The ocean, scuba diving, food, and hammocks. Those are the 4 things that come to mind when I think of Isla Fuerte.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting scuba diving destinations since I was young because my dad is a Scuba Instructor. One of those places is Isla Fuerte.
The ocean and the diving in Isla Fuerte are spectacular. The visibility underwater is almost always great. You can go on beautiful dives 5 minutes from the coast on a boat, you can dive a wreck, and even dive at a reef an hour away from the island in the open ocean.
From the time you place foot on Isla Fuerte you get pampered, especially with the food. The time of arrival is always right before lunch and the initial surprise at how good the food is never fades. In fact, what I know I will miss most every time I leave Isla Fuerte is the food.
And the hammocks. Oh the hours you spend in a hammock. The sun and scuba diving are tiring – and those are two things that you will surely find in Isla Fuerte. What better way to rest than in hammocks by the sea?
Isla Fuerte is a hidden paradise.
How to get to Isla Fuerte:
*Note: at the bottom of this post you can find a map to get familiar with where all the places I’ll mention are!
There are a few airports you can fly into to get to Isla Fuerte, but one route that’s the simplest – arriving in Monteria:
- Fly to Monteria’s Aeropuerto (Airport) los Garzones.
- From there, take a taxi to Paso Nuevo, a town on the coast of Cordoba close to San Bernardo del Viento. It usually costs $150,000 COP or about $50 dollars. People at the hostel you’re staying at on the island probably know some taxi drivers they trust. Make sure you ask them! The ride is beautiful, following the riverbed of the Sinu River and going through the landscapes that make Monteria and the region famous for its cattle.
- There’s only one way to get to Isla Fuerte from Paso Nuevo and that’s on a boat. Talk to the people at your lodging in Isla Fuerte and they will arrange to pick you up (they usually do that in the morning). You can find my hostel advice below!
Other places from which you can get to Paso Nuevo:
- Cartagena: fly into Cartagena and take a bus or a car for 4 to 5 hours to Paso Nuevo. If you’re going on a bus you’ll have to get off at Lorica and take a taxi to Paso Nuevo.
- Medellin: fly into Medellin and take a bus or a car for 10 to 12 hours to Paso Nuevo. If you’re going on a bus you’ll have to get off at Monteria or Lorica and take a taxi to Paso Nuevo.
- Barranquilla: fly into Barranquilla and take a bus or a car for 7 to 8 hours to Paso Nuevo. If you’re going on a bus you’ll have to get off at Lorica and take a taxi to Paso Nuevo.
Some things to know:
My hostel advice (totally non-sponsored, I just like them): The best hostal by far on the island is the Isla Fuerte Ecolodge. Being privileged in having a scuba instructor for a Dad, I’ve stayed at this hostel around 5 times and the experience has always been incredible. On an isolated island with no water source and only recently electricity, the hostel is big on sustainability. They invest heavily in Isla Fuerte’s natural environment and native community. On top of being great people, you just have a good time. You can dive, kayak, aqua-plane, there are beautiful walks, and the food is spectacular 100% of the time. You also leave Isla Fuerte having made a bunch of friends. It’s really a unique, joyful place.
Something to take into account, as comfortable as the hostel is, is that since there’s limited water and electricity there’s no air conditioning.
Read more at islafuerte.com
Taxi from Paso Nuevo to Monteria: about $150,000 COP or $50 dollars.
Parking in Paso Nuevo: before you get on the boat to Isla Fuerte, you can park in Paso Nuevo if you drove. When you get off the main highway to enter Paso Nuevo, go all the way until the paved road ends. There, take a left and on the first corner of the second block you’ll see a yellow house with a big patio to its right. Tell them you need to park and they’ll show you how to go about it. They have a huge parking lot behind the house.
Trash: all the trash on Isla Fuerte must eventually be taken to the mainland, but even on the coast trash is handled badly and will end up in the ocean. Take your trash as far inland as you´re going!
Water: be careful with how much water you use. Isla Fuerte does not have a natural source of water, so all their water is collected during the few rainy months they get on the Island.
The lighthouse of death: one of the hikes in Isla Fuete leads you to a lighthouse. Usually people dare each other to climb up it, but please don’t. When I was in Isla Fuerte recently, my plan was to climb it until a local showed us a rung that had rusted off the ladder all by itself and fallen to the ground. All the rungs are probably in the same condition. (If you’ve ever climbed up, I’d love to hear your experience in the comments though!)
What to do in Isla Fuerte:
- Go see the Bonga: this tree is gigantic. You have to go see it. You think the ocean is amazing? There are epic things on land too, like this tree!
- Swing on the Roots of the Walking Tree: this tree is an enormous Ficus whose canopy spans 70 meters. Roots grow from its branches, which hold the canopy up as it expands. Some of these roots haven’t reached the ground and are so strong that you can climb up them or swing on them.
- Morgan’s Cave: they say this cave got its name because the Pirate Morgan has a cave in San Andres, Providencia, Islas del Rosario, and everywhere really, so there had to be one in Isla Fuerte. You won’t find his treasure or his body, but there are bats and tiny frogs.
- Quibbes: one of my traditions is to stop in Cerete on the way to Paso Nuevo and eat quibbes, which are Arab empanadas. You can get them filled with curdled milk, eggplant, or meat. They may not sound that appealing but they are amazing.
- Scuba, kayak, paddle boarding, and aqua-plane: being on an island and not doing all these ocean activities is pretty much a sin. You can do all of these in Isla Fuerte. My favorite is the aqua-plane, which is like a plane underwater. You can maneuver it above and below the surface of the water and make it turn around like an airplane doing pirouettes as you hold onto it and a boat pulls you. Two people can hang on it while one drives. The challenge: who can hold on the longest?
- Go birdwatching: this tiny island has 83 species of birds to watch for days! Birds migrate to Isla Fuerte during winter, finding the perfect place to reproduce and making it a heavenly place if you’re a birdwatcher.
