City Romance or Island Calm
Cartagena's romance happens on foot and after dark. Walk the walls at sunset from the Baluarte de Santo Domingo toward San Diego as the lights come on. Watch the crowd on Plaza de la Trinidad in Getsemaní, where music spills out of bars and street vendors sell fresh fruit until midnight. Horse-drawn carriages circle the old town at night. Few cities in the Americas have kept their colonial core this intact and fewer still let you sleep inside it.
The islands are the opposite. The water is clear and warm, the pace is slow and most evenings end with dinner on a deck and very little else to do. Electricity often comes from generators or solar panels and fresh water is precious. On Barú, the larger resorts add pools and spas, but the mood is still about sea and sky.
Couples who love energy and atmosphere will want plenty of time in the city. Couples who need to decompress after the wedding will find the islands restorative.
Where You Will Stay
In Cartagena, stay inside the walls or in Getsemaní. The walled center and the quieter San Diego district hold the grand hotels. Casa San Agustín joins three colonial houses into a 31-room hotel with beamed ceilings and a pool that runs under an old aqueduct arch, from around US$450 a night. The Sofitel Legend Santa Clara occupies a 17th-century convent with a courtyard garden and the Charleston Santa Teresa, another former convent, has a rooftop pool facing the ramparts. Getsemaní has smaller boutique hotels in restored townhouses. In this heat, a pool matters more than a view.
Out on the water, there are three kinds of stay. Barú has the largest and most comfortable hotels. Las Islas scatters wooden bungalows through the trees and along the waterline, many with private pools or jacuzzis, from around US$550 a night. Sofitel Barú Calablanca is a full-service beach resort. Isla Grande and the smaller islets have simple eco lodges with fans and full board.
All prices are approximate.
Beaches and Time in the Water
Cartagena is not a beach city. Bocagrande has beachfront towers, but the beach is ordinary and you would taxi into the old town every evening anyway. Instead, you cool off in your hotel pool during the heat of the day.
The islands are all about the water. The marine park protects coral gardens, seagrass and mangroves, so snorkeling straight off some hotel docks is decent and fish life improves around the outer islands. Snorkel early, before the tour boats arrive and stir up the sand. On Isla Grande, local guides lead night trips to a lagoon where plankton glows as you move through the water, best on moonless nights. Kayaking through the mangroves makes a calm morning.
Playa Blanca on Barú is beautiful at 7 am and crowded by late morning, when hundreds of day-trip boats arrive. That is the best reason to sleep out there: you get the early mornings and late afternoons without the crowds.
If beach time matters at all, you will want at least two nights on the water.
Food and Drink
Cartagena is one of the best places in Colombia to eat. Celele in Getsemaní builds tasting menus around ingredients from the Caribbean coast and Carmen is a long-running favorite for a special night. Book both well ahead. For something simpler, find a corrientazo, the local set lunch of fried fish or chicken with coconut rice, fried plantain and salad. Ceviche is everywhere and restaurants fill late once the heat breaks.
Island food is fresh and straightforward. Expect whole fried fish, usually red snapper or mojarra, with coconut rice, patacones and lime. Lobster and shrimp appear on most menus, often grilled with garlic butter. The better small hotels cook in a Caribbean home style and Barú's resorts have more polished restaurants. Menus are short and most lodges include meals, since there is nowhere else to eat.
A long seafood lunch on a wooden island pier is one of the region's simple pleasures. Plan your celebratory dinners for the city and your lazy lunches for the islands.
Getting There and Between Them
Everything starts at Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG), about 15 minutes from the walled city. Nonstop flights have linked Cartagena with Fort Lauderdale, Miami and New York, though schedules change by season. Otherwise, connect through Bogotá, Medellín or Panama City. Use the official taxi stand or have your hotel send a car.
Island hotels usually arrange the boat transfer from the tourist pier near the walls, a crossing of roughly an hour that can stretch longer in rough seas. Shared launches are cheaper but stop at several places. Between December and March, trade winds can make the crossing bumpy, so take seasickness medication if needed and sit toward the back. Barú is also reachable by road in about an hour, which makes it the easier choice if you dread boats.
Port and park charges are collected at the pier and are not always included in transfer prices, so carry cash. Pack light, since luggage is passed hand to hand onto small boats.
Weather, Crowds and Practical Tips
The dry season from December through April is the best time for both, with January to March the most reliable stretch. December and Easter week bring Colombian holiday crowds and the highest rates. On the islands, Playa Blanca becomes a wall of umbrellas at those times and weekends are busier than weekdays year-round. From May to September, the sea is often calmer and clearer with afternoon storms. October and November are the wettest months, when boats occasionally do not run.
In Cartagena, treat the middle of the day as hotel time, since highs sit near 90°F all year. Touts are persistent in the plazas. A firm no gracias works and avoid anyone offering drugs. Keep phones away from the curb and carry small bills.
On the islands, bring more cash than you think you need, since card machines and Wi-Fi are unreliable and there are no ATMs. Pack reef-safe sunscreen, repellent and a dry bag. Dengue occurs on this coast, so if you're pregnant or hoping to be soon, check CDC travel health notices.
Book your last night back in Cartagena, because morning boats can be delayed.
