13 Wonderful Things To Do in San Andres, Colombia — ALONG DUSTY ROADS

tips for securing a boat tour in san andres

There’s an easy way and a cheapskate way to do any boat tour here:

· The easy way is to arrange it via your hostel or hotel the day before you want to go. As mentioned above, prices should be in the range of 35,000 COP for Johnny Cay (with the 15,000 ‘conservation’ tax in addition). If you want to do a multi-island boat tour from San Andres, then this will cost 50,000 – 70,000 COP depending on the number of islands visited, size of the group, and quality of the boat.

You can also find several highly-rated private options available to book online.

· The other option to simply turn up at Tonino’s Marina early, from where most of the boat tours and transfers leave each morning. There are several guys all along this road who are trying to drum up business for the various boat tour operators, and you can either feel them out or go into the port to speak directly to a company. Based on our experience, you need to take certain promises from these guys with a pinch of salt, but if you’re persistent you’ll likely manage to find a price that suits all parties.

· Boat tours tend to leave from 8.30am – 9.30am, whilst transfers can be found until lunchtime.

· Your lunch, snorkel equipment, and drinks are usually not included in any tour price.

· Expect to pay at least 10,000 COP for snorkel equipment, 10,000 COP for sea shoes and 10,000 COP for a locker.

· Both Johnny Cay and Haynes Cay have restaurants where you can get lunch. You will be asked whether you want to order in advance – it’s not essential, but if you don’t, factor in at least 45 minutes to get your food.

· Given that these are tiny Caribbean islands off of a tiny Caribbean island, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that food and booze costs more than on San Andres. Expect to pay around 45,000 for a seafood lunch, and 20,000 COP for a hit-or-miss cocktail on any of the day trip islands.

· Unless you plan on being lifted down off the boat by a strong partner and not moving (which would be silly), then at some point you will get wet. There are also no traditional docks or jetties, so you need to be able to lift yourself in and out of the vessel.

· It is not uncommon for boats to abandon people or forget to pick them up from the islands.

So, the main advice for any boat tour in San Andres is that you should scout about for a deal but take promises with a pinch of salt, bring more money than you think you’ll need, expect to get wet, expect…