Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴 Gringo's Guide
Worth checking out if the Amazon intrigues you and you’re exploring Colombia already...
If I had to describe Leticia using only three words, they would be:
Remote
Interesting
Wild
The place is certainly not like anything else you will encounter anywhere else in the world.
It's not even like the other ports along the Amazon, partly because it's the only Colombian port.
I can't say for sure how long you will want to stay in Leticia, but it's certainly worth checking out if the Amazon intrigues you and you’re exploring Colombia already.
Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia 🇨🇴
Population:
Leticia is actually part of an area where Colombia, Brazil and Peru all meet together.
The city of Leticia itself has around 33,000 people in total living in it.
Right across the border, Tabatinga in Brazil has another 67,000 or so. And on the other bank of the Amazon River, the Peruvian town of Santa Rosa has less than a thousand people.
There really are no suburbs here. These towns have all been carved out of some of the world's densest jungle, so they are pretty compact. Civilization ends abruptly with the last house on the edge of the rainforest.
Weather:
If you like cold and dry weather, you are permanently out of luck in Leticia:
Honestly, the times I was there, I never once even saw the humidity below 90 percent. It does get quite a bit nicer at night, however.
Also, this is the rainforest, and rain it will. The numbers on the above charts speak for themselves. Even the least rainy months will still get several inches of the water from the sky.
Come here prepared for it to rain at any time.
It's recommended to bring boots that won't get soaked in the rain, and appropriate rain gear, especially if you are going outside the city centers.
Why Visit Leticia, Colombia?
Who doesn't want to see the Amazon River in real life? Trust me, it's impressive.
Also…
You'll meet a lot of very cool people and cool cultures
The dating scene is surprisingly good here
The food and the flora and fauna are super unique
It's also surprisingly cheap to stay in Leticia
There is one major downside to Leticia and surrounding areas, however. The internet and phone service is less than stellar. It can vary from day to day, but it's generally very slow. This is unfortunately a potential deal-killer, I know, especially for longer stays in Leticia.
If you are planning on coming, I recommend you come when you can do work that isn't super internet-dependent, or just make a vacation out of it.
How to Get to Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴
There's no way to reach Leticia by road, at all.
You can come into Bogotá and catch a flight from there. It usually costs between 400-600,000 COP for a one-way ticket.
The flight will take almost exactly two hours each way.
Likewise, Tabatinga in Brazil has its own airport. You can only go back and forth from Manaus here, though. In almost every case, it's going to be way cheaper and more convenient just to fly through Bogotá:
The only other way in and out of Leticia — and all the towns along this part of the Amazon — is to take a slow boat up or down river.
This option doesn't appeal to me, and probably won't appeal to most of the people reading this. Travel times are long, conditions are far from comfortable, and it's surprisingly expensive!
More for curiosity's sake, this is what's out there on the river in that part of the world. If anyone actually got the bug to make this journey, they'd probably start in Iquitos, Peru and make their way downriver:
Just the short leg on the left of the map from Iquitos to Leticia takes almost 12 hours, and the cost is 100 Peruvian Soles, or about $28 USD. The journey from there to Manaus takes at least four whole days, and from Manaus back it would be even longer, since it's upriver.
If you plan on visiting anywhere in this region, make sure you have your yellow fever vaccine, just in case.
If you don't have it already, get it at least a couple weeks before getting on that plane. This is both because it can take that long for the vaccine to take full effect, and also, sometimes you get a bit sick after getting it.
Best Neighborhoods in Leticia 🇨🇴
Once again, this is a very unique place.
I should probably come right out and point out that this is a Leticia guide for a reason.
I highly recommend that you stay in Leticia, and not in Tabatinga, or anywhere in Perú.
Colombia for the win…
The Colombian side of the tri-country area is by far the nicest. It's the most built up, and also by far the safest.
Also, incredibly, the tap water in Leticia is drinkable. I saw many people drinking it, and experimented with my own body. No problems whatsoever. Not even a minor twitch in the stomach! Do not try drinking water in the other two countries.
Tabatinga can be fun but it's much more run-down than Leticia and turns into a little war zone at night. Also, the nightlife in Leticia is much better in general (see below). Santa Rosa, as opposed to being run-down, is simply underdeveloped, and almost looks like a rough little medieval village with (sporadic) electricity.
People who live in the area who are trying to save money often wind up living somewhere in Tabatinga, no matter what their nationality. They definitely pay for it in terms of quality of life, though.
In general, the Brazilian and Peruvian sides are for day trips only, or to go to eat their local cuisine.
Inside Leticia itself, there are no better or worse neighborhoods, really, and there are no “no-go” zones. Also, since it's so small and dense, everything is within easy walking distance, usually 15 minutes or less.
The world's most porous border?
I've certainly never seen a more porous border in any of my travels!
You are literally walking down a street and the language changes from Spanish to Portuguese from one block to the next:
There are no border controls whatsoever. Of course, you can only go so far into the neighboring countries ("the first few towns" is what they tell me) before you will have to go to a customs and immigration post and officially enter the country.
Places to Stay in Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴
While there are some decent hotels here, this is the Amazon…
Do NOT come here expecting everything to work like it does back home and luxury.
Airbnb Options
I love Airbnb, but I think hotels are the way to go in Leticia, especially if you pick the right one.
This is mainly because Leticia is much better suited for shorter stays, due to the lack of good phone and internet services, as mentioned above.
If you do want to get away from it all for a longer time, and are OK with being not super reachable, there are plenty of decent options, however:
This place, for example is about $700-800 USD per month for two people, after the typical monthly discount. It's a loft with a dedicated working space.
Hotel Options
When I go to Leticia, I always prefer to stay at the Hotel Santa Helena:
It's far from being a Ritz-Carlton, but it has everything you need for a great stay. The AC in the rooms works perfectly. As you can see, there is a nice pool. You can order breakfast or lunch there if you want, or coffee. And it's a steal at only 80,000 COP (around $18 USD) per night. That was with two people staying in the room.
Another nice thing is that the Santa Helena is located close to the geographical center of Leticia, making it even easier to get around the place. It felt like the whole town was just a stone's throw away the whole time we were there.
Since Leticia is pretty touristy, there's no shortage of hotels there.
A very popular option for tourists is the Waira hotel.
Rooms here will run you around 400 to 450,000 COP per night (around $80-100 USD).
The Waira, as seen, has a much sleeker and more modern look, which I actually don't like very much. Your mileage may vary. It does have a pool, although it's actually smaller than the Santa Helena, and many more guests will be competing for it.
If you want to go all out, you can opt to stay at the 4-star Decameron Lodge:
This will run you a pretty penny, though. At the time of this writing, Trip advisor is offering a special discount. Even with that discount, the rooms are clocking in at over 1,069,000 COP per night. That's in the neighborhood of a whopping $250USD per night!
You will get in return for all this money: slightly nicer and more private rooms, a slightly bigger (but shallower) pool, a free breakfast, an in-house bar. That's it. The internet will still be slow as anywhere else in Leticia.
I personally don't think it's worth the money.
You may be in another Colombian city and have a local recommend going to the OnVacation hotel. For the love of all that's holy, do not do this! The place is in the middle of nowhere, reachable only by boat. The whole thing is super disorganized. There are no ATMs out there, the rooms are ghetto, and everything is an upsell once you get there. Avoid!
Costs of Living in Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴
You most likely would never want to *live* here, but for comparison sakes…
Here’s a breakdown of cost of living in Leticia, Colombia in USD:
Airbnb Apartment in Best Area: $600-1200
Hotel in Best Area: $500-7,000
Maid: usually included
Grocery Store: $300
Eating Out / Delivery: $300
Gym: $25
BJJ / MMA: $30
Partying / Dating / Social: $500-1000
Cell Data: $12
It’s a fairly cheap area overall, but not one to spend months on end at.
How Safe is Leticia, Colombia?
One of my best friends here in Colombia was born and raised in Leticia.
He tells me that, 30 years ago, Leticia was like paradise, and that it has a lot more problems now than it ever did.
This may be true, but Leticia to me is still on the safe side, especially compared to Medellin, Cali, Cartagena, Santa Marta, etc.
My safety tips for the Leticia area:
If you don't speak Spanish, walk around with someone who does.
If you're going out of town, get a good tour guide.
Don't stay in the Brazilian or Peruvian areas at night, at all.
If you can follow those rules, you should be safe enough here — and able to enjoy all the jungle tourism you desire — without issue.
The Dating Scene in Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴
Leticia can be surprisingly good for dating, believe it or not!
It's very easy to break the ice here, and the town is full of women who are actively looking.
Are the local women in Leticia beautiful? I would definitely say so, but there is a caveat. The people here are mostly indigenous, therefore, the women are mostly indigenous. It's not hard to come across a girl with the classic "Pocahontas" good looks.
Of course, that doesn't appeal to everyone.
There definitely is lots of tourism in Leticia, but it's mostly Colombians and Brazilians. So, as someone from somewhere else in the world, you will still stand out.
It probably won't surprise anybody who has read this far in the article when I say this:
Girls in these areas of Perú and Brazil don't hold a candle to the girls in Leticia. This goes not only for looks, but for personality, charm, style of dress, intelligence, grace and elegance. You might run across the odd gem in Tabatinga but I wouldn't count on it!
The biggest downside of the dating scene in Leticia may very well be deciding what to do when it's time to leave, since the place isn't really suitable for long-term stays.
Do You Need to Speak Spanish in Leticia?
The short answer is:
To really take advantage of this place, you should have good Spanish and at least decent Portuguese!
Most people in Leticia are, at the very least, bilingual. A shocking number of them speak both good Spanish and Portuguese and one or more indigenous languages — Ticuna is the most common indigenous language in the area.
While almost everybody in Leticia speaks Portuguese, not too many people in Tabatinga speak good Spanish. In any case, very few people in either town will have good English, aside from people who actually work as tour guides etc.
So yes, Spanish is the bare minimum to get by here.
P.S: Luckily, it has never been easier to learn Spanish!
Nightlife in Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴
Leticia is a fairly small town, and generally, people don't come here for the nightlife.
However, there are several viable places to go in town if you feel like drinking or dancing for the night.
Here are some highlights…
Moshh Bar
This place is located right off of Parque Santander, and was my personal favorite in the whole area. A lot of young "single and ready to mingle" come here for cocktails.
The place also plays a nice eclectic mix of music from all over Colombia and Brazil, so you don't get bored with a single style.
It also gets major points in my book because it’s frequented way more by locals than by tourists.
Bora Bora
This place is perfect for people that love that old-school Latin nightclub vibe, with the fancy bottle service, booming sound system and all.
Once again, the music mix is pretty eclectic, but here they tend to favor more the Brazilian stuff.
Tierras Amazónicas
This place is more well-known as a restaurant than a bar, but there is plenty of drinking and dancing. The live music pictured above takes place during the dinner hours, then the DJ takes over, and things get moving.
This is also the place to go to eat traditional Amazon foods, mainly centered on the local fish from the river, and some other much more exotic stuff.
Just to remind you again…
I do not recommend partying over in Tabatinga. It's very ghetto and extremely rough once the sun goes down over there.
In Perú, it's perhaps even worse, with the super intermittent electricity. Also, they play 100% wayno music over there, which is almost certainly not to your taste!
Exploring Around the Amazon Area…
I'm not much of a guided-tour type of guy.
I like going someplace new and exploring on my own, wandering around with little or no specific agenda.
The big exception to this rule would be Leticia…
Part of the reason for this is that Leticia and Tabatinga are pretty small, and to go anywhere else, you need to get on a boat.
Even then, I only went on one group tour the whole time I was there. The one I recommend is the tour that goes from Leticia up to Puerto Nariñoand back by boat. This tour is a day-long tour; you'll leave around 7:30am and get back around 4pm or 5pm.
You'll make tons of stops in Perú and Colombia, including a stop on the island where you will have monkeys climbing all over you. You'll also get to see some indigenous culture, and eat a nice traditional lunch. You'll also get to see a lot of the unique local flora and fauna.
In fact, on the way back, you'll get a chance to see the famous pink dolphins, depending on the season.
Puerto Nariño is a cute little town right on the river, on the other bank from Leticia but it's actually part of Colombia. There are no motor vehicles of any kind in town, so it's almost eerily quiet at times:
On another day, we hired a private tour guide to take us to a few Brazilian and Peruvian islands and explore more. We learned more about fruits and plants unique to the region, and much of its history as well.
There are actually tons of excursions you can go on. There are also evening treks into the bush which are really amazing. Don't touch either of these bad babies if you see them; just take a pic and move on! ;)
Also, don't even think about venturing into the Amazon rainforest at night without an experienced guide! That should go without saying, though!
The evening excursions mean fighting off lots of bugs, including, of course, the ever-famous mosquito. But the sights you will see are more than worth it.
There is even a chance to be able to wrestle with baby alligators in some areas, if you want some real adventure! Once again, do it with an experienced guide, or not at all.
How Long Should You Stay in Leticia?
I'm going to say the answer to this one is:
A few days to a few weeks max.
You may want to stay longer if, for whatever reason, being semi-incommunicado with the rest of the world isn't a problem for you. This would mainly be if your work isn't super internet-dependent (but what remote work isn't?) or if you simply have enough money to not worry about it.
I am told that local authorities are moving hell and high water to improve the area's connectivity, and then this place would be a much better candidate for basing on a medium to long-term basis. Hopefully this will be a thing.
Aside from this issue, Leticia has great food, you have lots of incredible nature around you, and it's a pretty cheap place to live.
The main downsides, aside from the communication problems, are that it's small and very isolated from the rest of the world.
Leticia, Colombia 🇨🇴 Overall
If you are already staying in Colombia, or somewhere close to it, I think you should, at the very least, go down and check Leticia out for a few days and see what you think of it personally.
Just seeing the Amazon with your own eyes and eating the delicious local food is worth it.
Also, some of the excursions are really fun and definitely unique.
I hope Leticia can get its shit together with the internet sometime soon. If it does, I personally would spend a lot more time there.
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