We’ve spent the last week in Taganga, Colombia a small fishing village north of Santa Marta. We only meant to be here a couple of days but thankfully can sum up the whole week in one post – one of the main benefits here is that it is so chilled we could have stayed even longer! Plus… miracles happen… I can walk again! Its also one of the cheapest places in the world to try for your PADI Open Water, so we decided to give it a bash…
Our arrival in Taganga, a small fishing village set in a bay behind us.
We arrived via a 12hr night bus (COP$80,000 – my worst negotiating yet but at least we got a space! Get Shaun at Macondo hostel to book in advance for you for a better deal) from Bogota, it was supposed to be less but a 2hr traffic jam created an impromptu lay around on a highway. We were warned the bus was cold, but did not prepare for the Mr Freeze temperatures that awaited. Its the legs… one layer is not enough! Bring thermals or a blanket or lose out on sleep. Earplugs are a must… but you knew that already. When we got to the main bus station, a quick hop in a microbus/van gets you to Taganga in 30mins for COP$1,500 – you’ll have to put all your bags/crutches on your lap or pay for the extra seat so don’t expect comfort.
We’d booked ahead (a must) for Casa de Felipe, one of the most famous and original hostels in Taganga, a double is COP$50,000 with private bathroom for the night. A great place, although a 15mins hike up a hill from where you get dropped – on crutches and with all your travelling kit this is a sweaty hike! On arrival we had room one, great wireless reception and our door opens to one of the greatest benefits of Casa de Felipe, the large patio area with hammocks, tables, chairs, and a great place to meet the rest of the residents.
We’d already heard it was one of the cheapest places in the world to complete our PADI, although we were a bit worried that with my leg it’d be a no no. So we went on a hunt and asked for advice; Octopus Diving Center had aleady been recommended although we think you’re pretty safe wherever you go in Taganga. Natalia and Andres are the Octopus owners from Bogota and very friendly. The offered a session in the pool with all the gear to see how my leg held up; thankfully it was all good news and we booked to start the three hour borathon that is the PADI intro video the next morning.
Our first night, a gorgeous bbq that had enough left over for lunch! From left to right; Mirika, Chris, Malph, Aart, Alex, Joyce, Corey and Lynette.
We met up with some other travellers for a bbq that evening, some old friends and some new. It wasn’t cheap, but the steak was fantastic and we had enough left over for lunch the next day. Lynette was particularly fascinated with my conversation with Chris; he had a research grant to investigate heat pipes and thermal transfer, specifically at very high temperatures and involving different liquids. My overclocking knowledge kicked back in and I even got to say Peltier. Everybody thought we were so cool.
Claudio, our Italian diving instructor, an excellent tutor who made the whole thing great fun.
Taganga itself is a very relaxed and chilled out place. The weather is permanently hot and humid; with about 30mins of torrential rain each day that dries out quickly. The supermarkets and tiendas are a bit poor on stock, no meat to buy so you’ll have to nip into Santa Marta. There is one beach at the shorefront which is not so hot, and another that is a thirty minute walk that is a little better. Neither of those are the main reason why you should go to Taganga. The three things you should do in Taganga are;
- The aforementioned very low cost diving. Granted, if you’re experienced you’ll be disappointed at the lack of wildlife (turtle/barracuda/lobster is your limit), but the coral, weather and visibility is excellent. A fun dive (two dives in an afternoon with boat and equipment) will cost you ~COP$90,000 or £27, while a PADI Open Water cost us COP$510,000 or £145.
- Ciudad Perdida, or The Lost City trek. This six day jaunt costs COP$500,000, and takes you to Tayuna, the lost city of the Tairona indian tribe and is inaccessible by road. In a couple of years, this will be inundated like Macchu Pichu, but for now you’re unlikely to pass anyone and the sheer difficulty of the hike makes the final reward all the better. We could not attempt it due to my knee, but took great glee in checking out the legs of everyone who returned absolutely covered in sand fly bites, some of which bury under your skin. Preventative measure is apparently ‘black soap’ that you can buy in many places and post feeding frenzy is covering in oil, which means they can’t breath and will wriggle out to escape. Nice. Lots of tour operators will pick you up from Taganga so you can leave your bags there in safety and head on out.
- After your trek, you can head to Tayrona National Park. Apparently (again, bit of hiking involved so we put it to one side for now) you can get a boat for COP$30,000 to the beach, or a bus from Santa Marta with a bit of a hike for COP$4,000. It has great jungle, and some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean; mostly people go there for a coupe of days taking food and drink to save on costs, you sleep in tents or on hammocks and generally come back with a great big smile on your face.
The infamous Irish lads, busy wooing my lady…
There are quite a few bars around, along with the Irish lads (who amazingly we’ve managed to go drinking with in four different areas of Colombia, that’s dedication) we made great friends with Harry, a french guy who’s just opened Pachamamas – one of the best and newest looking bars in Taganga that serves excellent Tapas and if you like R&B or Rum he’s your new best friend. He’s given us many shots, cocktails and even garlic during our stay! Casa Holanda even has a two for one happy hour, but the cocktails are very watered down and its not worth it. The main club is El Garaje, a sweat pit reminiscent of the Purple Turtle Samba Style, we spent a couple of nights here and if you can make it on a Wednesday you’ll have a great time.
So our time in Taganga was mostly spent either chilling or diving. It was a good mix. Frustatingly we ended up heading through three different hostels during our time;
- Casa de Felipe – video above, a great place but often fully booked so get there in advance. The restaurant, run by dutch Patrick, serves absolutely fantastic fillet steak for only COP$16,000 (£4.60) that melts in your mouth – I nearly complained when I didn’t get a steak knife but could probably could have eaten it with a spoon it was that tender! However, they majorly screwed up on booking and they only speak spanish so were pretty crap in resolving it. Major black mark. So after four nights we stayed at…
- Casa Holanda – a fairly new hostel run by Edwin. Great rooms, and includes breakfast. Edwin the owner is a good guy but slightly odd, OCD comes across as he wants to make everything right! They even do free Salsa classes! However a lack of atmosphere sent us back to Casa de Felipe… who screwed up again(!) and we had to spend our last night in…
- Hostal Pelikan – another issue arose, when we got there the girl in our room was too hungover from the night before so couldn’t check out! So we stayed in one of their half finished rooms for only COP$25,000 (£7.20) which wasn’t so bad. There we met an awesome night porter called Juan, a 130yr old that spoke excellent English and only said of La Violencia… “It was a complicated time”. We could have spoken to him for ages hearing about Columbia’s history and troubles but unfortunately it was time for bed. Pelikan also has a perfect patio/balcony spot that while it doesn’t get a lot of sun is a very good place to watch the world go by.
There is the thermal spa itself; whether going into very hot water on a very hot and very humid day is a very questionable idea.
Other findings of our time there, the Citadels Card Game
) . When it rains, it rains hard.
Argh! Getting a bit skinny out here!
Oh, and by the way, six dives later we took the Open Water test - Lynette is the reigning champ with 96% (should have been 98%) while I trailed with 90%. Altogether, we are now PADI Open Water accredited! On to Cartagena!
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wow!! i am so jealous! looks like you are continuing to have a great time. Steve glad the leg isn’t holding you up too much!! not much going on in comparison here. We are adopting a dog for two years, he is called jasper and is a real cutey. We have been spending a lot of time sorting the house out and feeling old and boring!! Much rather be jetting off round the world
lots of love and safe travel xxxxxx