Playa Blanca Barú — Attraction in Cartagena

Yes, the water is beautiful. That's it! The good ends there. The road to the beach is a muddy mess, full of water-filled holes. I was sure our SUV would end up stuck in the mud. The parking was a horrible ghetto mess of potholes, sand dunes, and filthy mud. The path from the parking lot was pure muddy filth and scary, resembling a ghetto. We were besieged by all sorts of shady-looking, scary rip-off artists trying to force us to buy whatever they were selling or just give them money because they were walking beside us. The entire entrance to the beach was filled with vendors in the most unappealing run-down huts selling way overpriced junk. They were trying to push food on us - as if any reasonable person would eat anything prepared by these horrific-looking, unsanitary people in what appeared to the naked eye to be the most unsanitary cooking conditions. One can only imagine what diseases would spawn from those pots. We thought we had seen the worst until we got to the mountain trail that led to the beach. It was rocks, sandy muddy rocks, arranged in a series of platforms trying to form steps - but one needed to be in optimum health to scale these rocks, either arriving or leaving. Once at the bottom, we thought we were finally going to see the wonderful, white powdery sand that we had heard about. Right. Nonsense. It was sand, but there was nothing white or powdery about it. It was a dirty gray/beige color that was clearly white at some point in the distant past before all these vendors and hawkers began trekking their filth, trying to force every visitor to spend money every 3-5 minutes. And that was the good part. The beach was filled to the edge of the water with the nastiest beach chairs and umbrellas until there was no space left to enjoy the sand. You had no choice but to be in the water all the time. Except that every minute in the water, you were risking life and limb from all the boats and jet skis constantly running through the entire length of the beach (miles of beach) through all the possible swimming areas or even standing areas. You could not swim for more than a few minutes because you had to be constantly dodging the motorboats and jet-skis. There were many issues. But the very worst thing, if you imagined a relaxing day on a beautiful beach, smelling delicious ocean air, you will be sadly disappointed. After a day at that beach, I am certain that our lifespans have been negatively impacted by the steady, relentless inhalation of engine exhaust and the pervasive smell of gasoline and petroleum exhaust. I have never in my life spent an entire day where all I smelled was engine exhaust, gasoline, and trash - and I was born and raised in NYC - except for the beautiful water, Orchard Beach, and Coney Island were cleaner, healthier environments - and safer. But, I must leave you with this thought, you will not sleep, you will not rest on this beach because every 3-5 minutes there will be a vendor pushing something into your face and trying to force you to talk to them as they tell you why their overpriced junk and nasty food is desirable - and they say it with the most pleasant, Colombian voice that will make you feel impolite or guilty for not buying something from them. But if you do, then the frequency of visits from vendors will increase to every minute, not to mention that whatever you buy will not last until you leave the beach or will most assuredly make you sick. Finally, you should know that I am a long-distance swimmer. I have been to beaches all over the world: 7-mile beach in the Caymans, Mombasa beach, Punta Cana, Luquillo, Boqueron, Orchard Beach, Coney Island, almost every beach on the Jersey shore, Malibu, Venice, Santa Monica, Marbella beaches, Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, South Beach in Tanzania, Megan Beach, Martinique, and many more Florida beaches, beaches on the South China Sea – I cannot even remember all the beaches I have enjoyed. I am a sailor and a boat mechanic. This is the worst beach experience I have ever had. Ever. But yes, the water was lovely - a bit...

It is a beautiful beach, but this is not a trip that the occasional tourist who is not used to traveling in complex environments will find relaxing. It can definitely be a tourist trap. My family and I are experienced travelers.

Getting there. We rented a car and drove. First warning, be careful if you do this with google maps or other navigation apps. You will find several playa Blanca’s in them, and some directions make you take a wrong turn and you end up in a sketchy neighborhood. If you do decide to drive yourself, follow the signs for playa Blanca after you cross the bridge into Baru Island. A small portion of the road right before you get there is unpaved and in bad shape but we got through it in a Renault Logan so not that bad. We met a few people on the beach who took a bus tour there, several complained that they were supposed to get there at 9, but arrived closer to 10:30. If you drive, by the time you hit the bridge to Baru, motorcycles will start to follow you to take you to their restaurants. Ignore them. Just keep following the signs and keep an eye on your gps and on people that will get on the road in front of you to try to force you to follow them to their restaurants. Just keep going slowly and be careful not to touch them with your car, but I would not come to a stop either. You should not enter any neighborhoods deviating from the main road.

Once there. We did at around 9:30. There are two main parking lots close to the two entrances to the beach. The parking lot #2 is a shorter walk. Still, not accesible for someone with mobility issues (a bit of a walk and down a slope with some steps). We walked right past the vendors and into the restaurants.

Restaurants. They continue to give two sets of menus. If you look like a foreigner they will show you one that has at least double the prices that are in the one that they show to Colombians. They will also tell you to pay for the beach chairs and umbrellas. We kept walking and found a place where we negotiated free beach chairs if we ate there, and that had the menu with prices in a bog menu printed in the wall of the restaurant, which was a sign to us that this place was not playing the same scams that others were.

The beach. Beautiful. If you like snorkeling, choose your location based on that. A snorkeling spot we found was walking to the left of the entrance #2 for a bit. That section of the beach has also a large sea section designated for swimming that includes some corals. Be careful with your valuables. We went barebones. One phone and some cash, and kept it all on ourselves in one of those waterproof bags.

Snorkeling. Disappointing, you see some corals, mostly damaged. You see fish, some beautiful ones and they come close. But I would rate the snorkeling a 2/5 at most.

Swimming. Before noon, nice. Once it gets crowded, two things happen. One, the water gets dirty with food packages and stuff. Two, the concentration of jet skis and lanchas that get into the swimming designated areas makes it uncomfortable to swim to the corals. I did my second outing to snorkel around 1:30 and had to constantly keep an eye on watercraft. Some get uncomfortably close even inside of the swimming designated areas.

Tours. We did not take any. They offer a lancha ride to playa tranquila. A beach that is less crowded. This is a scam. It is the same beach, you just have to walk about 20-25 minutes in the sand to get to that section (walk to the right of then entrance #2 and keep going for a bit).

Vendors. There are many that offer goods and services. In our experience, this was not an issue. Once you say no they kept walking. Might (very likely) be different if you are not fluent in Spanish or have a foreign accent.

Timing. As noted, get there as early as you can. By 3:00, 3:30 the place started to empty as the buses left. Vibe started to change a bit, with more locals coming in. We did not have an issue staying a bit longer but would leave well before it gets dark so you can hit the main road in...

This is a horrible experience and a scam, avoid this at all costs. We went by ourselves with our 2 young daughters, age 5 and 7. The drive is afwful, and the reception even worst. Hordes of young man jumped at the car while still driving, yelling and tapping on it like savages. The girls got scared and were almost crying. The parking is a dump, and you will be surounded by an army of agressive hustlers offering their "services". I speak fluent Spanish and told them to please leave us alone, several times, and that they will not get paid. One dude stuck with us (telling the others "they're mine"), and walked alongside for 5 minutes until we realised you cannot just go the the beach. You HAVE to rent one of the umbrellas/chairs at exorbitant prices. The umbrellas are set up right to the water's edge, you cannot put down a towel and just sit on the sand. Once you sit down, the vendors/hustlers are relentless, it's unbelievable. You will say "no thanks" and have crap stuffed into your face 500 times during your day, this was as bad as Morocco. Yes, the water was clear, and the sky was blue. The water was also was full of trash, with lots of plastic bags, bottles, and the queen of all trash, toilet paper. Numerous 30ft boats loaded to overcapacity with tourists, come and land on the beach, among the swimmers, drowning the place in gasoline fumes. Fumes are constant, and also come from the ski jets who freely mingle with the swimmers, offering rides. The swimmers are dodging ski jets and propellers constantly, sometimes a couple of meters from your head. Twice we had to yank the girls out of the water, away from incoming boats coming to land, who didn't give a crap about a family of 4 swimming ahead of them. I was a Coast Guard officer for 15 years and could not believe how stupid and dangerous this scene was. We ordered some food, what a mistake. Crappy, shitty fried fish and 2 spoons of shrimp with the cheapest canned beer was 100U$, more than you'd pay in Miami, Barcelona or Venice. The dude who walked with us appeared out of nowhere, asking for 25U$ for his "services". We left, deeply disgusted by the locals first, and by the filth and pollution. Worst beach experience in Latin America, from Mexico to Patagonia. We love Colombia, and have travelled to many other beaches. This...