Taganga, one of the cheapest places in the world to dive, is right next to Tyrona National Marine Park. A small bay with a curved beach and only 5,000 people. Sounds lovely doesn't it? It's an absolute shithole. The beach is full of rubbish, the bay is full of oil and the town is full of drugs, and all the crime that comes with it. I was only there one night but I met two people who'd been robbed at knife point on the beach!
I'd arrived with Tamara (from Holland) and we'd both decided to do a diving course. Fortunately, we managed to find a company who have a small hut in the national park. There are no facilities but we could stay for free during the course. Our instructor, a great guy called Alejandro, got things off to a good start by giving us two free dives. This meant that we'd get to dive eight times instead of six, and all that for only £215, bargain!
The hut is beautiful, set on the top of a small cliff in the middle of nowhere. There was a fat jolly Colombian guy who cooked up amazing fish dinners and hammocks were the sleeping arrangement of choice. The evenings were spent watching the sun dip into the sea while being rocked to sleep by sea light breeze, all while looking out at the stunning views of the Caribbean sea.
The days were spent diving and reading the PADI dive manual (one of the most boring pieces of literature ever created). We also walked to the deserted Playa Brava, with crystal clear waters and not another person in 100km. It was bliss.
I have dived before (on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia) but never bothered to get the certification. I have fond memories of those dives and was hoping that Tyrona National Park would live up to expectations! They did, and more. My favourite dive was a just off small island called Isla Aguja. As we descended, the coral got more colourful and diverse - sea urchins swayed along to the tide, their poisonous spines glistening in the sun; fire coral sparkled, its dangerous pores drawing you closer like a bulb draws a fly; and huge bulbous formations of brain coral (which the area is famous for) peppered the landscape, as big as cars. The sea-life was fantastic too - we saw two scorpion fish, almost invisible to the eye as they disguise themselves as rocks and blend into the background; angel fish, small elegant fish with deadly spines lined with poison; rare purple squids and stingrays floating along in the currents.
You can probably tell that I loved it. But after three wonderful days it was time to head back to Taganga and take the exam. Not surprisingly, we hadn't studied enough and deferred it to the next day. This gave me time to actually read the book. My brain did not want to play ball. We had made a deal when I was trying to qualify as an accountant - I agreed that if it got me through those exams I would never do anything else that required studying for an exam. Ever again. My brain had remembered this promise and was not impressed that I'd lied to it. After a painful 350 pages, in which PADI not only instructed me how to dive but also conveyed how much fun PADI people are, I was ready for the test. I was surprised to find that it was multiple choice - jackpot!
One question was - if you start shivering uncontrollably, what should you do?
a - make a controlled ascent, exit the water and put on warm clothes
b - swim faster to warm yourself up
c - dive lower as it is warmer closer to the Earth´s core
d - nothing, this is normal when diving
If you know the answer to that question you could be a diver too.
I got 90%, obviously due to my skill and preparation, wooohooo! After all that excitement it is time for some serious chilling on Caribbean beaches, so I am going in search of some coconuts. Here are some more pics from the diving.
The view from my hammock in the morning.
The only break to the tranquility was a small family of goats, who ran around eating everything. Including someone`s tent! They were less than impressed.
The trusty hammock hut - a nice breeze in the evening.
I actually attempted to surf this piece of wood in the sea at Playa Brava. It didn`t work.
Doing my compass exercise in the water. I dropped it once but no one saw. I am an expert navigator.
No comments:
Post a Comment