ISLA BARU : ONE DAY

 ONE DAY IN ISLA BARU

Isla Barú is about a 1-hour drive south of Cartagena. Barú has the only public beaches with white sand and turquoise water near Cartagena. Because it's a public beach, it is super crowded on weekends. To go there, we advise you to book a tour. You can book the basic tour, which will cost you around 40,000 COP (you will have to pay extra for seats), or you can book at a beach club for more tranquility (we liked Mambo Beach). We also advise you to book the bioluminescent plankton activity; most tours offer it. It's better to book with them to have transportation at night to bring you back to Cartagena.

Isla Barú is known for its beautiful beaches but also for tourist scams. In fact, there are a lot of vendors on the beach. You have to understand that nothing is free. They can be insistent, but you need to be firm. If someone offers you a free oyster or starts to give you a massage without your approval, saying, "Don't worry, it's just to show you," don't trust them. In the end, you will have to pay, and it can quickly become unpleasant. Always ask the price beforehand!

8:00 Departure from Cartagena. We took a minibus included in the tour towards Isla Barú.

9:30 Arrived at Barú. If you book at a beach club, you will have your seat. If not, we advise you to walk along the beach towards the right side and negotiate for sunbeds for the day. If I remember correctly, we paid 40,000 COP for 2 sunbeds. Then, we went for a swim, ordered our beers (shouldn't cost more than 5,000 COP), and relaxed!

12:00 We started to get hungry. In all the tours, the meal is included, so we joined the restaurant and ordered the typical dish, which is fried fish.

13:00 We came back to our sunbeds and relaxed. Around 2/3 pm, the beach started to empty. Most of the tours go back to Cartagena at this time. But we stayed because we booked our activity with the bioluminescent plankton.

5:30 We watched the sunset and then joined the place for the activity. We first had an explanation about the bioluminescent plankton and then went to the boat.

6:30 After a 15-minute boat ride, we reached this famous place. When the boat arrived, we could see the water getting illuminated. Then, we jumped into the water and moved our arms and legs to activate the plankton to make light. Be careful; when you see pictures online, you will see a strong blue light. Don't expect to see that; you could be disappointed. The light is less strong and less blue in reality. But still a cool experience. (Photo taken with iPhone and edited; it was the best we could do.)

8:00 Time to go back to Cartagena. We arrived around 9 pm in Cartagena.