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Diving trip to Gorgona Island [Video]

Finally I had some time to make a small video with some of the images and videos from my trip to Gorgona Island

Here's the old post with the pics:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/diving-gorgona-pics/

I hope you enjoy it ;)

By tannedincali on Nov 4, 2009, 14:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

Saltador says on Nov 4, 2009, 15:23:

Very cool. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. That Manta was incredible.

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ddluzdelsol says on Nov 4, 2009, 15:34:

I agree! Very Cool!!

Christmas and New Years in Ibague!!

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capt_j says on Nov 4, 2009, 15:48:

Great pics thanks for sharing :)

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 4, 2009, 16:33:

yeah the manta is my favorite pic :) thanks for watching

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 4, 2009, 16:57:

Totally worth it Brian, hm I'm not quite sure why your instructor says it's difficult to organize, you can arrange a trip with any of the dive schools here in Cali, there are boats leaving to Gorgona almost every weekend, in our trip there was an instructor from Santa Marta, and I know that many people come specially from Bogota. If you need any help I can contact you with my school.

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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babygirl says on Nov 4, 2009, 19:04:

tweet! wicked, awesome share!

Best quote of the week... "should I be taking this pill with wine?" Canadian Girls Kick Ass!

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 4, 2009, 19:31:

Hm yeah you won't find any 5 star accommodations or things like that, but is not that bad as I read somewhere that says you have to sleep in a tent and there are no showers. Also yeah Buenaventura is not a place were you want to spent too much time, and you have to travel by buseta from Cali to Buenaventura and those drivers are complitely insane.

Anyway, since we were diving most of the time and sleeping in the boat I didn't care having a room with air conditioned, big tv and open bar :P.

If you want to have an idea of what you can expect there check this link (http://www.concesionesparquesnaturales.com/site/Ingles/Gorgona/Gorgona...).

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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babygirl says on Nov 4, 2009, 19:37:

Sounds like a great trip with the exception of the crazy buseta ride haha.

Best quote of the week... "should I be taking this pill with wine?" Canadian Girls Kick Ass!

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scumbuster says on Nov 5, 2009, 17:03:

Tanned... after seeing your original post I lined up a buddy to go along with me. We are planning on going in May 2010. Its his first time in Colombia. We plan to spend 5 days in Bogota then fly to the coast for scuba. I will contact you when we get closser to get some info. Love the manta.. Its my goal to see one. I have been to several places that are frequented by mantas but none when I have been there.:((

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 5, 2009, 20:01:

Scum I think that's a really good time to make the trip I've heard that Manta's season is around may -june, you can't be 100% sure you will see them but in that season you have very good chances, my wife was there last weekend and didnt see any :( . If you need any help I would be glad to help Im planning to make another trip next year too so probably we could go toguether

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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scumbuster says on Nov 6, 2009, 03:16:

tanned.. that would be great if we could coordinate our trips at the same time. I know no guarantees on the mantas. I was at Catalinas Island off Costa Rica and didn’t see any even though they are seen there regularly. Its only a mater of time:)) My wife doesn’t dive but still wanted to go. Probably good as my Spanish sucks. I will defiantly get in touch when we start planning the trip. What is the closest city to fly into? We will be in Bogota when we fly in.

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2009, 05:51:

I think you would have to fly to Cali and then there are two choices you can go by boat from Buenaventura ( which is how most divers go) or by plane from Cali to Guapi a small town where you can take a quick boat to get to Gorgona.

Check this pdf: http://www.golatintour.com/functionalities/services/special_packages/c...
It talks about Malpelo Island (another great divers paradise) but it describes what you can find in two ships "Doña Mariela", the one I did my trip and "Maria Patricia" a bigger boat.

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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scumbuster says on Nov 6, 2009, 10:48:

Tanned.... Do they have equipment rental and if so what is the condition of the stuff? In the past I have always found it much more convenient to rent equipment provided its decent stuff rather than drag stuff along.

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2009, 11:18:

Scum at the school they got all the equipment you need but I would suggest you to bring your mask, snorkel and boots, also gloves are very useful at Gorgona because of the currents. I don't know about the diving center at Gorgona but if you go through a school you can get all you need.

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2009, 13:05:

tannedincali,

That is certainly a SUPERB video - and thanks for taking the time to post it.

Can you please give us an idea on HOW MUCH such a trip would cost?

I did click on the links you provided, but the first impression is that we're talking about many MILLIONS of pesos - let's take a basic one week trip for two persons.

True, one has to take into account the cost of getting there. But how much of an affordable trip does this remain for the "mere" mortal?

Most of the packages you mentioned only include "three drinks" over the basic three days period. Is this really reasonable? ;-)

Seriously, what where the "extras" as you actually experienced them?

You sure came close to that moray eel! Are you aware that, once a moray eel bites you, it nevers lets go? (shudder)

Better to have tried and failed than having regrets all your life about what you MIGHT have missed

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2009, 14:00:

Darloup as I mentioned the link is about Malpelo not Gorgona, the trip to Malpelo is more expensive it takes about a week and includes dives to Gorgona as well. Also you have to be an advanced diver to go there.

The trip to Gorgona costs about 1 - 1.2 Million of pesos. It all depends on what extras are included, like for example the Cali - Buenaventura - Cali bus.

- 6 dives (3 per day) if you're an advanced diver you can do an extra night dive.
- Shared cabin with air conditioned ( you sleep almost all the trip, and you arrive early in the mourning to Gorgona)
- All meals
- Snacks
- You can also visit the old prison

The only extra money I expended was the tip to the boat crew and a couple of beers.

The zoom of the camera helped on that pic of the moray hehe, I saw a bite of a moray on discovery and I promised I would never do anything silly when I were close to one.

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 6, 2009, 14:43:

tannedincally,

Thanks for your your feed-back - very useful and informative.

As you probably don't know (and also you probably don't care unless you have read my profile), I'm a PADI Instructor (trained and certified in the North Sea, but preferring much warmer climates ;-).

Having permanently moved to Colombia, and now exploring diving opportunities around Barranquilla, I genuinely think your video is REALLY informative: Where to get good dives in Colombia, what to do, what to see and how to do it.

I'm genuinely grateful about your video. I do hope it manages to tempt a few PBH members to take the plunge in Colombia.

Diving is not a difficult sport. Nor is it a superlative sport reserved to the elite.

Your video showed the richness of things we can discover in Colombia when diving. And, judging from your video, I assume that most pix were taken at a depth less than 10 meters (30 feet) where indeed there are many things to see.

Again, many thanks for sharing your experience.

Better to have tried and failed than having regrets all your life about what you MIGHT have missed

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scumbuster says on Nov 6, 2009, 15:57:

Tanned.. Your sugestian is usually what I take. Mask, Boots & Fins, Gloves and Camera. I have a dive watch I like to take that records max depth and down time. I have a 3 mm full suit. Its a little bulky to take but if the water is chilly I usually drag it along. I would like to rent a BC, Reg & gauges, tank and weights. Does the school line up the trip or just rent you the stuff to take.

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 7, 2009, 07:22:

Darloup , sorry I didn't now you were a PADI certified instructor in that case if you got the time and money you should make the Malpelo trip my instructor says it's amazing. I still need to get the advanced diver certification, but that's one of my goals for next year.

Diving as you say is not that difficult my wife and some of her friends barely know to swim and it was real challenge for them but with a good training they could make it and now they love it.

Scum, at the school they got suits and fins, but if you got no problem bringing them that's ok. BC, Reg, etc are all included I'm sure they don't charge you extra for that, at least in my school. The school does pretty much everything you just need to worry about diving (and paying :) ) , also an instructor from the school goes on the trip.

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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scumbuster says on Nov 7, 2009, 07:44:

Sounds great.. You will be hearing from me after the first of the year. Thanks for the great video and info..

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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scumbuster says on Nov 7, 2009, 15:57:

Darlop.. I have been diving in your area. Santa Marta has some decent diving if you go before the rainy season. The water gets murky when the rainy season starts. If you call the shop and talk to Max he can let you know the diving conditions. I prefer the Pacific for the variety of large fish and rays and eels.
This is the dive shop I used in Santa Marta and would recomend them.
http://www.poseidondivecenter.com/england/england.htm

Tomas Jefferson “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

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shazam (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 7, 2009, 16:49:

great video and great information!

I've been looking into diving both gorgona and mal pelo and from bogota, the prices are steep. for a week in november for gorgona they wanted 2.400.000 - flight, hotel, dives. For a week in december to malpelo it was 4.500.000. and they want it all paid in cash. a bit hard on the pocketbook, but definitely in my future plans.

Thanks for sharing!

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tannedincali (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 8, 2009, 06:10:

shazam, 2.400.000 for a week to Gorgona sounds good to me, I don't know what you mean by hotel, I guess is for staying at the aviatur accommodations. But I think if you want to save some money you could arrange your trip with someone in Cali, and get the plane tickets by yourself, I bought plane tickets (Cali-Bog-Cali) from Aerorepublica about 2 weeks ago for 230.000 pesos (you have to buy them online to get a discount). At my school they accept credit cards that's how I paid my trip ;).

Take the red pill and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes

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