This article proposes to analyse legal instruments aimed at protecting cultural heritage, specifically underwater cul­tural heritage (UCH). It seeks to under­stand and identify the legal instruments that have been adapted for this purpose. Likewise, based on the characterization of the benefits and risks for the country, the document gives some ideas to the protection of underwater cultural heri­tage in Colombia. In this perspective, the case of the Galleon San Jose is taken as a way to illustrate the challenges facing the Colombian State. From our legal field, this article addresses the concept of Cultural Heritage, its global tensions manifested in the UNESCO scenario and finally, it will approach the legal protec­tion of the PCS in the laws in the face of the need for rules to regulate the activi­ties of companies that uses different technologies to approach to the ocean floor more efficiently.