Pico del Náufrago - Santa Marta & Tayrona
Secret Bay is exactly what it sounds like – a bit of a local secret, and for good reason. It’s a classic muck dive, meaning you’ll spend your time searching the silty, sandy bottom for the small, strange creatures that thrive there. Think pipefish blending into seagrass beds, tiny gobies peeking from hidden burrows, and maybe a flamboyant cuttlefish putting on a show if you’re lucky. We often spot robust ghost pipefish here, along with a surprising variety of nudibranchs. It’s shallow, maxing out at about 10 meters, so you get plenty of bottom time, but that also means good buoyancy is a must to avoid stirring things up. We’d recommend it for experienced macro photographers or anyone who enjoys a patient hunt for the unusual. The best diving here is definitely at high tide, otherwise, it can get very shallow and quite murky.
- Location
- Santa Marta & Tayrona, Colombia, South America
- Coordinates
- 9.789600, -75.745600
- Type
- muck
Marine Protected Area: Los Corales del Rosario y de San Bernardo
Nearby Dive Sites in Santa Marta & Tayrona
- Arrecife coralino
- Bahia Aguacate
- Canto del Bajito (wreck)
- Canto del Mero (cave)
- Caribaru
- CIUDAD DE ITAGUI - 12m (wreck)
- DARIEN - 9m (wreck)
- DONA LOLITA (POSSIBLY) - 2m (wreck)
- EL AGUILA - 1m (wreck)
- El Gran Cañón (reef)
- El Jardín
- El Laberinto (reef)
- Formaciones coralinas
- Grieta Isla Narza
- Imelda
Nearest Dive Centres to Pico del Náufrago
- Buzos de Baru - ["PADI"]
- Cartagena Divers - ["PADI"]
- Centro de Buceo Rincon del Mar
- Coveñas Diving Co - ["PADI"]
- Diving Planet - ["PADI"]
- Isla Fuerte Ecolodge & Diving Center – Narval - NAUI
Marine Life in Santa Marta & Tayrona
Home to 533 recorded species including 416 reef fish, 38 hard corals, 17 sharks & rays, 13 other, 9 crabs & lobsters, 7 whales & dolphins.
Notable Species
- Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Mojarra (Eugerres plumieri) - Reef Fish
- Zabaleta Anchovy (Anchovia clupeoides) - Reef Fish
- Ronco (Micropogonias furnieri) - Reef Fish
- Blueback Mullet (Mugil liza) - Reef Fish
- Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) - Reef Fish
- Jack (Caranx hippos) - Reef Fish
- Swordspine Snook (Centropomus ensiferus) - Reef Fish
- Caitipa Mojarra (Diapterus rhombeus) - Reef Fish
- Ground Croaker (Bairdiella ronchus) - Reef Fish
- Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) - Reef Fish
- black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) - Seagrass & Algae
- white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) - Seagrass & Algae
- Silverfish (Trichiurus lepturus) - Reef Fish
- Mulet (Mugil curema) - Reef Fish
- Thin leaf lettuce coral (Agaricia tenuifolia) - Hard Corals
- Atlantic Thread Herring (Opisthonema oglinum) - Reef Fish
- Dark Green Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) - Reef Fish
- Gutong (Scarus iseri) - Reef Fish
- Mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) - Hard Corals