San Andrés · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
A Caribbean island that is officially Colombia — cheap flights in, but everything on it is imported.
North End and the posadas
Hostels sit in the North End near Spratt Bight; posadas nativas in La Loma and San Luis are cheaper, more local and need the island bus.
What a day costs
About 110,000–190,000 pesos, roughly $27–47, plus the tourist card bought with the flight and an airport departure fee on the way out.
The island bus
A circular bus route rings the thirty-kilometre island for a few thousand pesos a ride; mopeds and golf carts cost far more and the road is a single loop.
Free by day
The public stretch of Spratt Bight, the Hoyo Soplador blowhole at the southern tip, and the walk out to the Rocky Cay sandbar cost nothing.
Spratt Bight boardwalk
The paved seafront in the North End is where everyone ends up at sunset — juice carts, reggaeton, dive touts and the cheapest beer on the island.