Providencia, Columbia

From San Andrès we took a three hour ferry to get to the less-touristy and smaller island of Providencia. The ferry crossing was pretty awful with more than a few passengers losing their lunch during the crossing... Whit included.

On Providencia we stayed at a beachfront homestay run by a fabulous Caribbean mother/daughter combo. It was a week of birthdays at our homestay and each was accompanied by a Caribbean-style party. We were kindly invited to both parties and enjoyed the traditional food (conche ceviche with tomato sauce and a huge boil-up soup over an open fire), music and dance, and island drinking style (numerous whiskey and rum shots). Our favourite quote was "there ain't no thieving here!" said with a thick Caribbean accent by the owner of our homestay when Whitney attempted to lock her bedroom door.

Our activities on the island included beach hopping on a scooter, kayaking to a small island off Providencia and snorkelling in its crystal clear water, and climbing the highest peak on the island to get a 360 degree view of the place.

The highlight of Providencia, and a clear top 5 favourite of our entire trip, was SCUBA diving with its local inhabitants, grey reef sharks! From the moment we started our dive we were surrounded by these majestic animals, some up to 2.5m long. At one point I counted eight circling us with some being less than a metre from me. While we knew we would see sharks whilst diving here, we found the experience unnerving especially when starting our dive. However, by the end of our dive, both Whit and I began to feel a degree of comfort despite their presence. An experience neither of us will soon forget!Read more