Caribbean Islands Map
NOVEMBER 2016 - JUNE 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: For the Central American leg of my GRANDPAcking world trip I targeted several Caribbean Islands off the coast from Belize down to Colombia. I was searching for that ‘idyllic’ GRANDPAcking Standard retirement location. I visited several isands: Ambergris Caye, Belize Caye Caulker, Belize Utila, Honduras Roatan, Honduras Big Corn, Nicaragua Little Corn, Nicaragua Isla Bastimentos, Panama Bocas Del Toro, Panama San Andres, Colombia Providencia, Colombia One of the main attractions of these islands is that they all have an historical link back to the British Empire and, therefore, […]

Coastal Caribbean Islands – Central America – ...

JUNE 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at the time of writing was US$1 = C$2,900 (Colombian Peso / COP). To keep things simple, I use C$3k = US$1. I stayed in El Centro, San Andres Island a couple of weeks earlier. I stayed 3 nights in the Posada Nativa Tristan Centro. I paid C$72k / US$26 per night for a large Double room with Cable TV (2 English Speaking channels) and an annex that had a dining table and a small fridge. I made a mistake. The hostel was too far from the beach, it […]

San Andres – Colombia – Information

JUNE 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at the time of writing was US$1 = C$2,900 (Colombian Peso / COP). I came from El Centro, San Andres Island. I stayed 3 nights in the Posada Nativa Tristan Centro. I paid C$72k / US$26 per night for a large Double room with Cable TV (2 English Speaking channels) and an annex that had a dining table and a small fridge. I made a mistake. The hostel was too far from the beach and the area had no nice restaurants nor bars. … It was time to […]

Providencia – Colombia – Information

JUNE 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,900 (Colombian Peso / COP). I came from Rodadero near Santa Marta on the Caribbean Coast of the Colombian mainland.I stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment for 5 nights at US$32 / night … Rodadero was a pleasant surprise. The beach was good and there were plenty of budget restaurants where you could get a reasonable meal for as little as C$10k / US$3.35 (but, C$15k / US$5 was more ‘normal’). And, you find cafe-marts overlooking the beach […]

San Andres – Colombia – A Beginner’s ...

MAY 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,900 (Colombian Peso / COP). Previously, I stayed a total of 3 nights in Riohacha. I stayed in an hostel 1 block from the beach (the Mi Cassona). I paid C$60k / US$20 per night for a small Double Room with cold-water Private Bathroom and Cable TV. The price excluded Breakfast. Riohacha is a drab, non-touristy town. It has a beach but no-one seems to really use it. Riohacha is really just a ‘transit point’ for adventurous, young […]

Rodadero – Colombia – Information

MAY 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,898 (Colombian Peso / COP). I stayed a total of 3 nights in Palomino. I stayed in a hostel about 800 metres from the beach (the Hostel El Bohio) for US$21 / night including Breakfast. In Palomino you can do lots of beach time. You can hang around in the bars and restaurants around main street. Or, you can take a tour. … It was time to move on to Riohacha (the last bastion of civilisation on Colombia’s […]

Riohacha – Colombia – Information

MAY 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,898 (Colombian Peso / COP). I stayed a total of 8 nights in Taganga. I stayed in a hostel on the beach (the Hostel Dumbira) for US$14 / night and paid an extra US$2 / night for Breakfast. A total of US$16 / C$43,500 per night. In Taganga you can do lots of beach time. You can hang on the beachfront road. You can take trips into Tayrona National Park.You can take the 10 minutes trip into Santa […]

Palomino – Colombia – Information

MAY 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,819 (Colombian Peso / COP). I stayed a total of 5 nights at the Hotel Stil in Cartagena. I stayed in a Double Room for US$22.75 / night. The price included a very good Buffet Breakfast. It was an average sized room with a Double Bed, wardrobe, fridge, and TV (Spanish speaking channels only). The in-room wifi was ‘variable’ during the day but OK early morning and at night. It was time to move on to Taganga. GETTING THERE: We decided to […]

Taganga – Colombia – Information

MAY 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = C$2,819 (Colombian Peso / COP). I stayed a total of 8 nights at the Hotel Veracruz in Panama City, Panama. I stayed in a Double Room for US$21.60 / night. It was a large room with 2 Double Beds and 1 Single Bed (which made the room small to walk around in). In Panama City, I took the opportunity to clear out my suitcase of rubbish and to replenish some worn out clothes. There are lots of Shopping Malls in […]

Cartagena – Colombia – Information

APRIL 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = P$1 (Panama Balboa). Panama uses US$s and only uses Balboa as coins for small change. I stayed a total of 2.5 weeks in Boquete, Panama. I stayed at the Hostal Suenos del Rio on the riverside … … in a Double Room with Cable TV, Hot Water Shower, and Shared Kitchen for US$25 / night. Boquete was a bit of a surprise for me – it was much nicer than I was expecting – with a nice crowd […]

Las Lajas – Panama – Information

APRIL 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = P$1 (Panama Balboa). Panama uses US$s and only uses Balboa as coins for small change. I stayed a total of 3 weeks in Isla Bastimentos and Bocas Town, Isla Colon. Throughout Latin America, hotel costs can go crazy in Easter / Holy Week / Santa Semana … with some hotels tripling their prices. So, I decided to leave Bocas Town and get back to the mainland to take refuge in Changuinola for a few nights (before moving on to […]

Boquete – Panama – Information

MARCH 2018: Why not read our Retirement Reviews. OVERVIEW: PLEASE NOTE: The official exchange rate at time of writing was US$1 = P$1 (Panama Balboa). Panama uses US$s and only uses Balboa as coins for small change. I made my way from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to Isla Bastimentos, Panama by Shuttle Bus(es) and Boat(s). On Isla Bastimentos, I booked a GRANDPAcking Double Room for 4 nights at US$31 / night (Bubba’s House). The room was expensive, basic and ‘tired’. The shared kitchen was small and almost unusable. I needed to get my costs down and find somewhere with a […]

Bocas Town – Panama – Information