Do we have rooms with private plunge pools?
Yes. Five of our eleven rooms have their own plunge pool, and none of those pools is shared with anyone. Three are Cabanas with Plunge Pool. Two are Premium Cabanas with Plunge Pool. All five are standalone bungalows with thatched roofs, set on their own terraces rather than stacked in a block, and all of them are on Tierra Bomba island, 25 minutes by boat from Cartagena.
That is the whole answer. The rest of this page is the detail we'd give you on WhatsApp if you asked which one to book.
Cabana with Plunge Pool: the three standalone bungalows
Each one is 270 square feet, sleeps two, and faces in across our grounds towards the pools and gardens rather than out at the water. Bedding is a super king, or two singles if you'd rather, and we can add a third single bed for a child or a third adult for an extra charge.
What you get outside the room matters more here than what's inside it. The terrace is large, with the plunge pool set into it, a daybed big enough to actually sleep on, a lounge and a hammock. The bathroom is outdoors: our signature rainfall shower with hot water, stone walls, plants. Inside there's air conditioning, electric blackout blinds, a desk, handmade furniture and original artwork, an espresso machine with fair trade Colombian coffee in compostable pods, and wifi that holds up.
Book this one if you want your own pool and your own front door, and you don't mind facing the gardens.
Premium Cabana with Plunge Pool: the two newest ones
These are our newest cabanas and, honestly, the ones we show off. The room is entirely glass fronted, so you get 180 degree views from the bed, and there are electric blackout blinds for when you don't want them. Also 270 square feet, but occupancy goes to three, and there's a chaise longue inside.
The bathroom is the difference. It's outdoors like the others, but it has a full size bath as well as the rainfall shower, so you can do the bath at night and the pool in the morning. The plunge pool sits in front of the room with views onto the property, and the cabana is set back from the main pool area, which means less noise reaching you on a Saturday. These are the two we put honeymooners in.
What the pools are actually like
A plunge pool is for sitting in with a drink, not for laps. Ours are fresh water with a little chlorine in them, the same as our main pools, so no salt sting and no sting of anything else either. They're on your terrace, they're not overlooked by other rooms, and nobody is going to walk past and drop a towel on your lounger.
If you want a proper swim, the main pool and the beach club are a short walk away and your room rate includes beach club access with a sun lounger reserved for you for every day of your stay.
What comes with the room
- Unpacking service: free, just tell us you want it. Laundry and repacking is available for a charge.
- The Good Apple Honesty Bar: open to you from 6pm to 8am, for the hours when the bar staff have gone home.
- Ponchos instead of bathrobes: limited edition, by the Colombian artist Diana Herrera. Bathroom amenities are by Loto del Sur.
- Beach club access: included per night of your stay, sun lounger and towel service included.
Two things we'd rather tell you now than have you discover later. There's a resort fee of US$20 per night, because out here we make our own power and water rather than plugging into the city's. And the cabanas are reached by sandy paths, so we are not wheelchair accessible and we're sorry about it.
Getting to a plunge pool that's 25 minutes offshore
Our boat leaves Cartagena from the Muelle de la Bodeguita at 10am, 11:30am and 5pm, and comes back from us at 11am, 4pm and 5:30pm. It's US$25 per person round trip, or US$100 for a private water taxi if those times don't work for you. The crossing is usually smooth, and calmer than the run out to the Rosario Islands.
There is no bridge to Tierra Bomba and no road, so a car is no use to you here. From the airport, door to door, allow an hour. Check-in is from 3pm and check-out is by 11am, and on your last day you're welcome at the beach club until 5:30pm, which is exactly when the last boat goes.
So which one should you book?
If it's two of you and the pool is the point, take a Cabana with Plunge Pool. If it's a honeymoon, an anniversary, or you simply want to lie in bed and see the whole property through a wall of glass, pay the difference for a Premium. If you're three, the Premium is the one that fits without an extra bed squeezed in.
And if you're still deciding, message us. We know which of the five is quietest on a Saturday. See you on the boat.