San Andrés, Colombia tide times

San Andrés is a coral island 750 km northwest of the Colombian mainland, in the southwestern Caribbean. It is simultaneously one of Colombia's most popular tourist destinations, a UNESCO Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, a free-port commercial zone, and the cultural centre of an English-speaking Raizal community whose roots predate Colombian sovereignty. The tensions between those identities — conservation and commerce, mainland Colombian tourism and indigenous Raizal culture — are present in every aspect of the island.

The tidal regime is oceanic Caribbean microtidal: spring range 0.3 to 0.4 metres. This is the open western Caribbean, and the tidal signal is among the smallest in the Americas. Wind setup, Caribbean weather systems, and the meander of the Caribbean Current drive far larger short-term water-level changes than the astronomical tide. The tide prediction on this page describes a small background signal; for any on-water activity planning, the wind and weather forecast is the primary operational variable.

The Sea of Seven Colours is the island's signature visual. The reef flat on the west side of the island, between the shore and the outer reef crest, grades through named colour zones as depth changes over the carbonate sand bottom: from bright white in centimetre-depth shallows, through cyan, turquoise, and multiple shades of blue as depth increases to 5 m at the outer flat edge. The effect is most vivid from above — from the bluffs above Spratt Bight or from a boat at reef-flat level. Snorkelling the flat in 1 to 3 m of water is the standard activity; the coral heads scattered across the flat hold damselfish, parrotfish, and occasional sea turtle.

Providencia (Old Providence) island, two hours north by small aircraft or a 3-hour boat journey, is within the same Seaflower Biosphere Reserve and is dramatically less developed. The barrier reef surrounding Providencia is larger and more intact than the San Andrés reef, with a wall system that rival anything in the western Caribbean for coral cover and fish density. Divers who make the extra transit to Providencia find a fraction of the San Andrés visitor volume and reef quality that the main island's proximity to Colombian tourism cannot replicate.

Diving at San Andrés itself is on the outer reef wall on the east side of the island, in 10 to 40 m of water. The current along the wall runs south to north on the flood; the slack at the turn of tide (±45 min from Open-Meteo) is the standard guide for non-current dives. Several dive operators are based in the Spratt Bight hotel zone, and the range of sites — wall, coral garden, wreck — caters to all certification levels.

Snorkelling, kayaking, and glass-bottom boat tours on the west-side reef flat are the mainstream tourist activities and are accessible from the main Spratt Bight beach. The flat is calm on most days; the outer reef crest absorbs any Atlantic swell before it reaches the flat, leaving the inside almost always swimable. The sand bar at the northwest tip, accessible by wading at low water (the 0.3 to 0.4 m tidal drop is just enough to expose the bar at spring low), is a popular morning activity.

Families on San Andrés have the full range of Caribbean beach infrastructure: beach chairs, water sports rentals, food service, and a range of accommodation from budget hostels to resort hotels along the west coast. The island is small enough (11 km long) to circuit by motor scooter in an hour; the east coast, less developed and more Raizal in character, has a different atmosphere from the tourist Spratt Bight zone.

Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a global gridded ocean model. Accuracy is ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2 to 0.3 metres on height. DIMAR (Colombian Navy Maritime Directorate) publishes authoritative tidal tables for San Andrés.