Poseidon Dive Center – Taganga Colombia

As I have said before using Santa Marta as a base camp really provides a lot of opportunities to explore northern Colombia. If you have ever wanted to go scuba diving or if you are looking to get certified, Taganga Colombia should be your top spot in South America.

We stumbled on Poseidon Dive Center while finding things to do while we made Santa Marta our base camp for this part of our trip. The dive center had glowing reviews across every website we could find and I have to agree they are top notch.

How to get to Taganga and Poseidon Dive Center

To get to Taganga and the dive center from our hostel in central Santa Marta, we took a quick 30 minute cab ride that we scheduled with our hostel front desk. The ride was extremely early since we had to get to the dive center around 7am to check in and get some basics out of the way.

What to expect at Poseidon Dive Center

When we arrived we checked in at the front where we filled out some paperwork from PADI to make sure nothing would disqualify us from diving then got a quick tour of the dive center and introductions to the dive center team. We then tried on wet suit, booties and bouyancy compensators aka the vest that holds everything while you dive!

This time around we did not get PADI certified but instead did the Discover Scuba Dive which includes 1 pool dive to familiarize yourself with the gear and 2 open water dives.

Discover Scuba Pool Dive Experience

The pool dive was a great time to really familiarize yourself with the gear, get used to breathing underwater and clear any quesitons you might have before the real dives. This was our first time using any scuba gear so it was nice to have one instructor with the two of us the entire time. Our instructor ran us through every piece of gear we would use, how hand signals will work underwater and how to submerge ourselves and rise without having pressure compression issues. Lastly we even practice loosing masks and making sure we could get them back on and cleared while underwater.

Overall the pool experience was above and beyond what I would have ever expected. We both felt very confident and ready to hit the open water dives and get the diving!

First time open water scuba diving

The walk to the beach from the dive center was quick and unlike a lot of the other dive centers around we did not carry any gear. This is something to take note of since a lot of the other dive center had people carrying full gear with them including air tanks out to the water. Poseidon Dive Center took care of everything and we only had to carry our wet suits and any camera we might have wanted with us.

Once on the boat it was a pretty quick boat ride to our first dive spot and our first experience getting in the water with all this gear. Now let me tell you this looks way easier than it was but somehow we survived. At one point I almost even fell while trying to get to the ladder when my flipper caught on an edge of the boat deck.

• 

• 

The first dive spot was near an island that is part of the local national park which made for some impressive sea life and some just amazing landscape under the water. It was definitely a mind blowing experience and apparently my lungs thought the same since I blew through my air tank at record pace. The instructor that was with us latched on to my arm and we shared his air so we would be able to stay under for a bit longer.

• 

• 

The fact that it was one instructor for the both of us really made the first time experience so much better. We just felt taken care off and safe at all times which made the trip that much better.

After the first dive spot we had a small lunch on the way to the second dive spot. The second dive spot went a lot smoother than the first and our instructor even took photos with a GoPro of us to take home. The photos where included at no cost which was a nice touch and something rare in thsi day of nickle and diming everyone.

At the end of the day we took a scenic boat ride back to Taganga and headed back to the dive center to rinse off our wet suits, hang our gear and get sa PADI ceritficate of our Discover Scuba dive!

Should you visit Poseidon Dive Center

I cannot recommend Poseidon Dive Center enough, the price was on pioint, the staff was incredibly attentive and the entire experience was welcoming to someone with ZERO experience diving. Also the team spoke great English so that should not be a barrier to anyone either!

If you are visiting the Poseidon Dive Center click HERE to visit their site!

If you are visiting Colombia and want to check out other things to do visit my section on Colombia Travel HERE!

If you are interested in using Santa Marta as your northern Colombia base camp check out why I think its the best plan for a tight schedule HERE!

Have you ever been to Taganga, Colombia? Have you ever been diving in the area? Did you ever dive with Poseidon Dive Center?

Follow along the adventures on:

Instagram @gusontherun or Twitter @gusontherun