wrong. I really feel that SCUBA and diving in general is for me and this will now be an investment I can carry with me for a lifetime. For my course I decided on the more expensive option (so out of character) Poseidon Dive Centre. Again I was pleased with my decision. The instruction, equipment, and my dive master Gerd were absolutely perfect and our boats were far superior to the other outfits in town. Most were sketchy to say the least.

My base for this endeavor was to be Taganga. I decided to stay at Hostal Pelikan which was of OK value at 25,000 COP or about $13. The 6-person dorm was sort of clean, but noisy as the widows were facing right over the main road in town. For my purposes, it was adequate.

The start of my course was a 3.5 hour video - 1 hour of which seemed to be a commercial for PADI and their various services throughout the dive community. My classmates were an English couple Will and Kerstin who were also traveling the world. After the video the fun was to begin with various exercises in the pool getting used to breathing underwater. Kerstin kind of freaked out and decided diving was not her cup of tea. The class was then two - Will and I. Lots of reading that night and a few exams the following day and we were ready to dive in the ocean. I of course excelled at both the exams and the exercises in the pool. I was ready for the ocean.

The ride out was a little rough and Will immediately began to hurl everywhere. I felt bad for the guy as he was really sick. He was about to bail as well on the course but a little encouragement and a little mocking from yours truly and he decided to stick it out. I was glad he did. Being in the Ocean and seeing all of the life around me was absolutely fantastic. I was immersed with thousands of fish, different coral, eels, rays, and a million other lifeforms I've never seen before or have any idea of what they were. A whole new world has been opened before me and I intend to continue to explore it throughout my travels.

Today I took my final exam and I am officially a licensed Open Water SCUBA diver. I can now dive anywhere worldwide and I am stoked about the opportunities I will have to exercise my skills as I travel about. I missed 3 out of 50 on the final test, but I successfully argued my point on 2 of the three mistakes as it seemed their could be multiple answers. One question I legitimately missed. Had I aced the test I would have received a free dive with Poseidon. Oh well, maybe next time if I decide to get an advanced dive certification. So I've left Taganga and again find myself in Santa Marta. Tomorrow I will take a bus to Parque Tayrona which is a National Park in Colombia that is home to the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the country. My timing is once again poor as it is some sort of Catholic holiday week here in Colombia. All of the resort towns are packed solid with vacationers and I expect Tayrona will be the same. You win some and you lose some. Parque Tayrona should be nice either way and afterwords I'll be ready to move on South so I'm not going to wait 4 days before going to the Park. Somehow I've got to make it out of Colombia and onto the Amazon and Brazil.

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