BoldspiritTravels on a budget: Playa El Rodadero in Santa Marta, Colombia. [Solo backpacking on a budget in Latin America]

Unfortunately, I had to leave Cartagena de Indias. After all, I had my scuba diving course to attend to! I was excited because it would be my absolute first time to scuba dive! I didn’t know what to expect.

I left Cartagena and took an early evening bus. I arrived very late to “Playa El Rodadero”, a small holiday location in Santa Marta area. I called the hostel where I had my bad booked (yes, as always, in a dorm) and made sure they will let me in that late. ;)

A little break during my morning jogging along beach side.

I wake up early in the morning. I was a little stressed because I didn’t yet find a company that organizes scuba diving and I knew it would be a pain. In other words, I procrastinated, I literally waited until the last moment. Why? Because I felt like I want to have the best possible experience, but on the other hand, I couldn’t pay much. I mean I had to make sure the organizers had high-quality equipment and very good opinion. All this and with the average price range. Challenge accepted! ;)

But first (remember that I was in a procrastination mode;)) I went jogging to let off steam and detach a bit. It is also a good way to discover what the location has to offer. The village was rather small but very touristic, with many high buildings and hotels. There was a nice, not very long beach so I directed myself there. The sun was raising up sluggishly, the place was still deserted.

I started running on the left side of the beach. Unexpectedly I ran into some old ramshackle concrete buildings. Below you can see some photos of them that I took on my way back.
I continued running but the view didn’t want to change, there were human traces everywhere. I changed the direction. At this time some people started to arrive at the sunny beach carrying baskets with breakfast. I saw groups like that, all of them big (Colombian?) families with both grandparents and little kids running and screaming like crazy ;)

On the other side of the coastline, there was a little “mole” where fishermen were selling their catch. Some of the fishes’ size was really impressive I must admit. And yeah, where there are fresh fishes, there are pelicans! Luckily the market attracted some buyers because it was seriously super hot, so I cannot imagine how much longer those fishes could have stayed fresh...

When I came back to my hostel I started looking for scuba diving schools in Santa Marta, which was located around 6 kilometers away, around 30-40 minutes with local transport.
I didn’t stay long in Playa El Rodadero, it was too crowded and touristic to me. The next day early in the morning I left and I directed myself to the diving school that I choose the day before.

Thank you for being here with me. I hope until next time!
Pura Vida and enjoy your journey! 💛

• More about me here: You can travel without being wealthy aka a girl from a "struggling" family chasing her dreams!

• Some of my recent stories from South America:
  Boldspirit and the death road - la ruta de la muerte - Bolivia # 1 and # 2
  BoldspiritTravels on a budget: Climbing Monserrate - the mountain overlooking Bogota in Colombia [Solo backpacking on a budget in Latin America]
  BoldspiritTravels on a budget: “CICLOVÍA” - when bikes take over the city! Weekly! 😍 💪🏻 Bogota (Colombia) [Solo backpacking on a budget in Latin America]