Trip To Isla Providencia

[buencamino]

Just got back to Cali from a trip with my girlfriend to Isla Providencia. It was my fourth and her first. Providencia is a sister island to the very popular San Andres. The schedule was pretty good. Had to be at the Cali airport at 10 am (not the crack of dawn) for noon flight to San Andres which takes about an hour and a half then a two hour layover before the 4 pm flight to Providencia in a little Twin-engined Otter type plane that takes just under half an hour. I promised the novia we'd have time to walk around El Centro a while but it wasn' so because arriving two days into low season the airport was packed and it took forever to get through customs. We got into Providencia at 4:30pm and caught a cab for the short ride to Cabañas El Recreo. Our driver promised to pick us up for our return (and did). I like El Recreo because it has easy access to a strip of beach right in front. The food isn't so hot though so I get a package that includes only breakfast. Whenever there are tourist there is a tour in lancha that leaves at 10 am. You stop at the footbridge that connects Providencia with tiny Santa Catalina Island for photos and to see "downtown" then on to a rock islet that is in a marine reserve for a couple of hours of snorkling in shallow water. There's a little "bar" on the dock that sells great Coco Locos. Then on to one of the island's three beaches that has several restaurants. Standard fare is whole fried fish (caught that morning) and arroz con coco. That tour not including lunch costs $70.000 for two. The second day I spent time teaching my novia to swim with swim fins, mask and snorkle. Our last day I hired a guy with a lancha to take us to the best snorkling areas around the island ($200.000 for the day). They were all in water over my companion's head of course so for the first few hours she held on to a life saving ring but then she over came her fear of deep water and swam just fine un assisted. Two highlights were a four foot Nursing shark and a sea turtle. 
 
Other things you can do are rent a scooter or four wheeler to tour the single road that follows the shore around the island and climb El Pico. It's the island's highest peak and takes about seven hours up and down. From the summit you have a 360 view of the ocean and it's famous siete colores.
 
There are several restaurants within walking distance of the cabañas for lunch but the best place for dinner is Donde Martin. The owner is a gourmet chef from Bogota who moved to the island years ago and the meals reflect his expertise.
 
Providencia gets relatively few tourists and you can often find your self completely alone with your companion on one of it's white sand beaches.  Ours was a five day package but of course two of those are travel days.

[whitey]

Thanks for posting ... my wife and I would both like to get to Providencia one of these days.  She's been to San Andres a couple times, which sounds less appealing to me.

[Ricardo1]

Great post.  Thanks.  It's nice to know what destinations are possible outside of the typical choice.  I also thought of San Andres, but from what I read in your post, Providencia seems like the better choice. 

[Hector_Lavoe]

Nice report Buencamino. Sounds like a good time.

In a prior post you had mentioned you were thinking of retirement in Colombia. Have you narrowed your choices within Colombia to a few spots? or are still thinking it over?

Also, did you meet your current girlfriend on Colombian Cupid or some other way?
 
 

[buencamino]

Thanks Whitey and Ricardo and Hector yes I met my girl on Colombian Cupid. Also yes I have decided on Cali and at the moment I`m looking at fincas in the mountains to the west of Cali (Cordillera Ocidental). I'm checking out Kilometer 18, Pichinde, Felidia, La Paz, La Olga and Dapa. All of these are within about 45 minutes by car from Cali. Only thing is anything that has paved road going all the way to it is sky high but there are lots of great places with dirt road access. La Cumbre has a lot but it's too far. I'm looking for something with some land not just a small 3000 sq. meter lot.
 
Back to Providencia I forgot to mention that one of the most savory dishes at the reastaurant Donde Martin is Cangrejo Negro or Black Crab. It's terrestrial and lives in the mountains on the island only coming down to the sea to breed. When they do they cross certain points on the road that circles the island by the thousands and those sections are closed to traffic for a day or two to let them pass. I'm pretty sure it's unavailable on San Andres since that island has no mountains.

[jselva]

Sounds like a great place to take a lady for a romantic escape.

[V_Man]

That is very interesting. This was actually our first plan for our honeymoon but I went with another plan in the end.