Guida di Old Providencia, un mare dai sette colori

The history of Old Providencia and San Andrés is different from that of Colombia. In the 17th century, they were colonized by English Puritans who settled there with their slaves. This explains why their inhabitants maintain English as a common but unofficial language. For many years, pirates and buccaneers hunting for Spanish galleons loaded with gold that passed through those waters attacked the island. In 1793, England recognized Spain’s sovereignty over the archipelago and later in 1822, the islands joined the state then called Gran Colombia. 
Old Providence or Providencia is a mountainous island of volcanic origin, fringed by white beaches and dotted with tiny quiet villages. Its satellite island Santa Catalina is connected to the mother island by the Lover’s Bridge. Both are surrounded by a coral reef much more extensive than that of San Andrés, and by small and solitary beaches full of mysteries. The caves of the archipelago may still hide pirate treasure and are filled with stories and legends of buccaneers and maidens. The main beaches of Providencia are Aguadulce, Suroeste, and Manzanillo. Aguadulce Bay is the main beach, where small hotels, bungalows, cottages, and small restaurants offering dishes of very fresh and tasty fish and seafood are concentrated. At Aguadulce you can rent boats, scuba diving equipment, and enjoy snorkeling and diving. The beaches of Suroeste and Manzanillo, the most beautiful, are less frequented, covered with coconut palms, with warm and calm waters of incredible blue shades. At Santa Catalina you should visit the rocky cliff Morgan’s Head (the head of the famous Captain Morgan) and for divers, the underwater cave beneath it. The interior of Providencia is mountainous and lush, and there are many trails to climb to El Pico where you can admire the splendid panorama. To best enjoy all the islands and islets and to discover the most hidden beaches, it is necessary to rent a boat. You can also tour the  Cayos Cercanos. There are also the Cayos Lejanos such as Bolivar, Albunquerque, and the Three Brothers, three nearby rocks, the main one being Cayo Cangrejo, an extraordinarily beautiful place where, climbing the highest rock, you can admire the various islands. All the atolls are surrounded by abundant underwater fauna and beautiful coral bottoms. The 5000 inhabitants have a very strict urban plan and the island has not been disfigured by construction since the inhabitants have refused the building of villages or large hotels for eco-sustainable tourism.
No one can imagine the seabeds of these sites. Used as we are to hearing about other places in the world, it seems incredible, in an age when it is believed that all famous diving sites are known, to discover that here there are superb and unknown seabeds and that we are in the third largest coral reef in the world. When Colombians say “a sea of seven colors,” they do not exaggerate at all. There are sponges so large that a child can even enter inside, this in the sponge valley. In Blue Valley   at about 30 meters, a sheer wall suddenly opens with every type of gorgonia, and at about 80 meters depth, a cave with sharks. And for those seeking wrecks, there is also a sunken Spanish galleon. In 2000 UNESCO declared the archipelago of San Andrés, Old Providencia, and Santa Catalina as a new World Biosphere Reserve, called “SEAFLOWER”.   The protected archipelago includes three small inhabited islands, several cayos, coral banks, atolls, an insular area of 57 sq km, and a marine area of 300,000 sq km, which is roughly 10% of the Caribbean Sea.
Romantic Weddings: by presenting a passport, one can marry on the two main islands, before a notary, judge, or priest. Local agencies take care of everything, party, flowers, cake, side activities.
Festivals and Folklore: on the island of Providencia in the last week of June the Culture Festival takes place. The 20th of July, the 7th of August, the Green Moon Festival, and October 12 are also celebrated. Music is the inspiring muse of the islanders. The costumes and traditions of the islands incredibly reflect their European origins and at the same time the African-Caribbean influences. The traditions most strongly respected are culinary, dance, and music, as can be seen in the folkloric festival held in the last week of June and at other events during the year. The dancers, in traditional costumes, perform waltzes, quadrilles, schottisches or scotises, and mazurkas accompanied by violins, mandolins, guitars, accordions, and other typical instruments. The Caribbean influences in the music are felt with the Mento rhythms (acoustic music, a fusion between African and European song rhythms) from the Antilles, Trinidad’s calypso (which uses traditional metal drums made from recycled oil barrels), and Jamaican Reggae.
Horse races on the beach, on Saturdays
At Cayo Cangrejo, a small island in the center of the reserve, where you will arrive by a boat that will stop to allow everyone to swim and admire turtles and much more, don’t forget to eat the fish bowls, fish balls made by local women, divine. And equally the fantastic tropical fruit juices.
Curiosities: between May and June the migration of crabs occurs and they are so many that sometimes roads near the beaches are temporarily closed to guarantee their crossing.