Swimming with Manta Rays near Johnny Cay

All I have to say is wow!

Ballet Folklorico Decameron Mar Azul

Take me back to my San Andres: Sept 5-10, 2010

Touch down, we have arrived! After waiting for an hour on the tarmac in Quito due to bad weather, our flight was a relatively smooth 2 hours to San Andres Island. Arriving just after 8pm, unfortunately most of what we could see was darkness and lights. The process of leaving the plane and going through immigration brought back memories of arriving in Cancun for a stay at the Barcelo in Playa de Carmen, fortunately though, the lines were much smaller and things went relatively quickly. Ricardo got a kick out of the sign that said that immigration officers do not charge for entry into the island, a small reminder that we were still in South America and that anything goes. By the time we were in the last line-up, which was for our taxi, we had begun to peel off our layers of clothing. The ground had puddles from a recent rainfall but the air was humid and hot. Finally we were all set, we found our taxi driver who set the mood with some loud calypso music. It was great!

Driving through town I was immediately intrigued by the people sitting on their porches, talking and listening to music. The road took us through streets of small one story houses and areas of green forest. In about 10 minutes, we arrived at the entrance to our hotel.

We chose the De Cameron Mar Azul located in a protected area park, so we entered a small road surrounded by trees, mostly palm trees and mangroves. In reception you could tell the hotel was built in the 70s or 80s (?), it had a sort of a retro charm.When doing the all inclusive thing there are always pros and cons. It was not our first time as I had been in Playa de Carmen and Ricardo in Curacao. We both decided that the De Cameron was definitely a cheaper version of other companies. Here are the pros and cons, in order of importance:

Photo courtesy of Punta del Sol Viajes

Pros:

· Easy to escape! San Andres is small and therefore the moment you step out of the hotel you are on one of the main roads (a small two lane road!)

· Free access to the 4 other DeCameron restaurants and bars

· Restaurant on the water and Bar on the dock

· Mar Azul was very attractive with great views of Johnny Cay and the Aquarium

· Generally friendly staff (there are always exceptions)

· All hotel entertainment was outdoors on the beach or dock (music was fantastic)

· Bed (big and comfortable)

Cons:

· Loud activities when you just want to relax (aerobics and volleyball)

· Artificial juices

· Inconsistent quality of food

· The bright yellow wrist band!