Trip Report : Islas del Rosario, Colombia
Place: Island San Pedro de Majagua, an island of the archipelago known as Archipielago Nuestra Señora del Rosario (commonly known as Islas del Rosario or Rosario Islands), located 55 km from Cartagena de Indias, coastal city of Colombia
Cartagena de Indias is located on the northern coast of Colombia on the Department of Bolivar with an average temperature of 28C (82F) with almost 1 million habitants. It was founded on Jaunary 20th, 1553 by Don Pedro de Heredia as a port.
Cartagena is an enchanting city which has kept its 17th century architecture since it was the second most important port during colonial times. As a port it was designed to defend itself from pirates and as such it has 7 miles of walled old city and a castle (San Felipe). The city is a living museum with elegant balconies where men serenade their maidens, horses with carriages march through the narrow streets and most visitors spend their evenings relaxing on cobbled plazas at outdoor cafes. It has been declared a historic monument for the humanity by UNESCO.
The Islas del Rosario are part of one of the 46 National Natural Parks of Colombia. The archipelago has 23 islands, keys and isles. It is surrounded by coral reefs due to favorable algae conditions. There are coastal lagoons, mangroves (tropical forest that develops on the strip between land and sea) and tropical weather.
We were staying at one of the very small isles in islas del Rosario in a nice hotel called Paraíso Secreto (Secret Paradise). We were going for a friends wedding at San Pedro de Majagua which was a bigger island very close by. We talked to Caribe Dive Shop (which has offices both in Cartagena and in Island San Pedro de Majagua: caribediveshop@yahoo.com) and set up a 2-tank immersion day with them.
They picked us promptly early next morning (the day after the wedding) and we boarded the boat which had about 10 other divers and had 3 divemasters. We went to a dive site called Caribarú which has an impressive coral reef wall. We didnt have any gear so they gave us all the necessary equipment and we just back rolled into the crystal clear ocean.
We didnt have any wetsuits since it was a balmy 27C, (80F) and with very good visibility. We went 60 feet for about 30 minutes and saw incredible parrotfish, huge crabs, spiders, lobsters and several other coral fish. I took several photos of different fish. I am not sure how deep the wall went, but we all stayed with the divemaster at 60 feet.
The second spot which was nearly by was called Punta Brava. We dived 40 feet, saw the coral reefs at the bottom and all the different coral fishes. So it was about 1:00pm when we returned to the hotel and had a very big lunch !!
Dives are usually in the mornings since the sea tends to be very choppy during the afternoon. According to the divemasters, there are about 40 dive sites around the Islas del Rosario.
So, in summary, the experience was a very good one, with a very beautiful city to do some tourism and nice dives to go to.
Here is a a picture of the dive.
Regards,
Guillermo
Place: Island San Pedro de Majagua, an island of the archipelago known as Archipielago Nuestra Señora del Rosario (commonly known as Islas del Rosario or Rosario Islands), located 55 km from Cartagena de Indias, coastal city of Colombia
Cartagena de Indias is located on the northern coast of Colombia on the Department of Bolivar with an average temperature of 28C (82F) with almost 1 million habitants. It was founded on Jaunary 20th, 1553 by Don Pedro de Heredia as a port.
Cartagena is an enchanting city which has kept its 17th century architecture since it was the second most important port during colonial times. As a port it was designed to defend itself from pirates and as such it has 7 miles of walled old city and a castle (San Felipe). The city is a living museum with elegant balconies where men serenade their maidens, horses with carriages march through the narrow streets and most visitors spend their evenings relaxing on cobbled plazas at outdoor cafes. It has been declared a historic monument for the humanity by UNESCO.
The Islas del Rosario are part of one of the 46 National Natural Parks of Colombia. The archipelago has 23 islands, keys and isles. It is surrounded by coral reefs due to favorable algae conditions. There are coastal lagoons, mangroves (tropical forest that develops on the strip between land and sea) and tropical weather.
We were staying at one of the very small isles in islas del Rosario in a nice hotel called Paraíso Secreto (Secret Paradise). We were going for a friends wedding at San Pedro de Majagua which was a bigger island very close by. We talked to Caribe Dive Shop (which has offices both in Cartagena and in Island San Pedro de Majagua: caribediveshop@yahoo.com) and set up a 2-tank immersion day with them.
They picked us promptly early next morning (the day after the wedding) and we boarded the boat which had about 10 other divers and had 3 divemasters. We went to a dive site called Caribarú which has an impressive coral reef wall. We didnt have any gear so they gave us all the necessary equipment and we just back rolled into the crystal clear ocean.
We didnt have any wetsuits since it was a balmy 27C, (80F) and with very good visibility. We went 60 feet for about 30 minutes and saw incredible parrotfish, huge crabs, spiders, lobsters and several other coral fish. I took several photos of different fish. I am not sure how deep the wall went, but we all stayed with the divemaster at 60 feet.
The second spot which was nearly by was called Punta Brava. We dived 40 feet, saw the coral reefs at the bottom and all the different coral fishes. So it was about 1:00pm when we returned to the hotel and had a very big lunch !!
Dives are usually in the mornings since the sea tends to be very choppy during the afternoon. According to the divemasters, there are about 40 dive sites around the Islas del Rosario.
So, in summary, the experience was a very good one, with a very beautiful city to do some tourism and nice dives to go to.
Here is a a picture of the dive.
Regards,
Guillermo
