San Andres, Island Paradise in Colombia! Under the Coconut three, we stay in Colombia or at least in San Andres! If you are not from Colombia, maybe this is the first time hearing about San Andres Island? It is a paradise about 150 km east of Nicaragua and fun fact 800 km northwest of Colombia.
The best way to reach San Andres Island is by flying in from Cartagena de Indias. One of many pretty stops during my 12 days travel with the Caribbean Coast Itinerary.
San Andres Island
Finding cheap tickets to San Andres Island can be done quickly from all over Colombia. Entering San Andres with the Entry Tax of around 99.000COP or 50 US dollars is the first expansive cost you will find. Then everything will be more expensive from that point and further on. Booking Accommodation in Advanced is recommended.
The Caribbean Paradise in Colombia
Welcome to the ultimate Caribbean spot in Colombia, the culture of the island is a mix of African descendants, and the majority prefer to speak English! San Andres has people from all over the world visiting. The Island is somewhat a crowded paradise. Because San Andres Island is Colombian territory, but in Nicaraguan water by this has a DUTY-FREE Zone. People from mainland Colombia come to do some severe shopping for her! Suddenly your favorite Gin is cheaper than a red wine bottle. What more would you like? Coco Loco (strong rum cocktails), sun, and crystal clear blue water! You got it, honey!
1. Beach & More at Rocky Cay of San Andres Island
San Andres Island is for all beach bums! Especially Argentinean girls in their ’20s getting their ultimate tan with the bitter mate in one hand and tanning oil in the other. They are all preparing for returning to Buenos Aires and be golden and divine babes. I admit this was also my golden plan. The City Beach of San Andres is clean and delivers everything from coco loco drinks to dreads braids, which is the ultimate look for San Andres. I preferred to grab my dessert for breakfast at Juan Valdes Cafe with cream and caramel souse!
Of course when you are tired of the City beach, hop on for a colectivo and jump of when you see beautiful Beach spot: Rocky Cay or Cayo Rocoso. Or for more inspiration about beaches in Colombia read this post about seven blissful beaches on the Caribbean coast.
2. Kitesurfing in Crystal Clear Blue Water
3. Visit the Famous Johnny Kay
If you have seen the picture-perfect pictures of Paradise, it is probably Johnny Kay! A small Island straight out from the City Beach of San Andres. Go on a day trip and explore this packed beauty queen of an island. Catch the boat from City Beach in the morning, and you will not be alone. Go before they close the island! Or go to Providencia and be alone on the beach.
Tropical Paradise of San Andres
If you are clever when entering the island, keep on walking to you disappear from the herd of People in Johnny Kay. Then enjoy some tremendous sunbathing under the Caribbean sun! Then prepare yourself for lining up for some insane lunch line. Or skip that and go and sleep under the palms, but beware of coconut that can fall on you, or would it be wrong to die in Paradise?
4. Watch Miss Colombia in San Andres Island
Don’t hit the fancy club, go to the local bar on the corner right in front of it. Go and grab yourself Aquila and politely get a plastic cheer and watch the most important thing that can happen in Colombia: Miss Colombia! After football, there is beauty in Colombia or is it the other way around? We were around two gringas, and 112 locals were waiting for the results in between drinking cold beer and talking about funny things in Spanish and sometimes English.
5. Go Shopping in San Andres Island
Being in a DUTY-FREE ZONE, you have to stock up some excellent conditioner and American sweets. Then for me a bottle of nice Gin for guilty pleasure. In San Andres, you can spot mainland Colombians stocking up their perfume use for the next five years or something.
6. Walk the Malecon
I love Malecon, the boardwalk. On the Malecon is where people meet from morning to evening. Walking there by the evening and seeing everything going on is a genuine experience of San Andres. I enjoyed buying a coconut cake from one of the women at the street vendors.
7. Discover Eden on Earth & Go to Providencia Island!
If you want to go off-grid and explore the undiscovered path, get on a mini plane or catamaran to Providencia. Welcome to Eden on Earth! Some of the best diving in the World! It is coming from a girl that has been diving in Galapagos Island, Belize, Cozumel, and more places. Providencia is indeed a place to be for diving enthusiasts for people loving the blue ocean’s seven colors.
Visiting San Andres Island Colombia as a Solo Female Traveler on a Budget
Visiting San Andres as a female traveling alone was hazel free, but being on a budget was more pain in the ass. San Andres is not a cheap place to live, and neither is going out for dinner. Of course, there are affordable street options, but sometimes you get tired of eating that as well. The fruit will not be cheap, but you can eat Bom Bom and drink cheap rum. Enjoy some of the world’s clearest waters, coloring the sea with seven blue shades due to many reefs at the shore. Go diving and snorkeling that will be worth any penny!
All in all, I had a great time in San Andres or the fact that I was homeless for three hours that was a bit stressing, do book in advance! The Airport taxies were bullshit! Walk or walk to you to find a motor-taxi!
Stay at a Posada in San Andres
Stay at Bernard’s Place
I decided to stay with Bernard after I escaped the first place I visited. The first place I visited was picture perfect on the beach, and there were no locks either windows in the room. I’m decidedly not picky, but that was my limit for safety. I was alone at the place, maybe if there were other people sleeping in the same room would have felt safer. Even do the lovely lady offer me to have her dog as protection.
Anyway, hitchhiking along the road I did meet a friendly motor taxi, he and I went hunting around the island for a place to stay, in the end, I ended up at Bernards Place, which is perfectly fine. It does not have a sea view, it is very close to the beach, and I felt very safe, and Bernard was a fun, charming man with love for every traveler and his wife and daughters. He was a perfect description of happy island men. Sometimes it is not the facilities of the location, but the people on the site that makes your stay more special. If you want here is Bernard Place.
Booking.com
4 Comments
Hi Pauline!
The tourist card price now is 122,500 COP. Hope it helps!
it looks wonderful, i hope to go soon
Jeg trengt ikke noe mer, men så er jeg en havefrue. Jeg selv elsker også å utforske, men da gjerne under vatn! Elsker å dykke!
Altså, med de strendene og det vannet, trenger man noe mer? Jeg kunne lett tilbragt en dag eller tre der, selv om jeg egentlig er mer utforskingsperson enn strandperson.