Adventure Scuba Diving in the Pacific Ocean of Colombia
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Scuba Diving in Colombia
The Pacific Ocean
Welcome to Colombia, the beautiful, the pristine, the wild.
A welcoming land where summer never ends: Mild temperatures, beautiful beaches, and happy people. Colombia is home to fascinating cultures and indigenous and raizal people with their carnivals and music.
Sardine Run and Humpback Whales seasonal Dive Trips to Bahia Solano
Scuba Diving in Colombia’s the Pacific Ocean since 2015
Scuba Diving in Colombia offers dive sites in both the Caribbean and Pacific sides.
The Pacific coast proposes more challenging diving conditions with stronger currents and lower visibility due to the abundance of nutrients in the water, which is at the same time why there is so much aquatic life here. World-class dive sites in Bahia Solano include La Piedra del Norte, Vidales Hundidos, and the wreck Sebastian de Belalcazar.
Further North, past Cupica Bay, you can scuba dive in La Mina del Diablo (The Devil’s Mine), Cabo Marzo, and Punta Ardita near the border with Panama. In front of Bahia Solano, 500 kilometers west of the mainland, is Malpelo, a remote seamount renowned for schooling hammerheads and silky sharks; it is also one of the three islands that form the Hammerhead Triangle with Galapagos in Ecuador and Coco’s Island in Costa Rica.
Bahia Solano is home to an active coral formation and a large variety and quantity of aquatic creatures. Some of the unique phenomena in Bahia Solano are the vast number of free-swimming moray eels teaming up with groupers to hunt. And the enormous congregations of dolphins, angelfish, creole fish, jacks, tuna, whale sharks, and even pilot whales.
HammerHead Triangle
Sardine Run
Sardine Run and Dive Trip
Explore the unexplored… Scuba Diving in Colombia!
Scuba Diving trips to Colombia’s Pacific offer an opportunity to see a wide array of marine life, including sea turtles, dolphins, whales, tunas, stingrays, and colorful fish.
HammerHead Triangle
Sardine Run in the Pacific Ocean of Colombia
To watch a Bait Ball of Sardines (Cetengraulis mysticetes) in the Pacific Ocean of Colombia is a spectacle like no other. Every year, more and more divers want to be closer to this experience while others enjoy watching the show from the boat.
Locally known as Agallona, Carduma, or Anchoveta, this species is of great value to the ecosystem.
Scuba Diving in Bahia Solano during Sardine Run
May and June are great months for scuba diving in the Colombian Pacific side.
Colombia is one of the most popular destinations for scuba diving in Latin America. The diversity of the Pacific Ocean waters and the abundance of marine life that comes with it make it an ideal diving location for those who want to explore the underwater world in a pristine, unspoiled environment.
There are dozens of dive sites to explore, most of which are accessible year-round. The water is warm, and visibility is usually good. There are also plenty of opportunities for you to see whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals.
If you’re a certified diver, you could take advantage of one of our bi-annual scuba diving trips to Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Although there is a 50/50 chance to hit the sardine migration, when we do, it is easy to spot the birds and dolphins searching for the bait balls, and they are pretty good at finding them.
Sardines are at the base of the food chain as they are food for various marine species, including birds such as pelicans. They are ecologically a leading factor in the whole process.
In Colombia, sardines migrate near the beach, and predators push them to the surface, bringing the birds for some spectacular feeding frenzies.
Since the fisheries exploiting the sardines in Colombia no longer exist, the population is healthier than a decade ago.
Also known as Ciudad Mutis, Bahia Solano, where the rainforest meets the sea, is full of deserted and quiet beaches, spectacular Pacific ocean scenery, and abundant aquatic wildlife. The arrival of the humpback whales, the migration of the sardines, the turtle release, its virgin beaches, rich Indigenous and Afro-Colombian culture, plus scuba diving around the fantastic coral reefs are just some examples of what we at Colombia Pacific Diving want to show you.
Underneath the surface, the waters take on all imaginable colors with fish banks, huge pods of dolphins and pilot whales, sea turtles, sardines migration (April/May), Humpback Whales (August/September), and occasionally even Orcas.
The Colombian North Pacific coast is an unspoiled place for Humpback Whale Watching; it’s a magical atmosphere that only the sound of the waves and the chanting of the whales can offer. There are loads of reasons why Humpback Whales migrate here from the South part of the continent. They include warm, calm water, lots of nutrients, and shallow areas to give birth and raise their young.
From June to November, the Colombian Pacific coast has a Humpback Whale Watching party. Humpbacks come here every year to mate and give birth to their babies. We can enjoy the beautiful morning twilights, sunny days, red sunsets, and calm waters that complement the chanting of the whales.
Humpback Whales watching in this remote place in Colombia, where these enormous mammals display their tails and jumps, along with the newborn calves, is as close to nature as you can get. It’s incredible to watch the eager calves jumping and playing as they explore the warm and tropical waters of the region.
Colombia welcomes thousands of tourists eager to watch this incredible and unforgettable natural spectacle during the sighting season. After a trip of over 8,000 km from the South Pole, these large groups of whales arrive and stay exploring the Colombian Pacific coast for the second half of the year in the Chocó region.
Humpback Whales Watching in Colombia
The country welcomes “Humpback Whales,” locally known as “Ballenas Yubartas,” with open arms. They chose Colombia as the ideal place to give birth and train their young while the coldest season of the South Pole is taking place. The annual visit happens in the Colombian Pacific at the same time as the gestation of the calves born in Colombian territory, before returning to Antarctica for the beginning of the summer. Their visit is a privilege that attracts people from all over the world. People gather on the beaches and go on boat tours to appreciate the divine chanting of the Humpback Whales.
The arrival of the Humpbacks is impressive. They roam along the coasts doing their acrobatics, showing their beauty, and snoring loudly in front of the expectant people who enjoy whale watching. There are strict parameters of respect for the whales and the environment.
Visit Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Thousands of humpback whales start to arrive during May and June, staying as long as the end of November, covering the 1,300 kilometers of the Pacific coast during their stay in Colombia. From August to September is the most desirable time for whale watching.
Thousands of tourists visit the Colombian Pacific every year. In destinations like Nuquí, Ensenada de Utría, El Valle, Bahia Solano, Cupica, and Cabo Marzo we swim with these magnificent mammals. Adults can measure up to 18 meters in length.
Whale Watching destination:
Bahia Solano, Chocó, Colombia.
On the North Pacific coast of Colombia, the Serranía del Baudó sinks into the ocean, forming bays and giving life to the impressive Chocó rainforest and its tremendous biodiversity. Towards the south and the east, there are rivers and mountains. The shoreline exposes undisturbed beaches surrounded by mangroves and enclosed by the world’s largest ocean.
Chocó is home to the indigenous tribe Emberá Katíos and the Black Afro-Colombian communities that preserve the beauty and majesty of nature.
You can get to Bahia Solano by sea or by air. Colombia is becoming one of the main Humpback Whale watching destinations in Latin America, welcoming the giant cetaceans with calm, warm water for conception. The Ensenada de Utría National Park (Utría Cove) is one of the most bio-diverse places globally and is considered the Humpback Whales’ delivery room.
Cupica Bay, located North of the territory of Bahía Solano, is a must-see destination during the Whale watching season. You can get there by air from Medellín or Quibdó and by sea from Buenaventura or Bahía Solano.
We look for water vapor spraying on the horizon on the high seas as a sign of Humpback Whales swimming on the surface. Bahia Solano is an absolute dream place disconnected from the outside world and closely connected to nature. The only condition to enjoy such a tremendous natural adventure is respecting and following local rules to protect wildlife.
Colombia’s Pacific region provides protected areas for Humpback Whales to give birth to their offspring. The shores around Bahia Solano and Nuquí, especially the Utria Cove, offer the necessary conditions away from potential predators. We invite you to enjoy the beauty of these destinations that show the best of Colombia.
Humpback whales in Colombia can be spotted as early as June every year. They migrate annually from polar regions to the tropical waters of the Colombian Pacific Ocean to breed and give birth. This September 2022, our second bi-annual Pacific Trip takes place to see the Humpback Whales in Colombia.
Come and join us in this adventure trip to Colombia’s Pacific Ocean and discover it before it gets crowded.
Every year the sardines migrate south from Panama along the Pacific coast of Colombia. During the spring season, we dive North of Bahia Solano along the migration route of the sardines, and we go further out in search of the big feeding frenzies. Join us in our Scuba Diving expeditions to Colombia and Freedive and …
Scuba Diving in Colombia during the Sardine Run is supposed to be great but where to go? Every year between the months of April and May we get the Sardine Migration along the pacific coast of Colombia known as the Sardine Run. During these months we experience the magic of Pacific Diving in Colombia. Along …
