CAPURGANA (Carribean Coast). On the Boarder with Panama. 70 482Km

For some reason there are a lot of public holidays in Medellin at this time of year and so we decided it was a good time to get out and explore some of the country a bit further a field. One of the first places on the list was Capurgana. A small town on the north coast near the boarder of Panama, it is renowned for beautiful warm water and great diving. So off we went.

There are several ways to get to Capurgana but given there are no roads to the place most of those journeys end in a boat ride. We elected to take the shortest route with the least time in the boat but it is possible to fly direct or to take a bus to Turbo and then a 3hr boat across the sea. So one Thursday we took a taxi 5min down the road to the local airport and flew out from Medellin.

After around 50min in the air we arrived at Acandi. This town was not far from Capurgana but had more frequent and cheaper flights than flying in directly. Now we knew we going to be leaving the city and heading to rural Colombia but maybe not quite expecting this rural.

This is the international terminal and control tower....

Once we cleared baggage control (that is we got them off the little tuk tuk that runs between the plane and building) we met this guy (and a few others) who organised the local horse and cart transport to the boat or into town.

So with a bunch of other tourists (mostly local) we headed off down the road into town.

And eventually found a boat

Not our actual boat but it looks similar

Finally arriving in Capurgana around 3hrs after we left home. The temperature difference was immediately apparent after getting off the plane and it didn't really change as we got closer to the ocean. The air and water temperature here are both around 30 degrees.

The town is a popular local destination but most foreigners seem to pass though here only to go to Panama rather than for the town or diving itself. Having gone on a long weekend and being warned about the loud parties on the ocean front, we organised a spot at a little eco hostel a 10 min walk from the pier into the jungle. One of the best things about staying away from the ocean front was having to walk through town which we probably wouldn't have needed to otherwise.

The range of options here is mostly limited to hiking, diving, and taking day trips in the boats to other areas around the coast. We specifically came for the diving and so for the first 2 days we spent time on and off the boat getting into the beautifully warm water. In between dives though we explored the restaurants and the little beach of the town. We also experienced some off the local night life both on the beach front and deeper into town where 2 clubs essentially blast their music out the door at each other. Well that is when the power doesn't suddenly cut out.

On our last day we decided to go a hike to one of the other towns. There are a few options both north and south but we headed north from Capurgana over a small hill till we came across Sapzurro. An equally rural town but possibly slightly less visited than its neighbour.

Once we reached Sapzurro we new Panama was just over the next hill and thought we came this far, why not go to Panama. From the edge of town the police checkpoint for the boarder was 278 steps up another hill, where they thankfully let us past with just a photocopy of our passports, and then down 245 steps to the sleepy town of La Miel.

The thing we hadn't thought of though was that this was the Sunday of long weekend and it wasn't so sleepy. The gorgeous beach was swamped with locals drinking up a storm in the shacks set up along the beach. Whilst a few had walked over like we had, the majority had taken a boat all the way from Capurgana or a boat to Sapzurro and then walked over the hill past the check point so they could get the photo to prove it.

Like this one.....

We stayed at the beach for a little while and ate some lunch but despite how pretty it was, it felt a little bit ruined by the large numbers of people smashing out the beers all day and we headed back home.