The crossing, in one paragraph
You reach us by boat, and it takes about 30 minutes to an hour from Cartagena. We run our own boat, so for guests the question isn't really which operator to use, it's what time you're on the water and whether you've reserved a seat. From Rafael Núñez International Airport, door to door is about an hour.
We're on Bahía de Cholón, on Barú Island. It's worth saying that the crossing is part of what you're coming for. You leave the city, the buildings drop away, and the last stretch runs through mangroves.
Reserve the boat, not just the room
This is the single mistake that costs guests a morning. Our boat has limited capacity. If you haven't reserved and there's no space, it's a long wait until the next crossing, and that wait happens on a dock rather than by the pool.
So reserve. It's always a good idea in any case, and it matters especially if you'd like to come on our boat. Send us your arrival time when you book and we'll put you on a crossing.
From the airport
Budget an hour from Rafael Núñez International Airport to our door. That hour covers the drive across Cartagena to the water and the crossing itself.
We can arrange airport transfers in both directions. Contact us with your flight numbers and times rather than assuming, because the arrangement depends on when you land.
Going home: leave three hours before your flight
Leave us three hours before your flight departure time. That isn't padding. It's a boat, then a drive, then an airport, and the first of those three doesn't respond to being in a hurry.
If you're on an early departure, tell us the night before so we can have you on the right crossing and have breakfast timed around it.
Getting to Cartagena in the first place
We can't advise on the cheapest flight routes, and we won't pretend to. For convenience, from Europe we recommend Amsterdam to Cartagena with KLM, or London to Bogotá direct with Avianca. From Bogotá you can connect on to Cartagena with Avianca.
Cartagena's airport code is CTG. It sits close to the city, which is part of why the whole journey out to us fits inside an hour.
Why not just take a day-tour boat?
Because they're built for a different trip. Public speedboats out to the Rosario Islands from Cartagena typically leave in a narrow morning window, roughly between 7:50 and 8:30 in the morning, and run 45 to 50 minutes to the islands, with day passes bundling boat, lunch and a beach club (Cartagena Day Tours). That's a good day out. It's not a way to arrive somewhere with luggage on your own schedule.
Cholón in particular has a reputation as a party anchorage, and boat-party tours list it by name. We're on the bay, not in the middle of it, and guests who come to us for the quiet generally aren't looking to share a crossing with a sound system.
What's around you once you're here
The mangroves are the reason to be on this part of Barú. Kayaks are available for guests, and the water is calmest at dawn, which is also when the birdlife is loudest. Our concierge can arrange kayaking, snorkelling or birdwatching.
Corales del Rosario National Park is the protected reef system off this stretch of coast, and it's the snorkelling proposition rather than anything you'd swim to from the house. Ask us and we'll arrange the boat.
Bocachica is the local village, and you can go. It's a village with no running water and no paved roads, and it has more soul than you'll believe. Do not expect chic restaurants and bars. That's not what it is, and going in expecting them is the wrong way to visit.
Practical notes for arrival day
- Travel light if you can. Everything you bring crosses water twice.
- Every guest is registered on arrival with a valid passport or Colombian ID card. Photocopies and photographs of documents aren't accepted.
- Sea access at the house is direct but unguarded, so swimming in open water is at your own risk.
- Foreign residents pay no tax on hotel accommodation in Colombia. For Colombian residents, IVA is already included. We charge a resort fee of 20 USD per night, which covers utilities we generate and manage ourselves out here rather than drawing from public supply.
If anything about your route is uncertain, write to us before you book flights rather than after. It's a short conversation and it's the difference between arriving relaxed and arriving at the wrong dock.