Well right off the bat my favorites are in order: Isla Providencia for the best snorkeling anywhere and laid back, small scale lodging (cabañas). Six visits over the years.. Unfortunately still closed to tourism because of the hurricane damage. Second is Capurganá on the Gulph of Urabá. Been there four times. Snorking isn't very good straight out from the beach but there is a ridge about twenty meters out with some of the common Caribbean colorful fish. The village is enjoyable to visit though and there's a nice jungle hike out past the landing strip leading to a waterfall. It is currently the jumping off place for immigrants to enter the Darien jungle on their way to the US border. Don't know first hand what affect that has on tourism there. Another favorite is NuquI on the pacific coast of Chocó about half way between Buenaventura and Bahía Solano. Just jungle and sea but with a termales an hour's walk from the lodges, I got to meet a Chocoan Bushmaster in person in a cave there on my first of three visits. Like Bahía Solano to the north you can see the joroba whales during migration. Then there's Bahía Solano or more specifically El Valle on the coast an hours ride in tuktuk from the airstrip. Essentially a fishing village but with tourism during whale migration and in recent years benifiting from cocain washed up on the beaches from interdiction actions on high seas nearby. The ocean is nice for swimming at low tide but nothing to see by snorkeling, just a long sandy bottom. At high tide the waves are enormous, thundering and dangerous with no possibility of entering the water. A local can take you up the narrow Rio El Valle through the jungle in canoa. Two other beach destinations I've been to years ago (and not reccomended) are Taganga near Rodadero/Santa Marta. The ocean in front of the Israeli owned hostal was full of trash and un swimmable. Another place I won't return to is Los Ladrilleros/Juanchaco. It's reached by an hour's ride in lancha from the tourist dock in Buenaventura. There are many extremely basic hotels (rooms with walls of wooden boards). It is a relatively cheap destination for Cali's blue collar workers. The grounds around all of the hotels were full of trash evidently invisible to the Colombian tourists. The local Indians sell hats made from coconut with bizarre shapes that could have been inspired by Salvador Dali. Best destination if you are a Euro backpacker who wants to get down and dirty.
