San Andrés and Providencia

These islands sit far out in the Caribbean, hundreds of kilometres from mainland Colombia, and their culture reflects it: the Raizal people speak an English-based creole alongside Spanish, the churches are Baptist, and the food is coconut, crab and rondón stew rather than anything from Bogotá. San Andrés is the busier island, ringed by a road you can circle in an afternoon, with the famous stretch of water off its east coast that locals call the sea of seven colours for the bands of blue and green over sand, seagrass and reef. Providencia, an hour further by small plane, is quieter, greener and mountainous, with Crab Cay, a long wooden bridge to Santa Catalina and a barrier reef that is among the largest in the Americas.

History

Spain claimed the archipelago in 1510 and placed it under the Captaincy General of Guatemala in 1544, but hardly settled it. English Puritans of the Providence Island Company arrived in 1630 and set up plantations worked by enslaved people, until Spanish and Portuguese forces took the colony in May 1641; the buccaneer Henry Morgan held the islands from 1670 as a base against Panama, and after the buccaneers left in 1672 there is no record of anyone living there for about a century. In 1803 the islands passed to the Viceroyalty of New Granada and were run from Cartagena, in 1818 the French corsair Louis-Michel Aury took Old Providence and Santa Catalina, and in 1822 the islanders joined Gran Colombia of their own accord; Colombia set up a local administration there in 1912 (Wikipedia, San Andrés and Providencia).

What's there

• The sea of seven colours - the banded blues off San Andrés, best from Rocky Cay or a boat.
• Johnny Cay and Haynes Cay - small islets off San Andrés, reached by launch.
• Providencia's Crab Cay - a snorkelling islet in improbably clear water.
• Rondón and Raizal cooking - coconut, crab and cassava stew, the islands' signature dish.

When to go

December to April is driest and calmest. The hurricane season runs roughly June to November; Providencia was severely damaged by a hurricane in 2020 and rebuilding has taken years, so check current conditions and accommodation before booking.

Things to know

San Andrés is duty-free and heavily developed, and the main town is a shopping strip rather than a tropical idyll; the quieter side is south and east. Providencia is much lovelier and much harder to reach, with a small plane and limited seats. Prices are high because almost everything is flown or shipped in.

Nearby

Cartagena and the mainland Caribbean coast are a flight away.