San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina form an archipelago 775 km off the Colombian coast in the western Caribbean — closer to Nicaragua than to the mainland — and protect one of the most biologically important marine ecosystems on Earth. Declared a UNESCO Seaflower Biosphere Reserve in 2000, the archipelago covers roughly 180,000 km² of marine area, making it the third-largest marine protected area in the Americas.
Providencia is fringed by the third-largest barrier reef on the planet (approximately 32 km long), and the archipelago as a whole shelters 60+ coral species, 270+ reef fish species, and 4 species of sea turtles. Above the water, the islands are home to the Raizal people — an Afro-Caribbean Protestant community whose English-based Creole language and oral traditions are recognized as intangible cultural heritage.
This guide covers how to visit San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina in 2026: how to get there, what to see on each island, the best Seaflower dive and snorkel spots, Raizal cultural highlights, and the reconstruction of Providencia following Hurricane Iota in November 2020.
A little bit of Archipelago San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina history
San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina were occasionally inhabited by the Miskito Indians, an indigenous group of Central America, before colonial times. They came to have a state of their own under the protection of the British Empire.
The following settlers of the islands brought with them the Protestant religion, becoming a fundamental element of the communities. They also introduced new species of flora and fauna as well as slaves from Africa.
Spaniard Colonization
In 1510 the archipelago came into Spanish possession, but they did not establish any settlements, since the continental area was more important to the Spanish crown; back then San Andres was under the jurisdiction of the Royal Audience of Panama.
In 1544 the Spanish Crown decided to hand over the administration of the archipelago to the jurisdiction of the General Captaincy of Guatemala.
English Colonization
Only until 1629 and 1630 European and English colonists settled in Santa Catalina and Providencia. Captain Morgan (Henry Morgan), settled in the archipelago from 1670 to 1680, turning it into his base of operations.
Tomas O’Neill presented the request to the crown to assign the archipelago under the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada. The request was accepted and signed on November 20, 1803, and a royal decree was assigned and named the archipelago of San Andres.
In 1822 the archipelago became part of the province of Cartagena, but in 1912 San Andres and Providencia were separated from the department of Bolivar becoming an independent province of Colombia’s territory.
Colombia vs. Nicaragua
On May 5, 1930, Colombia and Nicaragua signed the Esguerra-Bárcenas treaty which established the sovereignty of Nicaragua over the Mosquito Coast and Colombia over the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina.
The archipelago became a free port during the government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in 1953, transforming the island into a commercial and touristic point.
After that time, in 1991, under the new constitution, the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina was declared as one of the 32 departments of Colombia.
Seaflower Biosphere Reserve
In 2000, UNESCO declared the archipelago a Biosphere Reserve calling it Seaflower. Know more about the biospheres reserves of Colombia in our entry Next Travel Ideas? Visit the Biosphere Reserves of Colombia.
The Raizal People
Today the islands are inhabited by the Raizal people. To avoid confusion with the denomination of “natives” given to the indigenous people, they are called “raizales” and are the product of the miscegenation between indigenous, Spanish, French, English, Dutch and Africans.
The British culture, which was the strongest colonizer of the Caribbean islands, is the predominant one in San Andres and among the Raizales.
However, the Raizal culture has its own cultural expressions: the Baptist religion, Creole language and its oral tradition that reflects the African roots of the majority of the population represented in the stories and tales for children.
The raizales of San Andres Colombia use English and Creole as their main language, although Spanish is becoming more and more common.
Seaflower Biosphere Reserve: Why the Archipelago Matters Globally
The Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, declared by UNESCO in 2000, protects approximately 180,000 km² of Caribbean Sea and is the most important coral reef system in the western Caribbean. Within it lies the Seaflower Marine Protected Area, covering about 65,000 km² and designated by Colombia in 2005.
The reserve safeguards 77% of Colombia’s total coral reef area and includes a mosaic of banks, cays, mangroves, seagrass meadows and open ocean. Providencia’s fringing reef — at roughly 32 km long — is recognized as the third-largest barrier reef on Earth after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the Mesoamerican Reef.
Marine Biodiversity in Numbers
Seaflower hosts at least 60 species of hard and soft corals, 270+ reef fish species, and all four Caribbean sea turtle species (hawksbill, green, loggerhead, leatherback) that nest on the beaches of Providencia and the cays. Parrotfish, grouper, barracuda, nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays and bottlenose dolphins are all routinely seen by divers and snorkelers.
Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park
Within Seaflower, Colombia’s only insular national park — Old Providence McBean Lagoon NNP — protects 995 hectares (of which ~905 ha are marine), including mangrove forests, Iron Wood Hill dry forest, and the Crab Cay snorkeling zone. The park was established in 1995 and charges a modest entry fee supporting conservation.
Hurricane Iota & Providencia’s Reconstruction (2020–2026)
On November 16, 2020, Hurricane Iota made landfall on Providencia as a Category 5 storm — the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the archipelago — damaging or destroying approximately 98% of infrastructure on the island. The Colombian government launched a major reconstruction program with new hurricane-resistant building codes.
By 2024–2026, the island’s core tourism infrastructure has been substantially rebuilt: hotels, the El Embrujo airport, main roads, and critical public buildings are operational, and Providencia is once again welcoming visitors. Some historic Raizal timber houses are still being restored under heritage-preservation guidelines. Travelers visiting today are part of the island’s economic recovery, and responsible tourism is strongly encouraged.
Where is the Archipelago San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina located?
The archipelago is located in the western Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic Ocean in Central America and is 775 km away from the Atlantic coast of Colombia. It is the only insular department.
The archipelago is made up of the islands of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina. Additionally, it is formed by cays and islets located on the volcanic platform to the west of the Antillean Sea.
About the weather, in the archipelago, you can enjoy a humid climate with temperatures between 25° and 31 ° C° (77° and 88° F°), and a high humidity between 82%.
How to get to the archipelago San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina?
The archipelago has 2 airports, one on the island of San Andres and the other one on the island of Providencia.
Bogota – San Andres island
Take a 1.5 hours flight from Bogotá, El Dorado International Airport (BOG) to Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport (ADZ) at San Andres Island.
A tourist card (Tarjeta de Turismo) is required to enter the archipelago and must be purchased at departure airports on the mainland; children under 7 are exempt. Check current fees with your airline before flying, as rates are periodically updated by the island government.
San Andres – Providencia and Santa Catalina
If you wish to visit the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina yous will take a 30-minutes flight from Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport (ADZ) at San Andres Island to El Embrujo Airport (PVA) in Providencia Island.
There is also the possibility of reaching the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina by taking a 4-hour trip in katamaran to Providence Island.
What to do in Archipelago San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina?
Firstly, the best time to visit the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina is during the dry season, in the months of April, May, November, and December.
San Andres island
To visit the places below on the island of San Andres you can rent a motorcycle and make the trip along a 15 km road that connects each one of these locations.
Sara Colmenares holds a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Ecology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in Botany from the same institution. Her doctoral research focused on palm ecology in the Atlantic Forest, supported by the Rufford Foundation conservation grant.
A published researcher in the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology and a member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), Sara has presented her work at international conferences across Latin America and beyond. She was awarded the COLCIENCIAS “Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda” fellowship, one of Colombia’s most competitive academic distinctions for young researchers.
Sara founded the Sula nature tourism brand in 2018, applying her scientific expertise to develop birding and wildlife experiences across Colombia’s six natural regions. Her fieldwork took her from the cloud forests of the Andes to the Amazon basin, the Pacific coast, and the plains of the Orinoquía. She combined deep ecological knowledge with firsthand experience to create content that is both scientifically accurate and practically useful for nature travelers.
She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the National University of Colombia, where she also taught plant ecophysiology. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English.