Complete Guide To Visit San Andres Island (Colombia)
Article content
ToggleHow to get to San Andres Island?
Considerations before arriving
- There is a MANDATORY entry fee for anyone visiting San Andres Island. This form is given to you in the queue for the plane and must be paid there by card or cash and costs approximately €30.
- We’ll tell you more about it later, but to get around the island it’s advisable to use transport such as a motorbike or buggy, so we recommend that you carry an international driving licence. It’s not always required, but it’s a good option just in case.
- The airport is located in San Andres and you’ll almost 100% be staying there, so there’s no need to book a taxi on departure as it’s easy to walk there.
- If your trip to San Andres Island is like ours and is an impromptu one, check the weather. We consider that it is an island to be exploited if the weather is good, as it doesn’t offer much alternative when it rains or it is windy.
Where to stay in San Andrés Island?
As we mentioned in the previous section, your accommodation will almost certainly be located in San Andrés, as this is where most of the island’s tourism and activity is concentrated.
We are going to leave you with several options that we think are interesting for you to stay:
- Hostal Viajero Isla de San Andrés: If you want a more international atmosphere, with daily activities and located right in the centre of town, the Hostal Viajero is your place. It is a chain that is all over the country in the main cities and they take care of the details so that people can socialise and have a good time. They also organise a lot of outings with their clients, so it’s worth it.
- Hotel Bahía Sardina: For those looking for a more classic hotel with a restaurant, well-kept rooms and the comforts of a hotel, this is a very good option at a very reasonable price and located in front of the main beach of San Andrés, Spratt Bight.
- Villa San Miguel: If you like to have your own flat, this is the best value for money option we have found. Also located in Spratt Bight, these are fully equipped and very well kept flats.
Where to eat in San Andres Island?
As we spent 4 full days on San Andrés Island, we were able to try several places, so we’ll leave you here with some of the different options we liked:
- El Parqueadero: is located in downtown San Andrés and is a typical Colombian food place run by a very nice old lady. The dishes with drink cost about 10 € and we repeated 3 times during the days we were there.
- El Rey de las Arepas: If you want to eat something quick and cheap, we recommend this place. They are stuffed arepas of different types that were really good and cost us two 5€, so perfect value for money.
- Rocky Cay Restaurant: We don’t recommend it for the quality of the food or the speed of service, more for the location. It’s a beach club style where you have your table, they watch your belongings, you have parking and you can swim and go to Rocky Cay, a small cay on the island of San Andrés.
- El Peruano: This is one of the most recommended restaurants on the island. It is located in front of Spratt Bight and serves typical Colombian/Peruvian food, a bit of a mix. It is one of the most expensive restaurants you can find (about 20€ per head) but it was delicious and we liked it.
- Capitán Mandy: Another of the top restaurants in San Andrés. It’s a bit more seafood and more elaborate rice dishes. We also liked it and the price is similar to the Peruvian.
- Pizzeta Florio: Very good pizzeria run by two Italian exiles. We recommend it 100%.
What to do in San Andres Island?
We are going to distribute this section in several subsections, where we will explain the most recommended places on the island of San Andrés and those that are recommended and we would NOT go and the coolest activities you can do, as well as a map with the places that we will mention throughout the section.
Recommended places
As we have said, we are going to list the places recommended by everyone on the island and our opinion about them:
- Mirador Letras SAI: Good if there is a nice sunset.
- La Piscinita: Only worth it if there is low tide.
- Playa de San Sebastián: Recommended.
- Charquitos Beach: Recommended.
- Cocoplum Bay: The beach is good, but don’t go to Rocky Cay, it has nothing.
- Morgan Cave: Touristy, not recommended.
- Hoyo Soplador: Touristy, not recommended.
- Big Pond Lagoon: Touristy and dangerous depending on the time of day.
- Spratt Bight Beach: Recommended, it is the typical long beach on the boardwalk of San Andres with a very good atmosphere.
- Johnny Cay: The most famous cay of the island. It is quite crowded when you can go, but it is worth it for snorkelling and relaxing.
- El Acuario: Another cay. The surroundings are beautiful, the waters are crystal clear and you can see 5 colours in the water. The problem is that it is very crowded. We recommend you to go and swim away with your snorkelling goggles (bring your own if you have them) to be able to relax and swim without any problems.
- Mangroves: A tourist attraction, these are mangroves in the water where you can’t do too much.
Best sunset point
We are big fans of sunsets and, as you can see in the picture, we saw several spectacular ones in San Andrés. The best ones we could see are located in the south-west of the island, but you can stop anywhere in the west and you’ll see a marvellous sight if the weather is good. In the map below we show you what we consider to be the best spot to see the sunset on San Andres Island.
Activities in the island
We were able to try several of the typical activities/tours of the island, and we are going to give you our opinion on each of them:
Buggy tour around the island
We loved it. We were able to rent a buggy for the whole day and it was one of the activities we enjoyed the most. Basically, you can take this curious transport and have the freedom to go around the island (if you go fast, you can do it in an hour and a bit) and discover places at your own pace. It is highly recommended, but if you can’t fill up the transport it can be expensive. As there were 6 of us, we were able to pay the minimum per person because we filled up the transport.
We can recommend this place with very good reviews called Chema Scooters. We booked it with the hotel, so ask around to see if you can get a better price.
Moto tour around the island
After the buggy day, we decided to take 3 motorbikes to try the experience and we liked it even more. This island is a delight to drive around, especially on the west side of the island at sunset. We don’t understand the island of San Andres without a transport that gives you the freedom to go around the island and enjoy all its splendour. We would recommend the scooter before the buggy, much more economical and comfortable for everything.
To rent one you can contact the company we have listed above or ask at your hotel, it is the most typical transport on the island so you will surely have no problem.
Diving baptism
San Andres Island is a perfect place for a first diving experience. The reason is that it is VERY cheap (35€ 1 dive). We decided to do this experience in 2 different schools to be able to see two different seabeds and, to be honest, we would have done more:
- Sea Pride School : This is a school located on the west side of the island (like most dive schools on the island). We wouldn’t recommend it too much if it’s your first time, as we felt they were quite quick with the explanations and threw us in without much training. The seabed, we liked it well enough for a 10m experience.
- Hans Dive Shop: Much better. Recommended 100% for service, friendliness and attention. The seabed is even better than the first one, so we highly recommend it if it’s your first time.
We feel that if you are an experienced diver it is not as spectacular in terms of marine life, so we would not recommend it.
Cayo Acuario tour
This is one of the star activities on San Andrés Island. They usually sell day tours (5-6 hours) to visit cays and the mangrove area. You’ll see these tours in many places, but especially if you go to the port of San Andres. BE CAREFUL at this point, as we will tell you about the experience we had, which was quite a scam.
We arrived mid-morning at the port and they tried to sell us a tour that included going to Cayo Acuario, and going to 4 other places for 5-6 hours at a very reasonable price (about 15-20 per head). As we hadn’t asked about it, we accepted. They took us to Cayo Aquarium and, honestly, we had never seen so many tourists in such a small place in our lives. The excursion had been cancelled for two days due to wind and everybody was there as Johhny Cay was still closed. Once there, they let you stay there for two hours until your boat leaves. When we got back to the boat, they took us to see the mangroves for 2 minutes, explained what they were and then went back to port. When we arrived, the office was closed and we couldn’t make a claim.
Moraleja? Within the port there are tickets to Cayo Acuario for 2-3€ that go and return in 2 hours, so don’t be fooled.
As for Cayo Acuario , it is a beautiful place. Two cays with 5 different colours of water and perfect for relaxing snorkelling. The problem is the one we mentioned above, the overcrowding on the cay itself. It’s a pity that there is no control over the number of people that can go to the place every day. Also, if you want to rent booties and goggles, they give you used and quite worn equipment, so if you can, take your own.
Our recommendation is to check if the site has been open on previous days and if Johnny Cay is open to avoid the extreme overcrowding. If you do go, it’s best to take your goggles and swim away from the harbour, where you can be alone and see marine life.
Nightlife in San Andres island
The reality is that we didn’t expect too much nightlife on San Andres Island and it’s not bad at all. From a certain time in the evening on the Malecon you will find a lot of people dancing in the street with music and sitting on the beach with drinks. It’s the way they live there and it’s nice to see it and join in.
If you are more classic, you can go to the party area of San Andres, situated at the end of the Malecon. We’ll leave it for the map, but the best salsa, champeta and reggaeton discotheque is Coco Loco. In the surrounding area there are plenty of places to drink and dance, all with a good atmosphere.
Map of Places
Here is a list of the places mentioned above on a map.
San Andrés is a perfect island for 3-4 days of relaxation, beach and good atmosphere. As we said, we didn’t think it was the most beautiful place we had ever visited, but we loved the island for its relaxed atmosphere.
If you have any questions about your visit to San Andrés, don’t hesitate to let us know via social media or comments.
¿De cuánta utilidad te ha parecido este contenido?
¡Haz clic en una estrella para puntuarlo!
Promedio de puntuación 0 / 5. Recuento de votos: 0
Hasta ahora, ¡no hay votos!. Sé el primero en puntuar este contenido.