What to expect of San Andres?

[drbill]

I'm a little familiar with the geography so I knew that. However they are close enough given where I'd be coming from! My understanding is that you can get from San Andres via Providencia... is that correct? They are about 100 mi (160 km) apart, right?

 

[meltedtime]

Good diving, none of it challenging. You won't see any large animal life, the reefs are way overfished. The occassional nurse shark is spotted, more often by snorkel tours than by divers. A lot of puffers, morays, rays, lobster, barracuda.

On rare occassions you'll catch a school of dolphins along the coast.

As far as accomodations go, I recommend The Maryland if you like peace and quiet and want to spend a little less. The Isleno was recently renovated, not a bad hotel and the Marazul is the 4* offering. The Delphino is also a good option, however, half the rooms face the street and can be a little noisy.

We've dove with Werner out of Karibik divers several times. Highly recommended. Scuba Dive with Werner Köster and Karibik Diver in the Beautiful Waters of San Andres Island

 

[raider11]

My wife and I are planning on going at the end of November too. Our LDS book Decameron, but don´t know which one, I´ll ask them.

It would be great to dive with some of you guys or at least have a couple of drinks after a good day underwater.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Does anybody have any good contacts for people that can give direction on travel arrangements to either Isla de San Andres or to Isla de Providencia? My internet searches do not seem to be returning anything much. I am looking to get info on flights to and from, hotel options and things to do on the islands.

 

[Jimmer]

We're staying at the Decameron Aquarium. Supposed to be a nice place for divers.

 

[Mkschmidt@comcast.net]

We are going 11/15 for a week. I am not sure where you are traveling from, however, we are flying from Panama City to San Andres. You may want to check with Copas airlines.

We are planning to dive with Werner based on others recommendations. If anyone else will be there at the same time perhaps we can do a dive together or meet up for drinks.

 

[tadeotadeo]

I'm a little familiar with the geography so I knew that. However they are close enough given where I'd be coming from! My understanding is that you can get from San Andres via Providencia... is that correct? They are about 100 mi (160 km) apart, right?

Hi Br Bill
Actually, You can get to Providence via San Andres Island......2 to 4 flights a day, only commercial boats travel to Providence. Although, I should have my charter catamaran from San Andre to Old Providence and some of the outer cays running in the near future.
Old Providence and Santa Catalina are about 55 miles north of San Andres Island.
Old Providence and Santa Catalina were connected at one time said to have a pass cut through them by the Pirate Morgan as legend have it. Now only a bridge connect the two islands.

 

[flatwood]

My husband and I are going 11/15/2008 for a week. We are planning to stay at the Aquarium. It sounds like a safe bet being that we have never been there before. We are also going to dive with Werner Koester. His shop is close to the Aquarium. I will let you know how it goes.[/QUOTE[How did you guys like San Andres? How was the diving and the hotel? Thanks.

 

[Jimmer]

Well I just got back this past weekend, and I have to say, I had a great time. The location of the Aquarium resort was pretty awesome, right on (or in) the water. The rooms were in separate "pods" so to speak, that had about 15 rooms in each pod, and were located virtually in the water. No beach on the resort, but I was there to dive anyway, not sit in the sand. There was a nice beach in easy walking distance if that was something a spouse would enjoy. The locals didn't speak great english overall, but they were generally very friendly. It's a safe place, we would go out walking the town at night on a regular basis with no issues. Overall the resort was nice, but not "5 star".

The diving was fantastic. I did 11 dives, saw a great assortment of marine life, some massive puffer fish, lots of stingrays, insane amounts of colour. My only other tropical comparison would be Cuba, and San Andres beats Cuba hand down. We saw a couple small nurse sharks, and some octopus'. Our dive leader told us that there was a chance of seeing blacktip reef sharks on the blue wall, and he brought a noise maker to try to attract them, but with a group of 9 divers, he didn't expect to have much luck, and we didn't.

Overall, I had a great time and I would definetly go back again.

Jim

 

[Mkschmidt@comcast.net]

I just returned from San Andres. We dived with Werner, a German that fell in love with San Andres and has a dive shop. We stayed at Lord Pierre. A nice hotel but if I was going to do it again, I would stay at one of the Decameron Hotels. The food was excellent! I recommend La Regatta and Niko restaurants. Unfortunately we only got 3 days of diving in because of bad weather (don't go in November). The diving was very nice. Great visibility, nice reefs and walls.