10 Beach Escapes in Colombia’s Coolest Caribbean City

This laid-back beach house evokes the sort-of mid-century luxury and fun-in-the-sun that once graced the spreads of long gone magazines with names like Travel Holiday and Venture. Through a door embedded in beachside foliage, a leafy green corridor draws guests to the multi-level wooden patio, set with ocean blue lounge chairs around a sparkling rectangular pool. On the semi-private beach, cabanas strung with gauzy curtains and wave-kissed, pillow-laden platforms offer a quieter counterpart to the bright, beachy music and boozy carousing above. Sumptuous lunches—think, seafood paella, octopus confit, and seabass carpaccio—are served on the stone patio that rings the stylish hotel. Book a day pass ($27/person), which includes boat transportation departing three times a day from Cartagena, or stay overnight in a rustically luxurious bungalow.

The bohemian vibes are strong at Bomba Beach Club, a slice of paradise with a view of the high-rises of Cartagena’s Miami-like Castillogrande. Here, seaside hammocks slung beneath thatch-roof pergolas are interspersed with colorful sunbeds, swing-beds, and chairs. The beach bar churns out fruity cocktails throughout the day—including a free one upon arrival—for enjoying seaside or on the freshwater pool’s retro patio. Day trips ($31/person) to Bomba include transportation (leaving every 30 mins from Castillogrande) and a “bonus” to put towards delicious Caribbean specialties like ceviche, baskets of stuffed plantains and grilled garlic lobster. Overnight guests have the option of spacious, air-conditioned rooms or cabins large enough to fit five.

The beach club approach at the Fenix is more down-to-earth than some of its Cartagena competitors. Wooden sunbeds, rustically-constructed pergolas, and Tulum-meets-Burning-Man-inspired globular sunshades face the gentle waves on the club’s palm-tree laden 215,000-square-foot beach. Further inland, the large pool takes center stage outside the hotel and its adjacent stand-alone wood cabins styled with shabby-chic simplicity. Sweat through a cocktail-fueled game of beach volleyball or ping pong or chill out in a hammock with tasty snacks inspired by Colombian, Spanish, Peruvian and Mexican cuisines. Day passes, with return transportation from Cartagena’s Marina Santa Cruz (about 15 mins each way) include lunch for around $35/person.

Located in the Rosario Islands, an archipelago protected as a national park in 1988, the Eco Hotel Islabela’s charm is in its solitude. At around 60 miles away from Cartagena (45 mins by speedboat), it’s the calm waters and white sand beaches around Islabela that draw guests here, not the party-hearty beach vibe found at some other resorts and clubs. Snorkel spectacular coral reefs, head out on a kayak to explore nearby inlets, or settle in with a free welcome drink on beachside loungers. As the “eco-lodge” moniker suggests, the Islabela is relatively no-frills, but the quality of the ultra-fresh seafood served at the restaurant-bar rivals that of the nicest Cartagena restaurants. Day trips ($68/person) leave from La Bodeguita dock in town.