This course teaches divers who already have the Open Water Certification the knowledge and foundation required to safely plan and complete a dive in advanced diving conditions and up to 30 meters deep. The course gives divers a lifelong, international PADI Advanced Diver Certification. The course takes 2 days minimum to complete.
The course includes five adventure dives in open water, where conditions will be used to increase ability in selected adventures (see list below). All dives will take place in the dive-sites described in our map and will be chosen based on adventure dives.
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Students must complete the following:
- Read 5 chapters, each of which explains a different adventure dive, and complete the knowledge review questions at the end of each chapter
- Complete 2 required specialty dives in open water: Deep Diving (max 30 meters) and Underwater Navigation (compass and visual)
- Complete 3 adventure dives chosen from the following list:
Diving in Wrecks
Night Dive
Drift Diving
Multilevel and Computer Diving
Underwater Propulsion Vehicle
Perfect Buoyancy
Search and Recovery
Underwater Nature Study
Underwater Photography
Underwater Videographer
Among others!
What's Included
What's Included
Our Location
Blue Apple Beach Club
Our dive center is located in Blue Apple Beach, a boutique hotel, restaurant and beach club on Tierra Bomba Island. We run our operation from Cartagena, Colombia, and our boat leaves from mainland Cartagena in the morning and travels 30 minutes to our dive center in a hidden island paradise. Here, you will get fully equipped and then go by boat to a diversity of scuba dive and snorkel sites in the surrounding reefs. There are a variety of dive sites around Baru and Tierra Bomba islands within 20 minutes of our dive center. We also have an amazing and healthy "house reef" directly in front of the resort.
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After diving or snorkeling in the morning, we return to Blue Apple where you can eat a delicious lunch and spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool or at the beach. A day pass to Blue Apple is included for all of our customers; the only extra cost is what you consume in food and drink at the resort. We normally head back to Cartagena around 3pm. Or, if you decide you would like to spend the night on the island and in one of Blue Apple's beautiful cabañas, our clients get a special discount.
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Personalized diving / snorkeling followed by an amazing lunch and relaxation at a Caribbean island beach resort... we really cannot think of a better way to spend a day!
Areas Where We Dive
Check out descriptions of each site on the map below
Varadero Reef and Tierra Bomba Island
Just outside of Cartagena, Colombia lies a global ocean "Hope Spot" named Varadero Reef, as designated by international non-profit Mission Blue. Around the world, coral reefs are bleaching and dying off due to rising ocean temperatures. Varadero Reef experiences dramatic changes in water temperature and composition due to its proximity to Cartagena´s bay and Dique Channel, yet its corals remain incredibly healthy and diverse. It is unknown how Varadero Reef exists; scientists never thought corals could survive nevermind thrive in such conditions.
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Varadero Reef extends right to our doorstep. Our "house reef" in front of our dive center can easily be reached via a shore dive or a 1 minute short boat ride, making it especially ideal for people who do not want to travel long distances by boat to dive sites.
Baru Island
Dive and snorkel sports along Baru island are an easy 10-20 minute boat ride from our dive center. Baru island is a long island that stretches from Cartagena all the way to the Rosario Islands. Baru offers a plethora of marine life, coral and variety of dive sites, including several shipwrecks. Baru also boasts an underwater art museum and underwater sculptures. Sites generally have very little current, few waves, warm water, and in general easy conditions year round.
Rosario Islands
Rosario Islands boast a Coral National Park and are a 40 minute boat ride from our dive center. Rosario Islands have year-round great diving conditions and warm water, plus reef canyons, deep walls and a vast amount of marine life that will surely cover any diver´s interests.
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While the Rosario Islands do offer great dive sites, we generally do not travel here on normal day trips. Reefs around Tierra Bomba and Baru islands are much closer and just as amazing. Conditions in Rosario Islands can also be a bit more advanced, and it is common to experience large waves and get soaking wet on the return trip to Cartagena. Furthermore, there are many more boats (mostly non-dive boats) that travel to Rosario Islands, making for more overhead noise and in general boats overhead while diving.
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That being said, we also love diving and snorkeling around Rosario Islands, and especially recommend this to people who will be diving or snorkeling with us for a few days, to add variety to your sites.
Shipwrecks, Advanced Diving & Special Trips
As we are committed to cover our guests’ interests and to provide the best personalized service possible, we also offer the possibility of going to some open water coral banks, underwater islands and special wreaks with more advanced diving conditions. Here, divers can find a magnificent untouched reef, the possibility of bigger fish, drift diving, and more shipwrecks to explore. For many of these sites, a minimum of an advanced certification level will be required.