Providencia, Colombia

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Right next to San Andres, Providencia is still incredibly unspoiled by tourism - a real tropical paradise island with a fascinating culture. It's not the cheapest or easiest to visit, but very interesting.

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Places to stay:

The Decamaron hotels (0 comments) Providencia, various places.
The large travel agent "Decameron" has now affiliated itself with 5 of the hotels (Miss Mary, Cabanas Aguas Dulces, Miss Elma, El Pirata Morgan and Relax). This means that rates are no longer negotiable, and that it is more reliable to arrange a stay with them at a Decameron affiliated travel agent in mainland Colombia beforehand. The hotels are still the same, however!

Posada Dona Rosa (0 comments) San Andres, Av Las Americas Tel: 512 3649
One of the cheaper options at US$ 10 - 20 for a single/double.

Roland Roots Bar (1 comments) Providencia, Bahia Manzanilla beach (it's the only place there)
A funky 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 (really) love reggae music 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.

Things to do:

Places to eat in Providencia

Apart from eating in the hotels, there are a a few interesting restaurants, often run by foreigners.

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.

Getting around & transportation:

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

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.

 

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Comments

beachcomber says on Jun 1, 2009, 10:43: http://www.providenciaespasion.com has lots of useful further advice about the island. 0 funny, 0 helpful.

Buongone says on Sep 29, 2009, 19:18: Nice info! 0 funny, 0 helpful.

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