In San Andres, a small Colombian island in an archipelago off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, counting blues in the famous “Sea of Seven Colors” is on every visitor’s to-do list. It’s a midday activity done along the way as you sail among the cays, or islets, that dot the eastern side of San Andres: low-lying (mostly) uninhabited patches that aren’t much more than coral topped by palm trees and surrounded by shoals of sand.
From my swinging perch, I counted six: a deep sapphire, a dark blue, streaks of teal, turquoise, and cerulean, and, in the distance, a swath of brilliant cyan against the edge of a tiny, palm-fringed island.
“See seven?” asked the boat captain.
When I told him my count, he laughed. “Six?” He said. “That means you can still relax a little more.”
San Andres isn’t on the radar of many U.S. travelers, but in Latin America, and especially among Colombians, it’s a sought-after honeymoon destination or long weekend retreat: a place in the middle of the ocean to disconnect from everything that weighs you down. on the mainland.
Connection with the story
The archipelago of San Andres and Providencia lies more than 400 miles north of mainland Colombia and closer to 100 miles east of Nicaragua, but thanks to a historical problem still being resolved, it is part of Colombia.
Kent Francis James, 73, was governor of the archipelago in the 1990s and advised the current local and national government on border issues with Nicaragua. But his passion, he said when I met him in San Andres, is helping tourists connect more deeply with the island’s history.
“We want you to come here not just to burn your skin, but to take home a better understanding of Caribbean history,” he said, as we sat on the balcony of his home and enjoyed the framed view of the water in the distance by bougainvillea and palm trees.
Mr. James scanned the horizon and pointed out the wrecks littering the island’s waters. “We were geographically on the route of the Spanish coming up the coast with gold, so this is where the pirates were on guard,” he explained, describing how travelers often underestimated the shallow waters surrounding the islands’ many islets and they ran aground, to the delight of pirates such as Welsh-born Sir Henry Morgan, who is believed to have used San Andres as a base of operations.
We were technically in Colombia, but Mr. James spoke in terse English—his very accent referencing the island’s history.
Although it is believed that the Dutch and Christopher Columbus landed on the archipelago, it was the English who settled San Andres around 1630. English was the first language of the island and is still spoken by the native islanders today.
Unlike most places in Latin America, San Andres has no trace of indigenous people on the island. It was apparently uninhabited when the Europeans arrived. And that’s why when locals refer to “native” islanders, they’re referring to the descendants of the original British settlers or, more frequently, the descendants of the once-enslaved Africans that those settlers brought with them.
This Afro-Caribbean ethnic group is called Raizal, a derivation of the Spanish word for “roots.”
Native Posadas
Cleotilde Henry, 75, is one of the island’s Raizal leaders. His family dates back to the African slave trade, he explained, as he arranged crispy slices of fried breadfruit and sweet coconut balls on the dining room table. He didn’t prepare the sweets just for me: he prepares them every day for the tourists who rent the rooms upstairs in his house through the island’s services. native lodgesor native inn program.
“I was born in this house,” she said, pointing to the yellowed family portraits in the small living room with wooden frames and crocheted tablecloths. “So when I thought about what I could do to make money in tourism, the only thing I had was this house.”
Today Mrs. Henry, who is also the president of the archipelago Posadas Nativas Associationrents 12 rooms, which you can find under the name “Cli’s place” on travel booking sites like Booking.com.
Throughout the archipelago, around 200 homes have been designated “posadas natas”, offering tourists the opportunity to stay with a local family – usually under the watchful eye of the matriarch – in their home and eat local Raizal foods.
It’s the local solution to a universal challenge: how to maintain a place’s unique identity when tourism begins to thrive. Less than 20 years ago, the Raizal population represented 57% of San Andres’ population, but each year that number declines, as mainland Colombians are attracted to the blue waters of island life.
A bikini and a golf cart
While the beaches of San Andres are not among the most beautiful in the world, the water just off the coast is, thanks to sunken coral reefs, and so many visitors forgo exploring the island’s interior in favor of getting wet .
Each bank is different from the next. Johnny Cay, which sits across the water from the more populated northern part of San Andres, looks like the dictionary entry for “desert island”: a clump of palm trees surrounded by white sand. Rocky Cay isn’t much more than the rock of the same name, with a beach bar and a rusty shipwreck poking out of the water next to it. You reach Haynes Cay by wading through waist-deep water, holding a rickety rope that connects the islet to a no-frills restaurant built on a sandbar. A typical day on vacation in San Andres involves wandering among the islets, stopping to snooze against palm trees or swim in the water around them, and, along the way, counting blues.
Like pirates of the past, today’s snorkelers and divers delight in the sunken ships that dot the waters, as they explore the underwater ecosystems created by those wrecks. In 2000, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization established the massive Sea Flower Biosphere Reservea vast marine protected area surrounding the islands.
“Here it’s like an underwater mountain range, and that’s why we have deep spots but also these sandbars and islets,” explained Jorge Sanchez, 68, a former diving instructor on the island who invited me one afternoon to his home to observe the topography and maps of the ocean floor in the area. Waving his hand over a map, he added: “The ocean species don’t know where the border between Colombia and Nicaragua is, so this is a great place to see all kinds of animals from different places.”
Even if you don’t like waves, San Andres is a wonderful setting to enjoy the seven shades of blue from afar. And the not-too-steep hills and fairly smooth roads mean that the breeziest and most fun way to do it is to rent a mule (pronounced moo-LAY), a small golf cart, the typical way visitors get around the island .
I had never driven a golf cart any significant distance, so when Mrs. Henry suggested I put on my bathing suit and take one around the island, I hesitated. But about an hour later, I was grinning like a madman, the ocean wind tousling my hair as I cruised down the coastal road at about 25 miles an hour, motorcycles whizzing by all around me. I crossed the islets, jumping into the water when she called out to me, heading towards the less populated southern end of the island. I stopped for lunch at Raizal restaurant Miss Janice Place for fried fish and coconut rice.
On the way home, I had planned to stop by Mr. James’ house, to tell him about my day. With no good cell signal on the island, the only way to do it was to pop over, so I headed towards his house, until my mule’s bangs became less frequent and I finally realized the engine had died . My trusty mule was sliding backwards down the hill. I hit the brakes, slowing the drift, but I couldn’t get the engine to turn over again. Luckily some workers witnessed the scene, suppressed their laughter and came to my rescue. They improvised a solution and transported the golf cart to the top of the hill using long cables. I told them I was visiting Mr. James, and one of the workmen turned and shouted over a wall of bushes, “Mister Kent! We found an American!”
Smiling, Mr James emerged from his property to greet me and, as I thanked my hero utility workers, explained that he wasn’t surprised to see me.
“Because a tourist can spend his days on the beach, fill his stomach with our food and our rum, and then go home and never come back,” he said. “But once you start telling locals about our history, you’ll always want to come back.”
If you go
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport has direct connections to Panama City, Panama and several cities in Colombia, and from San Andres you can take a flight to the nearby island of Providencia.
Once on the island, the best way to get around is by taxi, easily found in the center of San Andres or arranged in advance, or by mule, which can be rented for about 200,000 Colombian pesos, or about $51, per day.
Staying in a native posada, or locally owned inn, is the ultimate island immersion experience and will often be the most affordable accommodation option; expect to pay around 235,000 Colombian pesos per night with breakfast. Cli’s Place Posada Nativa, Posada native Licy AND Miss Trinie’s Native Posada are some of the most popular.
For a more exclusive experience, Decameron operates many hotels on the island, including the Islenian Decameron at Spratt Bight Beach, a centrally located all-inclusive option for around a million Colombian pesos a night. Casablanca Hotel offers rooms with views of Johnny Cay for around 1.1 million Colombian pesos per night. Short-term rental options are also available through Airbnb. Many are located within condominium complexes and have amenities such as swimming pools, doormen and gyms.
Niko’s seafood is a mid-range restaurant near downtown San Andres that serves freshly cooked seafood for around 50,000 Colombian pesos.
The Regatta is perhaps the most elegant restaurant in San Andres, specializing in seafood like ceviche for 75,000 Colombian pesos or grilled lobster with coconut rice (215,000 Colombian pesos) served on an overwater patio near downtown San Andres. Reservation required, request the patio.
Miss Janice Place at the southern end of San Andres in San Luis offers typical Raizal food for 40,000 Colombian pesos a hand accompanied by coconut rice and jars of natural fruit juice.
Namaste Beach Club San Andrés AND near Rocky Cay with chic lounge chairs and a menu that ranges from beach snacks like empanadas (about 30,000 Colombian pesos) to proper dinner like fried local fish (50,000 Colombian pesos).
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