Short answer: you can pay us by card, but take some cash for the rest of the trip
Credit cards work on site with us, for the day pass, the loungers, lunch, the wine, all of it. You can also pre-pay when you reserve if you'd rather arrive with nothing to settle. What we can't do is speak for the city or for the village down the road, so we'd still put a few notes in your bag before you leave your hotel in Cartagena.
That's the whole answer. The rest of this page is the numbers, because the question behind "do I need cash" is usually "how much is this going to cost me".
What a day with us costs
A day pass with boat transfers is $40. That's the option we recommend to almost everyone: the boat out, the day here, the boat back.
On top of that you choose where you're lying down. A sun lounger runs $5 to $30 depending on where it is. A VIP daybed, which sits right in front of the pool, is $50. A beach cabaña, further from the music and closer to the sand, is $30. Then you pay for whatever you eat and drink in the restaurant, the same way you would anywhere.
So a straightforward day out, boat included, with a lounger and lunch, is a known quantity before you leave the dock. Nothing gets added at the end that you didn't ask for.
What a room costs, and the two things attached to it
Room rates are per room, based on two people sharing, and they include a day's access to the beach club and facilities per guest, per night.
Two things sit alongside the rate. The first is a resort fee of $20 per night. City hotels are plugged into public utilities; we are not, because we're on an island, and that fee is how the water, the power and the waste get handled out here. The second is the boat: transfers are not included in the room rate, so you arrange those with us separately.
If you'd rather not think about the bill at every meal, full board is $90 per person per night and covers all food and soft drinks. It does not cover the bar. We don't do an all-inclusive bar, and we're not going to start.
Taxes: what foreigners pay and what they don't
Foreign residents pay no tax on hotel accommodation in Colombia, which surprises people, pleasantly, at checkout. For Colombian residents, IVA is already included in the price you were quoted: 9% on accommodation, activities and souvenirs.
Food and drink are different. An 8% food tax applies to everything you eat and drink, for everyone, and it isn't refundable. Nobody gets that one back at the airport.
Cash for the village and the boat
Bocachica, the village on our island, has no paved roads and no running water. It has enormous character and it's worth the walk, but we'd take small notes with you rather than assume there's a card machine waiting. Same principle for taxis and street food back in the city.
The boat leaves Cartagena from the Muelle de la Bodeguita at 10am, 11:30am and 5pm, and comes back from us at 4pm and 5:30pm. Reserve your seat: the boat has a limited capacity, and if there's no space when you turn up, the next one is a long way off.
Can I have a discount?
No. We'd rather tell you that here than have the conversation at the desk. Our prices are what let us buy good ingredients, pay our team properly and keep the place standing in salt air. We don't compromise on those, so we can't compromise on the price either.
If you need to cancel
Day passes, lunch reservations and boat transfers, for groups of fewer than eight: we refund 97% of the deposit up to 4pm the day before. After that the deposit is non-refundable. Cancellations need to come in writing to hola@blueapplebeach.com.
Rooms: 50% back if you cancel more than 30 days before check-in. Inside 30 days the deposit is neither refundable nor transferable.
One practical thing about reaching us
There's no phone signal on the island, so calling us is optimistic at best. WhatsApp is how everything happens here, including the last-minute "we're running late for the 11:30" message. Send it and someone will see it.
See you on the boat.