Services

By Lorraine Caputo

Tourism Office

Tumaco's tourism office is located on the third floor of the Alcaldía building (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 2-5 p.m. Calle 11/Caldas and Carrera 9/Calle Mosquera). If it is not open, try the Cámera de Comercio, which is quite helpful (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 2-5 p.m. Calle Sucre, half-block from Calle Mosquera). 

Money

Calle Sucre is nicknamed Calle de los Bancos—Street of the Banks. Here you find branches of all of Colombia's major banks. None, however, change travelers cheques or cash. They do have ATMs; Bancolombia's handles any type of bank card. A few agencies exchange U.S. dollars, but only when the manager is in: Viaje Turismo (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 2-6 p.m. Calle Sucre, two blocks from Calle del Comercio); and Giros & Finanzas/Western Union (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 2-5:30 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon. Calle Mosquera, half block from the Catedral, in Centro Comercial La Sultana).

Communication

Internet cafés scatter Isla Tumaco. Service is more basic (don’t expect to make a Skype call or burn your photos to CD) and costs $1.50 per hour. Make local and national calls from any store or street stall announcing llamadas (calls); they charge $0.10 per minute. Pacific Net (Monday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 2-10 p.m. Calle Ovando/Carrera 9B 11-55, next to Hotel Las Lajas) offers international phone calls ($0.25 per minute to North America, $0.90 to Europe). Avianca Depris (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 2-6 p.m., Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon. Calle Caldas/Calle 11, near Carrera 9) ships certified packages and letters for a pricy $30 for a letter to the U.S. At El Morro beach, it is harder to keep in touch. Local and national calls are $0.15 per minute. There are no international or internet services.

Medical

Hospital San Andrés is a level-two hospital with many emergency care services. However, if you have an opportunity to go scuba diving, be aware it does not have a hyperbaric chamber. (Calle 7 de Agosto and Carrera 12B, Tel: 2-727-1099). Droguerías, or pharmacies, are especially found on Calle 13 and Calle 9B (Calle Ovando).