Hot in the city

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At this time of year, the temperature is quite high in the city around midday, 33-35 Celsius with lots of humidity. So better go out in mornings and evenings to really enjoy yourself. In the middle of the day, stick to AC or in the water. Cartagena has many beaches in the city limits. Water is not blue-green Caribbean, but it's okay. Nicer waters could be found South West near Baru and other surrounding islands. Waves are quite strong so many water sports can be done there.

in the city itself, there are two major regions where beach hotels are: BocaGrande and La Boquilla, I have seen both regions and those in La Boquilla are nicer to my taste, especially those on the good side of the road. I stayed in Holiday Inn Morros when I arrived, and Hotel Las Americas at end of trip. Hotel Las Americas is a very nice hotel, with sections for families and others for adults. They hav ea good amount of trees on property and was able to see wildlife on property, which is big bonus for me. In addtion to this, in La Boquilla, a big wild lagoon, in found on South side. They offer birding tours there, which is very practical to have wilderness so close to comfort. :-)

i also really enjoyed visiting the historic center. One tip here. If you have a car and stay in an hotel near the beach, you can easily go there by yourself. Apart from very small portions, there's no real traffic on the coastal road. Parking is limited in old city, but one parking is particularly well located: Parqueadero La Marina. whe it's time to leave, you can immediately go out of the walls using the side road, so you're not stuck in middle of old town with one ways and blocked roads. I arrived there around 8:30am and left before lunch, and could reach my hotel in La Boquilla in less than 7 minutes.

Next stop, the Tayrona park region

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