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Getting to Playa Blanca from Cartagena is easy. All trips can be organized by your hotel or directly from the boat companies outside the docks.
Going by Boat
The best and easiest way to get there is by boat. All boats usually leave by 9am from the docks near the entrance to the walled city. You won’t find another departure for the rest of the day.
There are a few options to choose from. The first is a direct trip to the beach, about an hour and a half on a large slow boat or 45 minutes on a speedboat. The second is a trip with a short stop at the Rosario Islands, also available on a large boat or a speedboat. For safety purposes, we were told the large slow boats were better.
For direct trips by boat, expect to pay around COP$90,000 per person (as of December 2023) with lunch included. The direct trip I took offered me the possibility of an overnight stay at Playa Blanca with a return ticket valid for the next day or two. I did this once.
For the tour on a large boat including the Rosario Islands, it should cost roughly COP$95,000 per person (as of December 2023), including the boat trip and lunch at Playa Blanca. It most likely won’t include the tax of COP$20,000 (as of December 2023) to enter the national park that encompasses the Rosario Islands.
Going by Bus
Tour companies also run shuttles to the beach for the day. It costs about COP$60,000 and COP$90,000 if you want a beach chair (as of December 2023). Shuttles leave around 7am and return to Cartagena around 2:30pm. Lunch is included. The advantage to taking the shuttle is that you don’t have to pay the national park admission fees that are required when taking a boat.
Using Public Transportation
The more adventurous way to get to Playa Blanca is by public bus and motorcycle taxi. When I went with Marisol, we took this option. Why? Only because we got up too late and missed the boat!
We arrived at the docks in Cartagena around noon expecting to find someone to take us to Playa Blanca but everyone said we couldn’t leave until the next morning. A man in a green shirt who works at the docks told us it’s possible to go by bus and motorcycle in about 90 minutes. He jumped in a taxi with us and took us to the bus that would go closest to Playa Blanca. We boarded the bus and paid the fare.
The bus was jam packed with people, packages, food, bikes, construction equipment and more. It left at 1pm and the attendant notified us to get off when we reached the point on the route closest to Playa Blanca. Once off the bus, we hopped onto motorcycle taxis that took us to the beach in about 15 minutes.
Hiring a Taxi
A more expensive but faster option is to go by taxi. It’s not so bad if you have a small group of three or four. When my father visited, we hired a taxi to take us to Playa Blanca and wait for us the entire day. We shopped around for the best price and took the driver’s number. At the beach, we offered him lunch and drinks but he thanked us and did his own thing until we were ready to head back to Cartagena.
