{"id":4980,"date":"2018-11-05T22:10:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T22:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/?p=4980"},"modified":"2020-06-20T16:53:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-20T16:53:11","slug":"reisebericht-san-andres-providencia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/en\/travel-report-san-andres-providencia\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel report SAN ANDRES & PROVIDENCIA - Colombia's paradisiacal Caribbean islands far from South America"},"content":{"rendered":"

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San Andres and Providencia is an archipelago in the Caribbean with around 90,000 inhabitants. The territory consists of the islands of San Andres, Providencia and the very sparsely populated Santa Catalina.<\/p>\n

The archipelago belongs politically to Colombia and is located approximately 820 kilometers from the Colombian coast, but only around 185 kilometers from the mainland of Nicaragua in Central America.<\/p>\n

The island of Providencia is becoming increasingly popular with diving tourists due to its almost untouched nature and a unique underwater world with numerous coral reefs.<\/p>\n

The main island of the archipelago is San Andres with the capital of the same name. Around 80,000 residents live on San Andres, most of whom are Colombians and make a living primarily from year-round tourism.<\/p>\n

The land area of San Andres consists largely of forests of coconut palms and some sandy beaches. The island is flat throughout, with only relatively small elevations of up to 55 meters.<\/p>\n

The most important sights of San Andres include the almost five kilometer long Playa de Spratt - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, the adventure bay "West View", the botanical garden, the beach of San Luis, the Baptist Church, the Johnny Cay - Beach, the Island Museum, the Aquarium Beach with its numerous colorful fish, the Cannon Square, Bahia del Cove, the Old Point National Park, the Casino, the Ecology Park, the Cultural Center and the Spitting Hole.<\/p>\n

In July 2017 I visited the Caribbean island of San Andres for the only time so far. From Panama City, with their local airline \u201cCopa Airlines\u201d, I flew to the island, which was about two hours away. There are also additional daily flights from the Colombian mainland to San Andres.<\/p>\n

The island of San Andres is actually a dream in terms of landscape, with lots of nice local people and some impressive sandy beaches. However, I didn't expect such mass tourism there.<\/p>\n

Despite the many tourists that populated the island in the summer, it was still great fun to walk around the entire island. This feeling of the Caribbean, with the constantly blowing light wind, was unique.<\/p>\n

After I had crossed almost the entire island all day, I made myself comfortable on the beach promenade in the evening. The many restaurants directly on the white beach, separated only by a 10-meter-wide sidewalk, offered delicious international dishes and Colombian specialties. Among them was the shrimp cocktail, for just the equivalent of 2 euros, probably the best I have ever eaten in the world.<\/p>\n

Because of the large number of people walking past, it was always somehow exciting and interesting. I could actually have sat there for hours every day.<\/p>\n

San Andres is a slightly different Caribbean island, but because of its unique atmosphere and relatively low prices, it is an absolute insider tip and always worth a trip.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, after two days I went back to Panama, followed by a long journey to Alaska.<\/p>\n\n