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If you're planning your route through Colombia correct now, and pondering whether San Andres isle is skillful for your budget and a worthwhile add-on to your itinerary, then this mail service will hopefully give you the answers and communication you're looking for.

On our starting time trip to Colombia, we simply couldn't afford San Andres. However, as that was office of a much longer adventure through Latin America, nosotros had plenty other things to occupy usa and give us that striking of vitamin bounding main.

Fast forwards a couple of years to our almost recent South America, and we were both really dandy to visit the Caribbean isle which is much closer to Nicaragua than Colombia. Later on finding cheap last-minute flights, we were fortunate to enough to spend v nights on the island in full (plus three on Providencia), and wanted to share some communication and tips to help y'all brand the decision and plan your own trip.

Hither are 13 essential things to know before you lot visit San Andres.

Information technology'southward Pretty Far From Colombia

480 miles in fact.

Due to its foundations being built on colonial power plays in the Caribbean, slavery, and a longstanding unresolved maritime dispute, things are a more than complicated for this fiddling island than you may necessarily think.

Colombia and Nicaragua accept been in disagreement about San Andres, and the waters which surround it, for well over a century. A 1928 treaty was eventually annulled and reneged upon in 1980, and Nicaragua has continued to protestation that the Caribbean waters should belong to them.

Tensions flared dramatically in 2012 following a ruling past the International Court of Justice. It determined that the three-island archipelago (composed of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina) would remain Colombian, merely that "well-nigh of the sea around it would get Nicaragua's economic zone".

This article by The Economist gives a good overview of the dispute and the ruling.

Colombia has steadfastly refused to accept the sentence nevertheless, which finer transferred over 75,000 square kilometres of resource-rich sea to Nicaragua, and the dispute continues.

And then, what does all this mean for your trip? Probably not very much - any confrontation is very very unlikely - but information technology does explain why an island much closer to Nicaragua and Central America, is in fact function of Colombia and South America!

How To Get To San Andres

Inexpensive and direct flights to San Andres depart daily from every major Colombian city, and for about travellers, are the only means of accessing the island. Flight time is 1h 48 mins from Medellin, 2h 20 mins from Bogota, 2h from Cali, and simply 1h 29 mins from Cartagena.

Airlines include Avianca, VivaAir, LAN, wingo, and Copa, and prices generally range from 100,000 COP (£23 GBP / $xxx USD) to 200,000 COP (£45 / $59) per person i-style - note that checked-in luggage is charged in improver. If yous fly on Fridays and weekends, or effectually the Christmas and Easter holidays (Colombians have these very seriously), look increased prices and need. If you really want to cut downwardly on price, and so consider leaving your main backpack at your hostel in the mainland!

Check flight prices and availability on Skyscanner, besides as on the airline websites for the total picture before booking. Travellers should have no issue booking and paying for flights on the airline websites with non-Colombian bank cards.

When we were planning our own trip, it became apparent that the budget airlines (specifically Wingo and Viva) are known to make a trivial extra greenbacks off of unorganised travellers, so it's super of import that if you cull to wing with them, you ensure yous check-in online, print out your boarding pass and really pay attention to your luggage allowance and weight.

Unfortunately, in that location seem to be no boats running from the Colombian mainland to San Andres, or from Nicaragua.

Lastly, proof of a return journey is mandatory for San Andres visitors. We and several others were called upward to the boarding desk to testify our return tickets (probably because they were booked with a different airline), and this is a mutual requirement.

For the avoidance of incertitude, yous will not be allowed to fly to San Andres unless you have a return flying booked and can testify this equally proof of divergence.

Tip | We flew from Bogota to San Andres with Avianca, so San Andres to Cartagena with Wingo. If you lot are planning on including San Andres in your Republic of colombia itinerary, then information technology'south a practiced idea to think about flying 1-mode from a urban center in the due south / middle (like Bogota, Medellin, or Cali) and then flying the return leg to a metropolis in the n (i.e Cartagena or Barranquilla). Doing information technology this way, or vice versa, volition relieve yous travel time and assist you lot to encompass more of Colombia at no extra cost.

You Have to Pay An Entry Tax

There's a not-Colombian visitor tax of 112,500 COP (£26 / $34) for San Andres, and it'due south only payable at your deviation airport; this fee is correct as of October 2019.

Before our trip, we were a piddling confused by the information available online as it seems like every airline and drome has a slightly different process or practice. Therefore, we wanted to share our own feel of paying the San Andres visitor tax in Bogota drome to brand things as clear as possible for y'all.

Once we had checked in with Avianca and passed security, nosotros made our way to the boarding gate. Everything was a trivial disorganised, but they made an annunciation about paying for tourists cards in Spanish (tarjeta de turismo), and we joined the newly formed queue on ane side of the two desks. The queue went down very slowly and, as nosotros got closer to the flying deviation time, people turning up who had missed the previous deadened announcements virtually the cards assumed that nosotros were all queuing to lath, and and so would skip ahead to the front of the line in a panic to ask where to pay the entry tax! Equally we inched to the front of the queue, this process repeated itself virtually a dozen times.

Anyway, we were able to pay for the visitor taxation without any issues by banking concern bill of fare and received a receipt and our two tourist cards. These have to be kept safety until y'all're back on the mainland, and they'll be checked when you get out the isle.

For your own trip, our communication is to inquire when checking-in to your flight well-nigh where and when you can buy the tourism carte, and hopefully you'll receive a definitive answer! We also highly recommend that you lot are carrying plenty pesos with you to pay in cash in instance the auto isn't available on that twenty-four hour period or at your departure desk or with your airline, and that y'all try to get to the boarding gate desk in practiced time.

Any happens, exercise Non get on that plane without having paid and received your San Andres tourist card!

Let the states know your own feel in the comments with paying the San Andres visitor tax.

Colombians Encarmine Beloved Information technology

For Colombians, San Andres offers a way to visit a vacation island in the Caribbean Sea via a relatively affordable flying and without any visa, money, or language concerns, because information technology's still Colombia (no matter what a Nicaraguan tells yous).

It's therefore understandable they they love it and it's incredibly pop all-inclusive holiday and long weekend break destination for them.

Tin you imagine if in that location was an island in the Mediterranean that Brits could go to without having to speak a strange linguistic communication, worry well-nigh visas (thanks Brexit) and eat egg, chips and cups of tea in the sunshine? Aye, San Andres is like that, only for Colombians.

You lot Can't Drink The Water

Unfortunately the tap water is not suitable for consumption on San Andres. We write this non as hyper-paranoid travellers who will never drink from the tap anywhere, but as people who accept travelled in Latin America for three years and have regularly used tap water as our chief water source.

Even so, in San Andres all the tap water comes from desalinisation stations or well reservoirs, and every bath and accommodation has signs up saying that it isn't condom to swallow. Locals don't do it, and neither should you.

Evidently, this is a real hurting every bit information technology means that everyone's consumption of unmarried-utilize plastic goes through the roof - which causes a bunch of additional problems on a small isle. To cutting down on unnecessary plastic every bit much as possible, nosotros recommend that you lot stock up on the really big bottles of drinking h2o from the supermarket and use these to make full up smaller bottles to accept out for the day.

Tip | All travellers should try to minimise their plastic usage and footprint. We travelled in South America with a travel filter h2o bottle which provided condom drinking water in 99% of locations, and it'southward i of the best means to cut down. This article has more advice and tips - how to travel with less plastic.

It Isn't Paradise Undiscovered, Sorry

On this little tropical island, there are wonderful beaches and secluded bays - of that nosotros are in no doubt. HOWEVER, many travellers go far thinking that this is going to be some sort of undiscovered rustic Caribbean island simply to discover....traffic, petrol fumes, lots of urban development, and a whole agglomeration of Colombian tourists with neon swimwear and selfie sticks.

This is where your experience of San Andres - the island - really depends upon you getting out of San Andres - the town on the island. Many travellers we've spoken to, and misinformed blogs we read before visiting, completely wrote off San Andres based on what they saw on that first afternoon between the airport and when they took the boat out to Providencia.

And we TOTALLY get that. If we hadn't taken a full twenty-four hours with a scooter to explore the rest of the island outside the surprisingly built-up, polluted, and congested centre, then nosotros would take left with the very aforementioned impressions.

But Information technology Still Has Great Beaches

That being said, there are most definitely still some neat traveller spots in San Andres where it does wait and feel like a little isle in the Caribbean - you just have to get out of the centre and find them!

Y'all can read more about our favourites beaches in this All-time Things To Exercise in San Andres guide.

Castilian > English

Due to its place in the history of British colonialism and the slave merchandise, the Raizal people of San Andres speak English language and / or San Andrés-Providencia Creole. This Afro-Caribbean indigenous group were long the majority on the San Andres Archipelago, and it's due to this grouping that many people arrive in San Andres thinking that English is widely spoken.

Even so, increased migration to and from the Colombian mainland is thought to accept changed this in the last decade - and our limited experience very much confirmed this. On the isle, we spoke Spanish primarily and it definitely felt like the dominant language. In Providencia, the neighbouring isle, we spoke English with almost everyone.

Given so many Colombian tourists make it in San Andres, it's not a surprise that it has become the lingua franca.

It Is More Expensive Than Mainland Colombia

If yous've come from south or central Colombia, so elements of San Andres will definitely feel pricey.

The basic seafood lunches we had out cost 25,000 - 30,000 COP and our private room was 190,000 COP night (£44 / $57) - very much at the thick finish of our budget. By comparing, excellent private doubles in hostels in the Coffee Triangle and Bogota were in the 70,000 - 95,000 COP range.

Withal, if y'all've come from the much more expensive northern Caribbean coastline of Colombia (i.e. Cartagena or Palomino) then its prices actually won't come as besides much of a shock.

And so, San Andres is more expensive than elsewhere in Colombia for some things - particularly accommodation - but is not an entirely unaffordable destination for travellers if you exercise it correct.

Due to this, nosotros'd strongly recommend budget backpackers have a good look at what their overall costs are likely going to be for a trip to San Andres & Providencia (including flights + the tourist entry card) before they finalise their itinerary - focussing particularly on accommodation costs. The expert news is that at that place are a few hostels in San Andres with fairly priced dorms and private rooms, they just sell out fast!

• Villa Sarie Bay | The cheapest online, with a dorm bed for 32,000 COP - check availability.

• Blue Almond Hostel | Dorms bachelor from l,000 COP - volume on Hostelworld or Booking.com.

• Republica | Dorms start at 45,000 - check availability.

For various other day-to-twenty-four hour period costs, like beers and groceries, San Andres is piffling more expensive than the mainland but non too much to be concerned about. Yous can absolutely still have a keen time here on a bit of a budget, simply make sure you become the big ticket items sorted and approaching for in advance.

Did Yous Know | San Andres is actually a duty costless zone, and that's another reason why Colombians love it. There are big shopping centres all over boondocks and many take the opportunity to stock up on booze and other appurtenances. We didn't actually find the prices to exist that inexpensive on sunglasses, watches, perfumes etc, only some things definitely accept to be a bargain given the amount of shopping we saw going on!

Nosotros've shared our personal recommendations on the best hostels and Airbnb apartments in San Andres here.

The Internet is pretty crappy

The internet is pretty bad across San Andres. Of form, on an island like this ane shouldn't be glued to their phone, just information technology's worth begetting in mind if you lot're a digital nomad or someone who requires a decent connection. At loftier usage periods, it tin can take 5 minutes or and so to open a new page (and that'due south when you can actually go a connection).

We found that if nosotros really, actually needed to use the internet (even we had a few days off), we were much meliorate giving upwardly on the painfully dull connection at our guest house and instead using the 3G on our phone with a local Claro SIM menu, which had a potent reception right across the island.

Should I Get to Providencia Too?

The biggest question for most travellers planning their trip to San Andres is, unfortunately, whether they should leave it straight away and get onward to Providencia.

As we mentioned earlier, nosotros retrieve that San Andres has earned a picayune bit of a bad reputation amongst South America backpackers. It is definitely not the island paradise which we institute on Providencia, just it'south still a really attainable island in the middle of the Caribbean with a few excellent beaches, several spots of perfect clear water, and sunshine.

And then, like we were, you may be faced with the dilemma of whether your travel budget tin can extend to visiting one or both of these islands. Indeed, you may be wandering if you should only come to San Andres in order to go straight to Providencia.

And so, to relieve you lot some of the trouble, we'll talk y'all through some of the conversations and research that you lot'll inevitably come beyond:

1. Providencia is then much improve than San Andres | Not entirely wrong, because Providencia is has so little tourism or development in comparison, and is but uniquely special. However, that specialness unfortunately means San Andres is given a difficult deal past virtue of an impossible comparison. Chocolate cake isn't as good every bit viscous toffee pudding, but give me chocolate cake when I desire a dessert and I'll still exist pretty damn happy.

   Will you prefer Providencia to San Andres? Very probable yes, but that doesn't hateful you won't similar just few days on San Andres!
   

2. Providencia is damn expensive to get to | We actually stretched our upkeep to go to Providencia for just 2 nights, and nosotros have absolutely no regrets in doing so. However, there's no doubt that those two nights were mode more expensive to secure due to the pricey send between the two islands - 378,000 COP (£86 / $110) per person for the gunkhole journey there and back - and every backpacker's budget only won't be able to stretch to include the Providencia flight or the boat. This supply/demand ratio helps to go on Providencia so special, therefore nosotros would never complain most information technology, simply the reality is that some budgets just won't be able to go far happen.

   And so, if you lot want a few nights affordable instead on a Caribbean island, San Andres will become the only (and best) selection.

At the stop of the day, the choice really is yours and yours alone. Either fashion, you are going to be able to make it to a lovely Colombian isle on your trip for a cheap, short flying - so there'due south zippo to be despondent almost either way!

If you are planning on visiting both San Andres and Providencia, and then read our Providencia guide (coming soon!) for inspiration and ideas, and our How To Go from San Andres to Providencia post (coming soon!) for full details on send options between the ii islands.

Anytime is The Best Fourth dimension to Visit San Andres

Rainy flavor is from June to November, but that unremarkably just entails a few hours of rain each day. Exterior of that, San Andres tends to receive pretty nifty atmospheric condition all year circular, with an average temperature 26 - 27 degrees celsius. Nosotros visited in February, during the Dec - May dry season, and had perfect weather throughout.

However, dry season also coincides with the busiest two holiday periods for Colombians (Christmas and early January, and and then Easter / Semana Santa), and so you may take to be a fiddling more flexible on your flying times and dates to get the cheaper fares.

Passenger vehicle, Motorbike…Golfcart?

San Andres is pretty small and, as we mentioned, to enjoy it fully you've really got to go out of the clogged centre and its prissy, but busy, beaches. This is really easy to do on your ain, as it's just a single ring road which goes around the island.

The nigh popular fashion to exercise this is with a rented golf game cart. These hold 4 or 6 people and some of them are like little pimped-out mini Batmobiles - they're really actually popular with Colombian couples and groups. Y'all can rent them all over the city centre from rental companies, with prices starting at 100,000 COP per mean solar day.

We opted to rent a scooter instead for 70,000 COP. Much more than fun - but check that you're covered past your travel insurance and know the risks before you head out.

Alternatively, there is a very regular public bus which circumnavigates the isle. It will bring you into and out of the town centre, plus directly to some of the best beaches in San Andres. Just hop on and hop off - but be aware that it tin can get really packed at sure times of day, and so if you want to get on at a pop beach, you may have to expect for a few to pass. Tickets cost 2,600 COP, and correct change is always preferable.

There are taxis in San Andres, and they're the all-time option for getting to / from the aerodrome. Even so, exercise behave in listen that they are more expensive than elsewhere in Colombia and any price should be discussed before you agree on the journey. From the airdrome to our guesthouse in Almendras, nosotros paid $fifteen,000 COP, which seems to be the standard price from the airport to most places in the town.

Read our guide to San Andres for more advice on renting, and for ideas on the all-time beaches to visit with your rented wheels.

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Source: https://www.alongdustyroads.com/posts/things-to-know-san-andres

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