Nice island, beautiful beach lots of aquatic sports to do; still the best part of the trip was been in family all together !!

In a well-planned program the family was able to finally agree to do a trip to an island which is a few hours flight from any country in Central America or South America. You can get to San Andres Island from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. We all decided to fly into San Andres form Cartagena a Coastal city of Colombia well known for its Spaniard architecture of which most having been declared world historical heritage.

The flight from Cartagena takes a bit more than a couple of hours; once on the island you'll immediately feel the warmth and breeze from the sea nearby. It is definitively a big difference from life in the city and the big opportunity sometimes one is looking for to get away from the hustle and bustle of those big towns.

For the planed 7 days we would all be spending at the island, there were plenty of activities to do. Most of them by enjoying the sea and sunny days, others by walking around the island and by night just browsing the local shops north of the island. The important thing is that we were always going together everywhere regardless of the inconveniences of transportation of such a large group …. we were able to manage.

The island is about 25 sq.kms. and most of the hotels and restaurants are located toward the east of the island. As families were arriving and before all moving together to a house rented on the beach some stayed at a hotel nearby. Food is typically seafood accompanied by fried “platanos”, onions, rice with coconut, tomatoes and local spices …… delicious.

As you can imagine all, children, youth and grownups, could not wait to change into the usual beach attires and just start spending time wandering around enjoying the scenery, wind, sun, sea and friendship of the people of the island.

So of the many possible activities, we started by getting trained in kitesurfing; got the equipment, took classes for a few days and then some were able to do it on their own …. others not even out of the water ….

Getting ready for the classes … some basic concepts

Ready with gear in place ….

Practicing in front of the main beach area …

One of the activities we all were able to enjoy the most was scuba diving; definitively quite an exciting activity, especially for those of us that have not done it ever before.

Attending the theoretical lesson from instructors and getting ready to dive into the pool for practice

Training classes with instructors; all class attendees signaling that they understand all theory and practice topics . …

Real scuba diving in the open sea ..plenty of little fish crossing right in front of our faces ….

At the beach, some were able to ride the jet-skis,

…. while others stayed relaxing under the tents enjoying the sun and sand on our faces…!!!

Some days there was almost no wind or very little at best; as such we went exploring the island by walking the area and just enjoying the scenery. Plenty of places where to eat and from which one can admire the immensity of the ocean.

In one of the “explorations“ we run into the time when there were some people feeding small stingrays; very small so they posed no threat. People were able to slightly touch them and if not careful the sting rays would suck on your fingers … just the awkward feeling.

…. and at night we would all go out for walks in town to enjoy some good food, slight breeze and window-nosing ..

For all in the family it was a great time; I think everybody forgot about the usual day to day dynamics and normal life one has. No school, work, runs to the bank, getting food from the store, drive the kids around, etc. etc. Have to start planning the next trip again. More family that could not make it, are pushing hard to get the planning stages ongoing; so we are all excited about the next one. Will see.

@indepthstory