Leaving Mainland Colombia for the Caribbean Islands
San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina form a small archipelago in the Caribbean, around 800km off Colombia’s north coast. The islands are actually geographically closer to Nicaragua (approximately 200km away). After a night in Cartagena, JJ and I flew to San Andrés for some laid-back island time.
DAY 15 – SATURDAY
We arrived in San Andrés in the morning and caught a taxi straight to our apartment. We chose to stay close to the airport as we were flying to Providencia early the next day. The apartment was clean, spacious and air-conditioned with WiFi and cable TV. As well as being close to the airport, it was within walking distance of Main Beach and a supermarket – perfect!
After meeting our host (who lives next door) and grocery shopping, we headed out to explore the local area. San Andrés is densely populated and well set up for tourism, so it was relaxing to stay in a quiet residential street rather than in a busy hotel complex.
JJ and I ate all meals in our apartment with some basic sandwich and pasta making supplies. It was a pretty chill day…..well apart from the stove’s gas canister running out when we were halfway through making dinner. We couldn’t get ahold of our host to replace the canister, so we ended up microwaving pasta in small batches. Not a cooking method I’d recommend or want to repeat LOL.
DAYS 16 – 18, SUNDAY – TUESDAY
Our Sunday morning started with a speed walk to the airport due to our taxi not turning up. I’m not sure whether our host forgot to book the taxi as promised, or if the driver just slept in. Luckily we were only a 15-minute walk away and didn’t have heavy luggage!
While San Andrés is accessible by air from multiple Colombian cities, Providencia is a little trickier to get to. You either fly with
In contrast to San Andrés with its beach-front high rises and new building sites, Providencia maintains a more unspoilt feel. Construction is strictly controlled in Providencia and as a result, there are no skyscrapers or grand resorts. Beaches remain palm tree-lined with only small, local seafood restaurants.
JJ and I arrived in Providencia on the Sunday morning flight and got a taxi (10 minute ride) straight to Hotel Deep Blue.
Hotel Deep Blue is a 12-roomed boutique property set against tropical rainforest overlooking the Caribbean sea. The hotel was the ideal romantic hideaway for the last few days of our holiday in Colombia.
We ate most of our meals at the hotel restaurant as the menu was delicious and diverse (the ceviche was amazing). Breakfast was included in our room rate – fresh fruit, coffee and eggs cooked to order. The view of Crab Cay was pretty special too.
Ocean Paradise dive shop is around the corner from Hotel Deep Blue and I couldn’t miss an opportunity to scuba on the world’s third-largest coral reef. The hotel reception arranged everything, then the dive instructors came to pick us up on motorbikes. The dive equipment was new and the instructors were super friendly and professional. We dove at Santa Catalina Wall where there were loads of reef sharks and colourful fish.
Another fun activity you can do on 17km² Providencia, is cruise around the island in a golf buggy. We hired a ‘Kawasaki Mule’ from Deep Blue on a couple of occasions to go exploring. Our favourite spot was Southwest Bay and one evening we decided to have dinner there instead of at our hotel. A seafood platter and 2 beers cost us less than AUD40 – it was SO good.
Providencia was every bit the island paradise I’d imagined, low key and pristinely beautiful. I was incredibly sad to leave.
DAY 19 – WEDNESDAY
It was time to catch the early plane back to San Andrés and then a connecting flight to Cartegena. Read the post all about our time in this pretty colonial town here.
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beautiful place, thank you for creating this article
Have you been Zidane? Or are you planning an exciting holiday to Providencia….
Wow, how gorgeous! I had never heard of either city, and Providencia is definitely on my list now. Thanks for sharing your itinerary, and stunning photos. Did you explore San Andres much as well? Are the photos at the bottom of your post (looks like of a town square and a cannon) in San Andres or Providencia? It looks like the kind of place I’d love to explore!
San Andres is very touristy, so we stuck to our local beach and public garden as we didn’t have much time there. The photos at the bottom of the post are of Cartagena as mentioned above.
This place looks stunning. For us, Colombia is an exotic country given our geographic location. We have no direct flight to S. American continent. It needs at least 2/3 switchovers and loads of money. Someday, maybe!
Nowhere is easy for us to visit either Arv, we live in Sydney. The only places within 5-hours of flying are New Zealand and Micronesia. Colombia was worth the long trip!
I’ve never heard of Providencia, but it’s so beautiful. The way you describe it, it seems like it would be about my speed. I love that there are no high rises. The blues of the water are incredible too. How was diving with the reef sharks? Where they pretty calm and non confrontational? What a great place to end your trip.
Diving with the reef sharks was great, they’re curious and come quite close but definitely weren’t confrontational.
I have never been to Providencia, but it sounds like the perfect Caribbean island! I especially love that they restrict high rise buildings and resorts. It would be fun touring around the island in a golf buggy. When we can travel again, I will have to look into this island.
A trip to Providencia would be a great post-lockdown treat 🙂
Did you feel safe exploring Providencia? Headed to Deep Blue in May!
Absolutely Paige, there’s nothing and no one to fear on Providencia. Enjoy, it’s a beautiful place!
Ok, Providencia has just sky rocketed to the top of my bucket list! It looks SO beautiful and I love uncovering the hidden “pearls” that are a bit harder to get to and less well-known to mainstream tourists. The pictures were gorgeous and the Hotel Deep Blue looks divine!
It’s paradise Laura and so worth the extra time/flight to travel there. Supposedly Providencia is how all of the Caribbean islands were before mass tourism took over.