People ask us for an island getaway and then picture a three-hour transfer and a whole day lost each way. It isn't that. We're on Tierra Bomba, the island sitting right across the bay from Cartagena, and the crossing takes 25 minutes. You can have breakfast in the old town and be in the sea by late morning.
Here's how the whole thing works, from the boat to the bill.
Getting here: a 25-minute boat, and no other way
You come by water. There's no bridge to Tierra Bomba and no car access, so the options are our boat or, if you're feeling flush, a five-minute helicopter (our friends at Galavanta handle that side of things).
Our boat leaves Cartagena from the Muelle de la Bodeguita at 10am, 11:30am and 5pm, and heads back to the city at 4pm and 5:30pm. Reserve your seat: the boat has limited capacity, and if you turn up hoping for a space that isn't there, the wait for the next one is long.
The crossing itself is usually smooth, and calmer than the run out to the Rosario Islands. In windy weather it gets choppy without being alarming. Getting on and off requires a bit of agility, which is worth knowing if anyone in your group is unsteady on their feet. If the tide is high or the sea is rough we dock in the village instead, about a mile away, and you ride pillion on a motorbike taxi from there. Most people end up liking that part best.
From the airport to us, door to door, is about an hour. Leave three hours before your flight on the way out.
How many nights
Two or three. One night is a shame, because you spend half of it thinking about the boat home. Two gives you a full day where nothing is scheduled. Three means you can dive, get into Bocachica village, and still have a day where the biggest decision is poolside or beach.
If you're here longer and start craving pavement, that's normal. Guests staying more than a week are welcome to spend the odd night at our sister property, Townhouse, in the middle of the Walled City. You can also go back and forth on the boat as often as you like.
What it costs
Rooms are priced per room, based on two sharing, and include a day's beach club access per guest: pool, volleyball, a sun-lounger and towel service. We have 11 rooms in total, and up to 30 people can sleep here.
Full board, meaning all your food and soft drinks, is $90 per person per night. We don't do an all-inclusive bar. There's a $20 per night resort fee, which pays for the things a city hotel gets from the grid and we have to make ourselves out here.
On cancellations, we're straight with you: accommodation is 50% refundable up to 30 days before check-in, and inside 30 days the deposit is neither refundable nor transferable. Day passes and boat transfers work differently, with 97% refunded up to 4pm the day before for groups under eight.
Check-in is from 3pm and check-out by 11am, but unless there's a private event on, you can use the beach club before you check in and until 5:30pm on the day you leave. So a late boat back doesn't cost you your last day.
The days themselves
Quiet midweek, livelier at weekends. The Saturday pool party runs 1 to 5, with music, and if that's not what you came for, book Tuesday.
Things you can actually do here: dive the house reef (a discovery dive is $90, no experience needed), ride a mountain bike, take a boat out to the Rosario Islands, or walk into Bocachica. The village has no running water and no paved roads, and going in tells you more about this island in an hour than we could in a page. Don't go expecting cafes and boutiques. Go expecting a village.
Snorkelling is the one thing we'll talk you out of. Our beach opens onto the wide ocean, and while there's a house reef, it sits at six metres with choppy water above it. A one-hour dive gets you to it properly.
The beach is volcanic sand, so it's darker than the white you'll have seen in photos of the Rosarios. It's natural, it's clean, and the sea in front of it changes with her mood.
Eating
Our kitchen was built by Chef Silvestre Saiz Cortazar, and Pedro Mosqueda runs it now as Executive Chef. We buy carefully, mostly local, and only serve meat that's sustainably raised. We were also the first beach club in Cartagena with a wine list, which we mention because someone always asks whether it's fried fish and warm beer out here. It isn't.
You can't bring your own food or drink, and if you're a group of 10 or more, our group lunch menu is $45 per person.
Know before you go
There's no mobile signal on the island, so sort your plans with us on WhatsApp before you get on the boat, and warn anyone who might panic at silence. Bring a towel for the beach club. Bring cash for the village. And book the boat with your room, not on the day.
See you on the boat.