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Guide to Providencia

(I am posting this again because I couldn't add the old one to the correct forum)

We visited the islands of San Andres and Providencia in November 2006 for 2 weeks - this is our tripreport.

In short:

San Andres and Providencia have a culture that's a mix between Caribbean (English) and Colombian (Spanish).
Go now before it gets spoilt by tourism.

San Andres and Providencia are 2 Caribbean islands that are part of Colombia. Especially Providencia is still incredibly unspoiled by tourism - a real tropical paradise. The islands are somewhat expensive (everything has to be imported), but still affordable and worth it. Providencia is very family-friendly and has great atmosphere.

The culture is a mix of Caribbean (the islanders speak Creole English natively, and some Spanish with an English accent) and Colombian (Colombians came here to do business, and as tourists). Most tourists here are Colombians who can afford the trip to the island. It gets very busy in the Colombian high season (December mainly).

San Andres.

Like everyone, we went to San Andres first (there is no way to fly to Providencia directly, although you could book a flight to San Andres and the same day move on to Providencia). There are regular flights from Bogota with Avianca (see the transportation section below). San Andres is a beautiful island, rather flat,covered in coconut trees. It's population is about 80,000 people - you wonder where they all hide.

San Andres town is at the north, close to the airport, and is the biggest town. It's kinda ugly - lots of concrete, and it's filled with stores selling rice cookers, stereos, perfume and such. From the 60s to recently, the islands were a duty-free zone and Colombians would come here on holidays and buy lots of stuff. Now, the duty-free laws have changed and the economy is more reliant on tourism.

We stayed in Hotel Mary May Inn, a friendly place in town. One morning a policeman came to search our place and it turned out the person staying in the room next door was a criminal.

A much nicer place to stay than San Andres town is San Luis, on the eastern side of the Island. It's not much more than a row of houses and a few hotels along the beach road. There aren't any hostels, just a few hotels - but some of them have a nice feel. We stayed in the Cocoplum Hotel (see the Places to Stay & Eat section).

Beach at San Luis.

Providencia.

We took a plane to Providencia (US$ 125 return, see the Transportation section below). This was the best part of our trip.

There are a few areas to stay: Bahia Aguadulce is the most popular and has a number of hotels, Bahia Suroeste is just south of that and is more deserted and a much more beautiful beach. We stayed in Cabanas Miss Mary (see Places to Stay & Eat) in Bahia Suroeste.

The beach at Bahia Suroeste is the nicest on the island: totally swimmable, incredibly beautiful, very quiet. There are a few types of large birds, you can see the sunset (it's at the west side of the island).

On Saturdays the locals often have horseraces on the beach. Two horses race each other - it doesn't last long but everyone gets pretty excited. Bets, sometimes of 1000s of dollars, are placed. The horseraces are surrounded by their own types of magic - each owner will use their own magic tricks to try to ensure their horse wins. The night before the race people might patrol the beach to make sure no crazy magic is being done there by the other party, like burying a dead dog perhaps.

Picture of Bahia Suroeste.

Safety.

The islands are very safe. The only thing to worry about are mosquitos, sunburn and perhaps pickpockets. For mosquitos, you can buy Caladril (calamine lotion) locally to ease the itching, and El Frenchie (see below) sells an organic repellent. In San Andres you should be a lot more careful with pickpockets and such, Providencia is very safe (although of course you wouldn't go swimming leaving your valuables on the beach, cameras do get stolen and such). Altogether, the islands are some of the safest places to visit in Colombia.

Providencia is a perfect place to take your family and small children, because tourism is mixed with local life, so your kids will be playing with the local kids on the beach (especially in the low season).

You can tell there is money on the islands. San Andres got a lot of money from the tax-free days, and a lot of the mainland mafia groups of the 90s invested in the island. Also, in the past, the islands were an important transportation hub for illegal drug transports to the US. In 2006, US forces came down hard on the trafficking and now most trafficking is finished, which also has stopped an important flow of incoming money.

Food.

The basic menu of the islands is rice, fried fish and patacones (fried plantain). The rice is imported so the real basic menu is fish and patacon. Crab is also popular - on Providencia, if you go for a walk at night, you'll see 100s of crabs walking the island, so they're not hard to find.

All over the islands, but especially on Sundays, they also sell delicious tortas (pies), made of coco, or lemon, or pumpkin, and so on. A piece is 2000 pesos.

See also Places to stay and eat below.

Transportation.

The islands are expensive to get to - you basically have to pay US$ 140 for a plane to San Andres, and another US$ 125 to Providencia (or take an off the beaten path boattrip).

To San Andres.

Getting to San Andres is by air - there are no boats, unless you can arrange a trip on a cargo boat from Cartagena. Avianca and AeroRepublica both fly to San Andres. There are flights from and to Bogota, Cali, Medellin (each US$ 140 return) and Cartagena (US$ 125 return).

To fly to San Andres, before you get on the plane you have to pay a tourist tax of 20,000 pesos per person (+- US$ 8) - we paid it in Bogota airport and almost missed our flight because we had to pay it in pesos. You have to keep the receipt because they'll check it when arriving in San Andres, and also when arriving in Providencia if you go there.

To Providencia.

There are 2 ways to get to Providencia: by plane or by boat.

Satena Airways flies the only planes from San Andres to Providencia. In the low season, you should call ahead a day in advance, since the plane might be full if you just show up at the airport. In the high season, you should definitely make reservations, since there are not enough planes for the amount of people that want to go to Providencia - it's something hotel owners in Providencia complain about, but at the same time it keeps the amount of tourists low, which you might enjoy.

Tickets are 307,000 return (+- US$ 125). You can easily change the dates of the ticket without penalty - which also means you should remember to confirm your return flight to San Andres when you're in Providencia or the plane might be full that day. You can also reserve tickets online (recommended in the high season) at http://www.satena.com

Because the airplanes are small (about 20 people), baggage is limited to 10 kg per person. Extra weight is charged at 1000 pesos per kg, so be careful.

Boat.

An alternative way to Providencia from San Andres is by boat. We didn't take the boat but did the research anyway. It's not listed in the popular travel guides like Lonely Planet, so it's pretty much off the beaten track.

A few times a week (Wednesday and Friday at the moment but check) there's a cargo boat going to Providencia that takes passengers. You basically sleep outside on the boat on a mattress. Vomiting is quite possibly part of the trip.

The boat is called the Dona Olga. To arrange a trip, go to Maritime El Cove del Muelle, Av. Newball 2 - 40, which is a pier with boats on the east side of San Andres town. Just go inside and talk to the people there. The trip should cost 40,000 pesos per person (US$ 20), one way.

Getting around.

Getting around on both islands is easy - there are plenty of buses, taxis and motorbikes to take you where you need to go. Since life (and gasoline) isn't cheap on the islands, taxis are usually 10,000 pesos (US$ 4). Compared to a 6 dollar New York taxi that seems expensive, but you get used to it. When the taxi takes other people on the same trip, it's called a collectivo and it's 2500 per person. Taxis from the airports have fixed (but higher than regular trips) prices to anywhere on the islands.

You can also rent bicycles or motorcycles at various places on the island. Renting a motorcycle is a great way to get to know the island. There are some gas stations, filling up costs about US$ 4.

Places to stay & eat.

San Andres:

There are plenty of places to stay in San Andres town. They fall roughly in 3 categories: package tour hotels, where everything is included and that you can best reserve through a travel agent in advance, regular beach hotels, and some other hotels.

In the last category are Posada Dona Rosa (512 3649, Av Las Americas), one of the cheaper options at US$ 10 - 20 for a single/double and Hotel Mary May Inn (512 5669, Av. 20 de Julio No 3-74, kettlenan at yahoo.com), a friendly place with doubles at US$ 20.

Other hotels include Noblehouse Hotel (http://www.sanandresnoblehouse.com), Hotel Portobelo (http://www.portobelohotel.com), Hotel Tiuna (http://www.tiuna.com) and in the top package tour class Hotel Decameron (http://www.decameron.com).

We stayed in the Cocoplum Hotel (http://www.cocoplumhotel.com), in San Luis (just ask your taxi driver), which is a friendly, family kind of place.

Providencia:

The main beach where most hotels are is Bahia Aguadulce. 2 other beaches are Bahia Suroeste (just south of Aguadulce) and Bahia Manzanillo. In the low season, most hotels are pretty much empty, and you can do some bargaining, although not much.

The best place to stay on Bahia Suroeste (and perhaps on the island) is Cabanas Miss Mary (tel 514 8454). We paid 80,000 pesos (+- US$ 35) a night, breakfast included, for a double after some off-season bargaining. They have a restaurant, airco and very nice cabanas right on the beach.

On the same beach is the restaurant Divino Nino. Another place to stay up the road (not on the beach) is South West Bay Cabanas (US$ 15 per person for a suite, 514 8221).

At Bahia Aguadulce we staid at Hotel El Pirata Morgan (514 8067, http://www.hotelpiratamorgan.com ). They have rooms from 60,000 pesos on, but Bahia Suroeste is just plain more beautiful. There is a string of other hotels at Aguadulce, so you have plenty to choose from, you can just walk from one to the other, they're all next to each other.

On Bahia Manzanilla is the Roland Roots Bar, a very nice reggae bar (although often empty in the low season) that serves beer and food (Roland will make you the usual fried fish). Roland lives above his beach bar and rents out a room - if you love reggae you can rent it for 20,000 pesos per person (US$ 10) and I'm sure you can bargain if you stay longer. And he'll let you use the kitchen, so for rock-bottom budget living this is the place. The road to the bar from the main road is rough and cars won't go there - either take a motorbike or walk for 20 minutes.

Back at Aguadulce, there's a small supermarket underneath the Hotel El Pirata Morgan, and there are a few cheap eateries on this road. A fried fish meal is generally about 10 to 13,000 pesos (US$ 4 - 5). For more supplies you need to go to Santa Isabel, the main town on the island.

The best place to eat that we found is Cafe Studio, on the main road outside of Bahia Suroeste. It's run by a friendly Canadian woman and serves island food at island prices, and a few western favourites like cappuccino (2500 pesos) and spaghetti with homemade pesto (13000 pesos).

Another great place in the main town is Panaderia Seaflower. It's a small cafe/bakery, run by a Belgian guy called Jean-Claude. It's a nice place to hang out, you can have a coffee, they have a book exchange and sell light beach clothes imported from Bali, designed by the daughter of Jean Claude.

In Bahia Aguadulce, on the road, a place called Arts and Crafts (just walk north towards the main town, you can't miss it, it's got the words Arts and Crafts in huge letters over the building) is run by "El Frenchie", a French guy who moved to Providencia. He sells great popcicles (frenchie paletas) made of frozen local fruits (no sugar added), and a homemade wine made of tamarind or plumbs - probably the only one in the world. And arts and crafts, of course.

In 2005, a hurricane hit the islands and destroyed a lot of property. You don't really notice it when visiting, but the local businesses are still recuperating from that.

One of the great things about Providencia is that Big Tourism hasn't arrived (yet - November 2006). Most of the hotels are actually owned by islanders. Recent zoning laws say that only residents of the islands can own property on the islands, and that has stopped the influx of Colombians from the mainland buying up property.

However, this situation might change soon. In 2006, a number of the hotels have signed deals with some big chains to send more tourists in return for a percentage of the profits. Some see this as the first steps of the big hotel chains to take over the island and fill it with package tour tourism, which would be a shame. Hopefully the islanders and some of the rich, well-connected Colombians that own property on the island can stop this from happening.

By Peter (Moderator) on Dec 5, 2006, 05:41 in Travel tips.

gato-bandido says on Dec 5, 2006, 07:00:

Great guide Thank you for another great guide, Peter! But let me disagree on a couple of things about Providencia: first, I liked Aguadulce beach better than Suroeste, it's less crowded and cleaner, and also smaller, and the swimming is great. And the best places to eat are right on the Southwest beach: very simple, but the food is great. You can get a plate of a whole giant crab with patacones, rice, salad, cangrejo, etc., for just 35000 or 40000 pesos. For comparison, the Moroccan clowns in downtown Brussels will want 50 euros for one half of a tail of that same (or smaller) crab, with nothing else! And of course in Providencia it will be fresher, since they catch it right there on the same morning.

Santa Catalina is the third and smallest island of the archipielago, it's only 100 meters from Providencia, and you can walk across to it by the Lover's Bridge. After you cross, take the path to the left, all the way to a beautiful beach, with a cannon supposedly from the Morgan days. The island's population is only around 300 people.

A great day trip is by boat that leaves from Aguadulce and also loads people on Suroeste, and goes to Morgan's Head on Santa Catalina, and then on to Cayo Cangrejo (Crab Key), where snorkeling is awesome. That's the standard tour everyone takes, but you can also arrange a private tour, which will cost more, but that way you can see a lot more places.

Instead of a motorcycle you can rent a buggie type car for 80000 pesos per day, ask at the hotel for the phone number. There is also a national park by the airport where you can go on foot, preferably with a guide from the park service. Again, ask the hotel.

But overall, three or four days is plenty for Providencia, it's a small island, and there is only so much to see or do there.

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Miguel says on Dec 5, 2006, 09:30:

Great Report! Excellent photos!

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andresumana says on Dec 5, 2006, 20:11:

Great guide peter I lived in San Andres when i was a boy, so i know the island changed a lot and i didnt visted anymore.

If you can, try to put some pictures it will be more intresting (i love pictures lol!)

cheers

Andres

http://www.colombia4you.com

http://www.colombia4you.com

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oldbongo says on Dec 7, 2006, 12:20:

well.... after 30some years of visiting providence, some tings change up plenty, an som no change nuttin atall.
first time, only one or two pick-ups on the island, and travel was on foot or horse, and it was quiet. now every drug moneyed kid has a scooter or a land rover, and the "hospital" sees death and injury all the time. you can still go fishing with the locals and eat turtle. you can walk up cedar valley, past the 300 hundred year old english wall and stay in oldbongos old rasta house, and look out over old town....muy serene....but you gotta carry water.

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davidfmbca says on Dec 12, 2006, 14:50:

OK sounds great! Now, can anyone tell me how far is the Maryland Decameron from the Tiuna Hotel? I heard its only a few minutes walk. I wanna go to San Andres but not sure which place to stay. I hear they're close together.

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Theredson says on Dec 16, 2006, 17:10:

Brings back memories... I went to Providencia for the first time as a small child in the early 1970's.My father traveled there many times and was known as Mr.Sid by the islanders.It's amazing...that plate of food pictured is exactly like what I ate while there.Thank you Mrs.Robinson :)

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mistajohndoe says on Jan 27, 2007, 03:53:

Apartments for rent in San Andres Hi,
Does anyone know of furnished apartments for rent in San Andres? I plan to be there for about 3 weeks from Feb 1 to Feb 23.
Thanks.
Kevin

Kevin

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Theredson says on Mar 6, 2007, 04:02:

My dad wrote a book about Old Providence ! http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=24530

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JenniferS says on Mar 9, 2007, 10:47:

I just came from San Andres I just came back from a vacation at San Andres. My family and I stayed at the hotel San Luis for a week. It was honestly one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. To anyone looking for a hotel to stay at, I highly recommend this one. However, I was also very sad to realize that, to a lot of the workers there... their job at the hotel will be their career. I want to help somehow. I want to find a way to help give these people an education, I know there are brilliant minds waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves. I am a cegep science student about to go into university and I was wondering if there was some way I could teach in San Andres, either during the summer or during a year or something of the like. Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.

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alexander1997 says on Apr 7, 2007, 12:53:

Staying in Providencia/San Andres Me and my girlfriend will visit colombia during three weeks in August, this year. We will start in Bogota and stay there for around one week or so. Then the plan is to go up north to Providencia mainly, but also Cartagena. Going to Providencia, how much time should you spend there? is one week too much? Regarding accomodations, do we need to pre-book hotels or can that be arranged on place? and ultimately, Aguadulce or Surueste? both, perhaps... :-)

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Leeroy says on May 3, 2007, 15:01:

More on Providencia Hey y'all - my first post here. I thought I'd add my experiences of Providencia, I went there for semana santa this year (2007). I liked it so much, I'm planning another trip there with my gf in July... None of this is intended to take away from (or contradict) the original post, I'm just giving my take on it.

I love Providencia. Perfect weather, atmosphere so laid back it's horizontal, beautiful caribbean scenery, cheap beer, live acoustic music on a beach every night, clean beaches, warm sea... it's my kind of place.

All of this said, of course, it's not for everybody. There aren't any clubs, and the island is a little short on sushi bars and the like...

Plus, there is not a great deal to do except chill on beaches. Bring a book! The whole place is not big, I drove the circumference of it on a motorbike in 50 minutes, and I wasn't going fast. You can rent a bike for 40k-50k a day, by the way, or a jeep for 80-100. I would recommend it, the "taxis" aren't cheap!

Attached to Providencia by a footbridge is Santa Catalina, an even smaller island. All SC has is one footpath. It also has a small beach, and the "Bamboo Seafood Restaurant", run by "Orvil". Orvil is a good chap, and knows a lot about the island. His family rent a few rooms there, for around 40k a night.

All but two of the hotels on the island now have their bookings taken care of by Decameron. The website doesn't deal with Providencia bookings, so you have to go to a Decameron affiliated travel agent in person (or call, I suppose). Decameron charges the same amount for every hotel (which is strange, because some are clearly better than others). The deal is that they take care of the flights, transfer from the airport to the hotel, and offer breakfast only or all meals. 6 nights with all the above in low season costs 1'200.000 pesos.

We stayed in the Sol Caribe (a non-Decameron hotel) - and (as the website proudly boasts), the only place on the island with a swimming pool. The Sol Caribe is the biggest hotel of them all, but a massive 5* all-inclusive resort it is not. Nonetheless, for me and my father (who was just visiting Colombia) it was nice - right on the sea, clean rooms, taxis and motorbikes waiting just outside, in the "tourist area" and next to the beach.

The main "tourist area" is a bit quaint compared to other tourist areas I've been to in the world. It is really a collection of hotels and a couple of restaurants (oh, and a "supermarket").

Right next door to the Sol Caribe is the "Hotel Miss Elma" (Decameron)- this looked nice, and was actually on the beach (the Sol Caribe is on the sea, but not on the beach as such).

Across the road and a little bit up is the Cabanas Aguas Dulces (Decameron), this seemed to have the nicest rooms (and a cool restaurant and bar) - but it is a (shock!) 5 minute walk to the beach. This, for me, looked like the nicest place on the island.

I saw a couple of other hotels, but they didn't look as nice.

Away from the tourist area (bahia aguadulce) there is the bahia suroeste, another beach (which is longer). There are two hotels there:

The Sirius markets itself as a place where divers stay. Unlike most of the other hotels, it doesn't have a bar or restaurant or "places to hang out" exactly, it just does rooms and breakfast. Nonetheless, it looks very nice, and it is right on the beach.

Next door to that is the "Miss Mary". It looks a little more basic (from the outside, at least), but it has a restaurant/bar/hammocks, etc...

All of the hotels I have mentioned I liked the look of, there were others which I didn't rate so highly...

And, much as the original poster mentioned, "Rolandos bar" on the third beach is the coolest bar I have ever been to in my life. Seriously. The beach isn't bad either.

I will happily post photos of all the above if someone explains how!

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Leeroy says on Jun 10, 2007, 11:37:

Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/7424248 at N03/?saved=1

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mcaffa says on Oct 4, 2007, 17:33:

Hello!

Planning on spending our honeymoon in Providencia in March 2008. A couple of quick questions...

For a honeymoon, would it be better to stay at the Sol Caribe or at Cabañas Miss Mary? We're not looking for full-out luxury, but we don't want to "rough it" either. What we would like is something clean, comfortable, cheery and right on the beach.

Is seven days too long or just right for a stay there? We want to relax and beach-bum but we don't want to get too bored there either.

Since March is low season there (so I've read), will it be completely dead or will the island be the same as usual?

A stay in San Andres is in our budget. If I go to Providencia instead, will I end up spending less, more or about the same amount of money as if we were in San Andres?

Thanks in advance!!!

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lmonast says on Jan 31, 2008, 07:48:

Mid February my wife and I will stay 4 nights at Decameron Maryland. But we still have 7 vacation days ahead.
I would like to know if I should book a place in Providencia, or if it is ok to search for a place (hotel room or a house) as soon as we get there.
We are fluent in Spanish, but price is a major criteria.
Any suggestion? Thank you!

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PaisaTours.com says on Apr 15, 2008, 14:12:

Great write up. If you want to see photos of the hotels in Providencia, there's a few at http://www.paisatours.com/providencia.htm.

Just turning up and arranging a hotel would be fine if it's not peak tourism season.

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