Travel
The home page was not kidding. We are a little difficult to get to which, no doubt, is part of the reason why the island is still relatively unspoiled. No matter where you are coming from you will have to make a connection in the island of San Andres to get here so I am going to start there.
San Andres to Providencia: English and Spanish are widely understood at the airport but Spanish predominates. If you are concerned about these connections at all just let us know and we will have someone meet you at the airport to facilitate the connection no charge. There is one airline (Satena) that serves the island and it has two flights a day at 8:30 A.M. and at 4:00 P.M. (up to 5 flights a day in the busy season) and the cost is about 290,000 pesos RT. The planes are small, carrying 19 passengers. If you get this far in your planning you need to know that you have a hard time buying tickets on this airline outside of Colombia so the easiest thing is to have us do it for you and you can pick up the tickets when you get to San Andres. Baggage: This airline has the most restrictions so if you meet these you are good for the trip. You are allowed one carry on of 12 lbs / 5 kg and checked baggage of 22 lbs/10 kg. The charge for overage is 1,000 pesos per lb (about $.40US) . Don't panic yet. They will take any amount of sport equipment for no charge so put all your dive gear in it's own carrier and let them know it is dive gear and you will be all set. The only hold up is you may not get it until the next day but don't worry we will let you use our gear till yours arrives.
From Colombia: Your best bet here is to contact a travel agent.
International: Via Bogata: Flights to San Andres originate in Colombia from Bogata on Satena, Aero Republica and Avianca airlines. Round trip from Bogata to San Andres generally cost about 570,000 pesos (04/2006). Satena can ticket you right through to Providencia and it is the cheapest way to go but they only have one flight a day from San Andres to Bogata at 6:30 P.M. arriving around 8:30 P.M. which may be a consideration In addition to your tickets you will pay for a tourist card ($8US) for the islands. When you leave Colombia you will pay $30US exit tax which can be paid in dollars or pesos.
Via Central America: On Copa airlines you can fly to San Andres from Panama or San Jose, Costa Rica. and you can fly from New York to San Andres in one day with a transit through Panama City. This is the most economical I have found. From Panama City round trip to San Andres for a stay of 2 weeks or less the cost is about $220US (04/2006) and from NY RT to San Andres it is about $525 US (04/2006).
From Canada there are charters from Toronto and Montreal RT to San Andres (Air Transat)all winter for about $900 Canadian.
From Europe the best bet seems to be to get a flight through Bogata and then on to San Andres and Providencia.
I will try to keep up on things as people visit so email me if you want to hear the latest that I know. By all means if you find a good route or deal please drop me a line and let me know! info@siriusdivecenter.com
Sirius Dive Center
Providencia Isla, Colombia
Southern Caribbean
0057-8-514-8213
0057-8-514-8808 (fax)
info@siriusdivecenter.com