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A full moon paints a
brilliant, if indistinct, white flag on the surface of the ocean as seen
from below. But the remarkable beams of moonlight penetrating the gentle
waves are not powerful enough to illuminate anything in the profound
blackness15 meters down. Each of the three divers on this nighttime
excursion off the coast of Isla San Andres, consequently, is carrying a
little piece of daylight in the form of a bulky halogen lantern.
When a lantern catches a crustacean, its eyes sparkle like campfire
sparks. Lobsters and crabs are actually easier to see at night. In the
daytime they blend well with their surroundings, but when divers light
up the nighttime reef, reflective crustacean eyes betray their
camouflage.
One of the divers catches an octopus in the light of her lamp. The
creature is immense, its head the size of a soccer ball. It must be
puzzled by its sudden appearance center-stage-spotlights and all-on what
should be a dark night. The octopus does not try to get away, but merely
rests on a ball of brain coral, undulating and cycling through shades of
blue, brown and red.
During the safety stop at the end of the dive, the dive master turns
off his lantern, and signals the others to do likewise. Then he beats
his hands furiously in the water, stirring up microscopic,
bioluminescent animals in the water that light up the immediate
surroundings like a field of stars.
Nighttime diving under a full moon on San Andres is unforgettable,
but the underwater world is equally spectacular during the day. The
locals are fond of saying that the water comes in seven shades of blue,
but on the approach to San Andres' international airport, arriving
tourists would swear they could count more. The Colombian province of
San Andres and Providencia boasts more than 50 commonly used dive sites
in its 1,930 square miles of shallow reefs, including wrecks, caves,
tunnels, multilevel dives and favorite night dive spots. Water
temperatures hover at 88 degrees Fahrenheit and divers frequently go
without wetsuits.
Giant purple sea fans wave with the gentle ebb and flow of the sea.
Feather bush hydroids give the impression of a grassy meadow as they
softly sway, caressing the dense coral growths in their midst. Stag
horns weave in and out of the tight spaces between brains and fingers,
pencils and pillars. Schools of small fish in all of the colors of the
rainbow swim skillfully through the branches of immense corals.
Diving is a well-developed sport on San Andres (the decompression
chamber is allegedly the newest and best-maintained piece of equipment
at the hospital), and visiting divers have a range of companies to
choose from to hire a guide. Many of the companies are even found on the
web:
Buzos
del Caribe,
Divers
Dream,
Karibik
Diver,
San Andres Divers
and
Sharky Dive Shop.
This Caribbean paradise lies just 120 miles off the coast of
Nicaragua, but it is actually Colombian territory (much to Nicaragua's
chagrin). And despite the troubles on mainland Colombia, this
archipelago is peaceful and secure. Flights from Costa Rica and Panama
City, as well as the major Colombian cities and Havana, Cuba, offer
frequent service to the island.
Interestingly, very few U.S. travelers come to San Andres despite its
Caribbean location. The foreigners who come here are mostly Central
Americans and Europeans. If you do hear somebody speaking English, it's
a good bet that that person is a Canadian, or perhaps a local (although
the English Creole spoken here comes with a very distinctive accent,
mon). Surely the lack of direct flights from the US has something to do
with the scarcity of Americans.
In addition, perhaps the idea of a holiday in Colombia just seems too
risky. Even the most intrepid of European travelers approach Colombia
with a touch of hesitation. Frequently, the most honest assessment of a
place comes out in conversation among a group of divers trading stories
on a boat en route to the dive site or returning to the land. Two Finns
encountered on one such occasion were talking about a trip they had
taken to Sipadan, the Malaysian island made famous by Jacques Cousteau.
Of course, that launched a brief discussion of the April 2000
kidnapping of a group of divers by the Abu Sayyaf. Surprisingly, this
pair of Finns was among the unlucky group of divers sequestered by the
Filipino terrorist group.
"That was my first dive trip out of Europe," said Risto
Vahanen. "And we were held for 120 days. This is the second time I
have left Europe, and this time I didn't even tell my friends I was
coming to Colombia. They would have thought I was crazy."
Colombia certainly has its share of problems to give a visitor pause.
Kidnappings are commonplace, and the civil war is raging anew in the
countryside. San Andres is a different world, however, untouched by the
violence in the rest of the country. The biggest civil action going on
while this article was being researched was a strike by garbage
collectors, and the town center still looked clean by the standards of
most Central American cities.
San Andres used to be a famous duty-free shopping center for
Colombians and Central Americans. Shops selling cameras, stereos,
liquor, brand-name watches and sunglasses still line the main roads, but
shopping these days is more of a sideshow than the actual focus of the
economy.
Now, other kinds of tourism have taken precedence. Obviously, many
visitors come for the diving, but San Andres is also Colombia's answer
to Ft. Lauderdale. It's where young people from the mainland go on
excursions, giving it a definite Spring Break atmosphere. Nightlife
abounds. Discos rock. Young women wearing traditional island cornrow
braids preen and parade around in bikinis by day and hipster jeans and
stretchy tank tops by night. Fun is in the air.
On the beach, boat taxis wait for customers who want to spend time on
the outlying cays. The most developed of these is Johnny Cay, where
visitors come to sunbathe and show off their bodies, sip on Coco Locos,
picnic and play in the waves. Nearby Haynes Cay also offers fresh
ceviche and seafood lunches, tropical drinks and beach umbrellas.
On dry land, the taxis are almost all late-model Chevy Caprices, the
terrestrial equivalent of a dilapidated 40' cruiser. These giant-sized
vehicles are all the more outrageous because San Andres is a small
island. The coastal road around the island is only about 20 miles long.
By car it only takes about an hour to make the complete circle (actually
oval) while enjoying ocean views the whole way.
The other sizeable island in this archipelago is Providencia, which
lies about 55 miles northeast of San Andres. Just like San Andres,
Providencia has more than its fair share of unrivalled dive spots. In
other ways, however, the two islands couldn't be more different. While
San Andres hosts about 100,000 residents, Providencia supports only
about 6,000 people. Providencia is much older than San Andres, and is of
volcanic origin, but San Andres is a coral island. And although Creole
English is the native language in both places, it is predominant on
Providencia as that island has far fewer residents newly arrived from
Colombia.
The locals in Providencia are friendly and smiling, and things seem to move
in slow motion out there. The energy on this island is very laid-back.
Tourists shouldn't expect world-class service, just endless aquatic
beauty and a definite opportunity to relax.
It's easy to rent a car and drive around the island (a complete
circuit is about 13 miles) or take a tour by lancha (small boat). On
every menu crab is on offer, but it is not the ocean crab most of us are
used to. Here they serve land crab, which are the large black beasts
seen in abundance all over the island. They burrow deep holes in the
sand leaving networks of underground passages everywhere.
Beach hotels and cabins dot the coastline, and come in a range of
options. Even the fanciest isn't prohibitively expensive, but fancy is a
relative term. The only establishment that has a swimming pool is the
Sol Caribe (of the Meliá chain). The hotel itself is very nice, but
customers are likely to wait for a while for the bartender to make an
appearance at the swim-up bar. And when he does appear, odds are good
that he won't have the ingredients to make half of the drinks on the
menu. With a little humor, however, (and a preference for rum drinks) a
sojourn in Providencia is far from a hardship.
English pirate Henry Morgan planned his successful sacking of Panama
City from here, and local legend has it that the old captain's treasure
is still hidden somewhere on the island. Legends aside, Providencia has
a treasure that is hidden only by a few meters of deep blue sea.
The main reason that people visit Providencia is for the incredible
diving. There are more than 30 dive sites in the vicinity with something
appropriate for every level of diver. It is not uncommon to see rays and
sharks, mostly black tip and nurse sharks. Gigantic crabs huddle in
grottos and fat green morays hide under layers of corals.
Each day, a handful of tourists bask in the sun and others tour
around on a small boat. Since there are not many people around, visitors
recognize each other in passing and begin to create friendships. The
majority meet on dive boats. There are two professional operations on
Providencia Island, Scuba Old Town and Sonny Dive Shop. Each operation
has high quality equipment for rent and qualified guides. Diving
certification courses are also offered. Unlike many other dive spots in
the world, the dive companies on Providencia don't seem to have agreed
among themselves what their services are worth. Prices can vary
significantly and it pays to check beforehand with both companies.
Little is going on around the island after dark. If you are lucky
enough to be there during a full moon night, by all means head for the
beach party at Manchineel Beach. Otherwise, just take a quiet stroll
around. If you are near any populated areas, you are sure to hear the
loud SLAP of domino tiles. The locals are very enthusiastic about their
domino games, and although it may sound strange, this makes a great
spectator sport after a big day of diving. There is something a little
surreal about standing in the steamy evening, under the glare of a
street lamp, watching sweating Caribbean men smacking small ivory tiles
onto a rickety card table. Surreal, but quintessentially Providencia.
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