Scuba diving in Cartagena: your first dive on Barú Island

To scuba dive in Cartagena, you don’t need experience or to be an expert swimmer: you just need to feel comfortable in the water. Exploria’s scuba diving trip takes place at Barú, in the open sea off Playa Blanca, with PADI-certified instructors who teach you on the boat and go down with you. Afterward, the day continues at the beach. Here’s what it’s like, who can dive and what you should know about your health before you go.

The essentials in a minute

• It’s a single dive, 45 minutes long and as deep as 12 meters, accompanied by PADI-certified instructors. You don’t need any previous experience.
• Underwater photos and video are included, and you receive them in digital format.
• It’s for ages 10 and up, and before diving you sign a medical statement.
• You’re picked up at your hotel, have lunch at Playa Blanca and spend the afternoon there. Between 5:00 and 5:30 PM you’re back at your hotel.
• After diving, you have to wait at least 12 to 18 hours before taking a flight.

What the day is like

• Pickup: between 7:00 and 8:00 AM you’re picked up at your hotel, anywhere in Cartagena, and we confirm the exact time on WhatsApp. The air-conditioned bus passes through the Mamonal industrial area and crosses the bridge to Barú Island.
• Arrival: at 9:00 AM you reach the dive school, at Playa Blanca, and board the boat that takes you out to the open sea.
• The briefing: on the boat, the instructors explain how to use the equipment and the safety signals.
• The dive: the instructors go with you as you descend as deep as 12 meters, on a 45-minute dive. Underwater photos and video are included.
• Lunch: you return to Playa Blanca on the boat and, around noon, have lunch by the sea: fried fish or grilled chicken breast, with coconut rice, patacones (fried green plantains) and salad. Drinks are extra.
• The afternoon: free at Playa Blanca, to relax on the white sand and swim in the turquoise sea.
• The return trip: at 4:00 PM the ride back to Cartagena begins, and between 5:00 and 5:30 PM we drop you off at your hotel.

What you’ll see underwater

You swim among fish and corals, and you may see stingrays, nurse sharks and sea turtles. They’re wild animals: what you see changes from day to day, and they must not be touched.

Who can dive

• Age: 10 and up. Minors go with a responsible adult.
• Experience: you don’t need experience or to be an expert swimmer, just to feel comfortable in the water.
• Health: it isn’t suitable if you’re pregnant or have severe asthma, heart or lung conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes, epilepsy, recent surgery, a bad cold or ear problems, or if you’re under the influence of alcohol.

Before diving, you sign a medical statement, and some medical conditions may require a doctor’s approval. If you take medication or have any questions, message us before booking.

If you can’t dive that day

If the instructor decides you can’t dive, for health reasons or because of alcohol, you spend the day at Playa Blanca with your lunch. In that case the deposit isn’t refunded, and you pay the operator only part of the balance, the amount shown on the tour page.

If it’s the weather that prevents diving, because DIMAR (the Port Authority) closes operations or the sea doesn’t allow it, we let you know right away and reschedule your departure at no cost or refund 100% of your deposit.

What’s not included

• A second dive: the plan includes just one.
• PADI certification: this experience isn’t a certification course.
• Drinks: lunch doesn’t include a drink.
• Beach tents or beds: a private beach tent, sun loungers or Balinese beds by the sea cost extra and are paid on site.
• Tips: they’re optional.

What to bring

• Beachwear: your swimsuit on, a towel and a change of clothes for the ride back.
• Sun protection: biodegradable sunscreen, sunglasses and a cap or hat.
• Cash: for drinks, beach tents or chairs, and any extras on the beach.
• Phone protection: a waterproof case, for your photos.

Before your flight

After diving, you must wait at least 12 to 18 hours before flying. If you’re leaving Cartagena by plane, save the dive for one of the first days of your trip, not the last one.

If someone in your group doesn’t want to dive

The scuba diving rate includes the dive and the day at Playa Blanca, and there’s no beach-only price. Anyone who only wants to go to the beach can book the Playa Blanca day trip, which goes to the same beach. Everything about it is in our guide to Playa Blanca.

Also going to San Andrés?

In San Andrés you can also dive with no experience, on the reef, with hotel pickup. We cover it in our guide to scuba diving in San Andrés.