The beauty of Playa Blanca cannot be overstated. It stares you right in face with a piercing gaze. This is a tropical paradise as seen on the old Bounty adverts. And in order to fully appreciate its beauty, you need to spend the night on the beach. You need to do this because at midday every day boatloads of people arrive; families with screaming kids, doting couples, pushy sunglass-sellers, the elderly… it’s like a human zoo.
But by four o’clock all of the day trippers have jumped back on the boats and suddenly you can stroll the white sands in peace. The place is transformed! (Well, ahem, some of the doting couples still remain… and have been joined by a few bands of dreadlocked travellers, but it’s still much more tranquil).
To find accommodation you just walk the beach from where the boat drops you off. I noticed a strong correlation in that the further you walk, the cheaper things get. So if you can stand the hot sun, brave the baking sand, and shake off the beach-sellers for about 20 minutes, it’ll be worth your while. Don’t be ashamed to take a break along the way and have a drink, this isn’t a race after all. Here’s a picture of the ‘free meal’ we got as part of our boat ride. Personally I’m not a fan of fish, but the rice was good, as was the fried plantain, something I really took a shine to in South America.
After assuring several cabana and beach hut owners that we would definitely be back to stay at their properties, we arrived at a great little restaurant with thatched beach huts overhead. Each hut had a rickety wooden ladder leading to a small balcony, and inside was a simple room with a bed and mosquito net. All you need, and for 30,000 COP we didn’t even bother to try and haggle!
This was I think the first time I’d ever stayed in a place without a door. It is an experience I’d thoroughly recommend, waking up to this is pretty special…
As the sun rose the next day we took a walk on the beach.
I bumped into a guy claiming to be a Liverpool FC fan, who was also hiring out snorkelling gear. We hadn’t much money left so we hired one between two.
It was amazing, saw plenty of coral and all sorts of coloured fish. So before leaving we sat down to one more meal and took in the view before the boat came to tear us away from paradise. What a place…
We stayed: Can’t remember the name, in fact I doubt it even has one. Just look for the huts!
We paid: 30,000 Pesos for the night. That’s £5 each. You can pay over double that if you opt for one of the spots near the boat dock.
To South America 
very cool! 🙂