Playa Blanca Experience

Good Day Trip

Overall a positive experience and worth going if you are looking for a bus tour to a nicer beach for a day trip. Below is a more detailed summary with all the things to know when booking: When trying to go to a beach in the Cartagena area, your options are the following: 1) Bocagrande in Cartagena, which doesn't look as nice (the color is actually naturally dark due to volcanic sand and river sediments) and sometimes has an unpleasant smell, so best to stay around point #5. It's not as bad as everyone says in my perspective, but it's not the pretty Caribbean picture with blue waters and white sand. 2) Take a boat tour to any of the resorts or islands that are in the area (Rosario Islands). There are some nicer eco resorts such as rosario del mar, but people claim that the waters are rough and it's a ~45 minute ride. You may want to stay at a resort that doesn't have vendors for a few days, if you have the time and financial opportunity. 3) Baru, which is the peninsula about 1-1.5 hour drive from Cartagena Centro and the location of Playa Blanca and Playa Tranquila. This tour takes you to the Playa Tranquila section of Baru, which is a bit further down the peninsula. Since a boat was not an option for us due to sea sickness, this was our main option for a day trip. Baru atmosphere: The bus drops you off in an unpleasant area, and to get to the beach itself, there is a short walk to get to the beach. It's not great but not unsafe, there's a lot of trash everywhere, and it's not smooth paved sidewalk - but it's certainly not treacherous and is 2 minutes of the trip. There's a few rocky steps that we got through in less than a minute in flip flops, so while it's sad, it's very much quick and doable. The guide leads you through to the Playa Blanca beach, where you get picked up by a boat to go to Playa Tranquila. Playa Blanca is the initial part of the peninsula, which is indeed quite loud and crowded with music and parties. There are cheaper tours that will take you there. This tour takes you further down to Playa Tranquila, so you're basically paying more for a quieter atmosphere and less busy atmosphere, which was worth it for us. You go there on a easy boat ride that takes a few minutes, though in theory you could walk there. While this part of the beach is quieter, it does still have vendors and boats coming in and out. However, the vendors weren't that aggressive (certainly less than on in Bocagrande, though we didn't run into any extremes there either), and if you're sleeping on the beach, they typically don't bother you. Otherwise a simple "no, gracias" is enough for them to leave you alone. The major cons to be aware of: This is outside of the tour operator's control - the boat situation is totally atrocious unfortunately. The boats drop off visitors constantly and hang out within the buoys where people are swimming. Of course this also comes with a pretty strong and repulsive diesel smell. Same thing goes for the jetskis - they're not all in a designated location parked on the beach, they just cruise around trying to convince you to take a ride. All of this creates an unpleasant atmosphere when swimming, and in addition is a major safety concern. This should be government regulated, but unfortunately isn't at the time of this review. That being said, we felt it was still worth it to go. The bus ride was fine with a good temperature in the bus, AC was working fine - not too cold and not too hot. We got to the actual beach around 10:30 AM and started packing up at 2 PM, leaving closer to 3 PM. Not a very long time but enough to hang out in the water and sunbathe on the beach. The water is indeed gorgeous and warm, you can spend all day floating. That part is amazing. It's also nice that the weather in Baru is different from Cartagena, so we escaped Cartagena's rain that day and enjoyed an overcast but rain-free day in Baru. Tips: - Be mindful of which site you're booking this tour on and what's included. If you're wondering what a "Huts of Palms" is - it's basically an open shaded area with plastic chairs and a table (see photos attached). The sunbeds and umbrella are not included in the Tripadvisor tour and are for an extra cost (they stood there without anyone using them, so that's kind of silly). The lunch had a grilled chicken and fish option with rice and soft drinks, which was fine though not anything outstanding. - Getting swindled by the vendors - you need to agree on the price and exactly what you're getting before the transaction happens. If you don't want anything, just refuse politely. If you're interested, be very clear in your communication and make sure you bring cash, ideally from Cartagena. The guide Karina gives you some pro tips on dealing with vendors and general information about the area, though I wish she had shared more information, especially on the ride back. Overall, I would still recommend to go here if you only have time for a day trip. If you have more time, consider staying at a resort for a few days for a more peaceful atmosphere. There may be some resorts on Baru that are more secluded and offer day passes and are accessible by bus, but they are of course more expensive, and we didn't find tours that go there, so you'd need to contact the resorts directly. For that reason, this tour is a good middle ground option for a quick booking to get there by bus and enjoy the pretty water.

via Tripadvisor

Loved it ❤️

This is a wonderful experience. Karina is by far the best, a lovely young woman that speaks great English and is extremely accommodating to her guests.

via Viator

Beautiful Barú!

Barú is worth the trek from Cartagena. We were picked up at hotel then drive 1hr out to Barú. Approaching Barú the road is not paved but not a deal breaker, just for info. We were then taken on a boat to a quieter part of the beach. Available activities snorkeling, beach lounge chair with umbrella and table, massage, lunch. The beach is beautiful. On the way back we saw the area where we were first took the boat and the area was super crowded. Also be aware, there are lots of boats, jets skis, and no apparent control of the beach and water area. Never the less, the beach was amazing.

via Viator

Great day at the beach...

Great day at the beach with stunning water. The tour started off a bit disorganized by a different pick up spot and with the meeting point not insisting any time other than 8. I got a call at 7:30 that I was late. Not the guides fault I’m sure but the company should make and communicate these things much clearer. If you are looking for a great day at a beautiful beach you will not be disappointed.

Response from the operator: Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. We are delighted to know that you enjoyed the beautiful beach and the stunning water. We sincerely apologize for the initial confusion regarding the pickup location and timing. Your comments are very important to us, and we will review our communication procedures to ensure clearer and more precise information for our guests moving forward. We truly appreciate your understanding and your positive remarks about the overall experience. We hope to have the opportunity to assist you again in the future.

via Viator

Karina and the Waves

We had a good time at Playa Blanca in Baru. The transportation van was clean and the ride seemed to go by quickly. Our guide Karina was friendly, informative and translated in three languages for our group. She was also eager to answer any questions. Playa Blanca was beautiful and the area we were taken to was less crowded. The lunch was simple but very good. The staff that provided food and drink were also friendly and polite. Thanks for a great experience, Karina. We would definitely recommend this journey to other travelers to Colombia!

Response from the operator: Thank you very much for sharing your experience at Playa Blanca. We are delighted to know that you enjoyed the destination, the clean transportation, and the overall organization of the tour. It is especially rewarding to hear your kind words about Karina. Her dedication, multilingual support, and willingness to assist our guests are qualities we truly value, and we will gladly share your comments with her. We sincerely appreciate your trust and hope to welcome you again for another memorable experience in the future.

via Viator