Nautilus

Set on the waterfront in Taganga, Santa Marta, Nautilus is a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort backed by 4 PADI Instructors. With its own house reef, onsite training pool and classroom, it's a comfortable base for both first-timers and divers building experience along Colombia's Caribbean coast. English and Spanish are both spoken.

Courses and diving

Newcomers can ease in with the PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience, while certification seekers have the PADI Open Water Diver [eLearning] and PADI Advanced Open Water Diver paths open to them. Already certified? The Half-Day Dive Trip, from USD 75, gets you straight into the water for around 5 hours.

Nautilus dives a wealth of nearby sites, among them Morro de Gaira, Inca Inca, Dos Morritos, Cueva del Toro and El Cantil. The surrounding waters host marine life including sharks, turtles, ocean fish, eels and echinoderms, molluscs and crustaceans, plus corals, anemones and jellyfish. Nitrox, equipment sales and scuba rental round out the setup.