Providencia Island

Providencia Island

Isla de Providencia or Old Providence is a mountainous Caribbean island part of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, a department of Colombia, lying midway between Costa Rica and Jamaica. Providencia's maximum elevation is 360 m above sea level. The smaller Santa Catalina Island is connected by a 100 metre footbridge to its larger sister Providencia Island.

The island was the site of an English Puritan colony established in 1629 by the Providence Island Company, and was briefly taken by Spain in 1641. The infamous pirate Henry Morgan used Providencia as a base for raiding the Spanish empire, and rumours suggest that much of his treasure remains hidden on the island. Many parts of the island are named after Morgan. Forts and cannons dating back hundreds of years can be found scattered all over Santa Catalina Island.

The municipality of Providencia (which includes the smaller Santa Catalina Island lying to the north of Providencia Island, as well as several uninhabited cayes to the North and East) had a population of 5,011 at the 2007 official estimates, and receives just 15,000 visitors per year. The island is one of Colombia's top scuba diving destinations, with a 32 km long barrier reef protecting the Eastern coast of the island (see photo to the right).