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Trip Report
Island Life on San Andres
The Colombian Caribbean Islands of San Andres, Providencia & Santa Catalina are located near the coast of Nicaragua and a whopping 800km from mainland Colombia. The Seahorse -shaped Island of San And
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South AmericaColombia3 days / July 2018
Highs & Lows
El Hoyo Soplador or The blowing hole
Make sure you spend long enough here to see it all
Itinerary Overview
The majority of hotels, restaurants and vast amount of duty free shops can be found in San Andres Town, north of the Island. This is also home to the Island´s main beach, however as you can imagine it becomes quite crowded (not really our cup of tea!) so we decided to explore elsewhere and what better way to discover the best spots than by bicycle! I can´t recommend this enough, it takes approx 2.5 hours to cycle around the Island without stopping so by taking the whole day we could visit many places, escaping from the crowds of San Andres Town.
San Andrés beach time
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport is located in the north of the Island just outside San Andres Town. You can fly to San Andres from most cities in Colombia, Panama City and San Jose, Costa Rica.
San Andrés beach time
Our first stop was at ´La Piscinita´on the west side of the Island. As the sea is usually calm here it is a great site for snorkelling & swimming, there is also a restaurant and a bar run by some local Rastas – a great quiet spot to enjoy a swim and a drink!
San Andrés beach time
Carrying on our cycle towards the most southern point of the Island, we couldn´t not stop at ´El Hoyo Soplador´ literally meaning ´The blowing hole´. Fascinating and amusing to watch this is a natural hole in the coral rock which shoots out water in to the air sometimes reaching up to 10 metres high.
San Andrés sea food n dinner
Our favourite beach was in San Luis, on the east coast. A picturesque part of the Island lined with colourful wooden houses, San Luis offers beautiful white – sand beaches and turquiose sea, a much quieter alternative to San Andres Town and a great place to spend the day, although the sea can be fairly rough at times.
San Andrés sea food dinner
We loved it so much we ate here twice! A great beach side restaurant in San Luis serving fresh fish and seafood dishes, all served with ´Pan de Fruta´ or Bread fruit which is typical to the Island. This place is right on the beach, they also have sun loungers and showers here so a great place to spend the the day!
San Andres and Providencia sea food
A wonderfully decorated ´beach hut style´restaurant serving local dishes. The Stewed Conch or Crab are worth a try!
Q & A
Restaurant recommendations?
We loved it so much we ate here twice serving fresh fish and seafood dishes, all served with ´Pan de Fruta´ or Bread fruit which is typical to the IslandTips you would give a friend?
All visitors travelling to San Andres Island will have to pay a tourist tax at the departure airport before flying which costs 104,000 COP per person.Transportation Tips?
By Bus – Buses circle the Island in both directions, arriving every 15mins. Each journey 2,400 COP. A good, cheap way to get around the Island, especially at night. By Taxi – Be prepared to pay quite a bit more for taxis here than on mainland Colombia, a 5 min journey from the airport can cost up to 20,000 COP. Mostly found in San Andres Town, you will unlikely be able to flag down a taxi elsewhere on the Island. Rent a bike/scooter/Golf cart. A good option if you´re staying a few days. Ask your hotel about where to hire these, prices per day are around 35,000 COP for a bike, 70,000 COP for a scooter and 150,000COP for a golf cart (discounted rates if renting for multiple days).Booking details?
tours Ruta45Colombia
Lodging
Tropical Coral Nice, quiet location 3km from San Andres town