The best day trips from Cartagena are the short ones, and it took us a few years of living out here to be comfortable saying so. A three hour drive each way eats the day you came for, and you'll spend the good light in a van. So we've ranked these by how much of your day the travelling takes, not by how they photograph.
We run a beach club and hotel on Tierra Bomba, 25 minutes out of the city by boat, which is a bias we may as well declare in the first paragraph.
Tierra Bomba: 25 minutes, the shortest one
An island you can reach before your coffee gets cold. Our boat leaves the Muelle de la Bodeguita at 10am, 11.30am and 5pm, and comes back from us at 4pm and 5.30pm. The day pass with return transfers is $40, a sun lounger is $5 to $30 on top, and you pay for what you eat and drink.
Our point of view, since it's our island: come here for the water, the food and a long lunch, not for postcard sand. Our beach is volcanic, so it's darker than the white stuff people expect from the Caribbean. It's natural, clean, and faces open ocean. Reserve the boat, because it has limited capacity and the wait for the next one is long.
The Rosario Islands: white sand, rougher ride
An archipelago southwest of the city, and the trip most visitors mean when they say island day. The sand is white, the water is flat and clear, and someone will paddle a canoe over to sell you a coconut. We run a private speedboat out there for guests, with lobster at the other end.
The honest trade: the crossing is longer and considerably rougher than ours. If you're prone to seasickness or travelling with small children, that ride is the thing to think about, not the sand. Go for snorkelling and flat water; don't go for a lie-in.
Bocachica and the forts: a five minute motorbike taxi
This is the village on our island, at the mouth of the bay the Spanish spent two centuries defending. It has no paved roads and no running water, and more character than anywhere on the standard tour. We walk guests through it, out to the San Fernando fortress, and usually into a beer with someone who lives here.
The expectation to leave behind: there are no chic restaurants or bars. That's the whole point. If you want the best view on the island, the walk up to the Angel San Rafael fort is the one to do, and we pair it with cooking traditional Bocachica sweets with our foundation.
San Basilio de Palenque: the full day, and worth it
The first free town in the Americas, founded by people who escaped slavery, and still its own place: its own language, its own music, its own cooking. It sits about 50km southeast of Cartagena and takes roughly 90 minutes each way by road.
This is the one on the list where a guide is not optional, in our view. Palenque isn't an attraction with an entrance and a gift shop, it's a working town, and going with someone who has a relationship there is the difference between a visit and a stare. Block out the whole day, leave early, and don't try to pair it with a beach afternoon.
Volcán del Totumo: an hour north, and cash only
A mud volcano about an hour north of the city near Santa Catalina, where you climb a wooden ladder and lower yourself into a warm pit of mineral mud dense enough to float in. Attendants rub you down for a tip, and someone else rinses you off in the lagoon afterwards.
Take cash in small notes. Entry, the photo guy, the mud massage and the rinse are all separate little payments, and there's no card machine in a volcano. Our position: it's silly, it's fun, and it's an hour of your life rather than a day. People who like being handled by strangers love it. People who don't, really don't.
How we'd actually build the week
If you have three or four days in Cartagena, do one long inland trip and one short water day rather than two of each. Walk the Walled City on foot the day you arrive, before you've got your bearings, then take a boat out once you have.
And if you're coming to us for the day, message us on WhatsApp first. We answer reservations between 9am and 9pm, the beach club is open to day visitors from 11am to 6pm, and our kitchen runs from 10am to 11pm for anyone staying for dinner.
See you on the boat.