Start here: the island is small, the day isn't
Tierra Bomba is the island 25 minutes by boat off Cartagena, and you can fill three days on it without repeating yourself. We're on the southern shore at Playa Mamon, facing open ocean, which is why our sand is volcanic rather than white and why the swimming feels like the sea rather than a swimming pool with a view. Everything below is either ours or a short ride from our gate. Each activity has its own duration and price, and several want booking before you turn up, so ask us over WhatsApp rather than on the day.
One thing to get out of the way: there's no bridge. You arrive by boat, which also means the island never gets the crowd that the road brings to a mainland beach.
Under the water: dive, don't snorkel
Book a dive, not a snorkel. We say no to snorkelling and we'd rather say it here than when you're already in your fins: our house reef sits at 6 metres down and the surface water over it gets choppy, so you'd be swallowing seawater and seeing very little. A one hour scuba dive solves it, needs no previous experience, and puts you on the same reef properly.
If you've dived before and want to keep going, we run courses out of the same shop. If you've never breathed underwater, the one hour version is the low-commitment way to find out whether you like it.
Bocachica, the village at the other end
Go to Bocachica, and go with your expectations set right. It's the village on our island, it has no running water and no paved roads, and it has more soul than anywhere you'll walk that day. What it does not have is a row of chic restaurants and bars, so don't arrive hungry for that. We run a village tour with someone who actually lives on the island, which is the difference between walking through a place and understanding it, and a separate cooking and culture morning in the village if you'd rather learn something over a stove than a plaque.
The fort at Bocachica guarded the narrow channel into Cartagena's bay, and it's the other reason people cross the island. We've written about the village and the fort together, so we won't repeat it all here.
Across the island: two wheels, engine optional
See the island by moto tour if you want it covered in a morning, by mountain bike if you'd rather earn it. The island is bigger than the view from a lounger suggests, and the interior looks nothing like the shoreline. Both go out from us and both are worth pre-booking, because neither runs on demand.
Horse riding is off at the moment. We've suspended it and it'll be back, but we'd rather tell you now than have you arrive expecting a horse. Ask us when you book and we'll tell you where it stands.
In our kitchen, and out of it
Our kitchen is the reason a lot of people give the island a whole day. Pedro Mosqueda is our executive chef, and the cooking leans on what the islands actually grow rather than on what's easy to ship out. If you want in on it rather than just eating, we run a cooking class. If you want the other direction entirely, our supper club and our wine and dine evenings are the sit-down, long-table version of the same thing.
We were the first beach club in Cartagena to have a wine list, which we mention mostly because it explains why we sell rose by the magnum. Our cocktails are made with fresh juice.
The rainy hour, and the nerdy one
Make a glass or a candle. It sounds like a gift shop and it isn't: it's a workshop, it takes an afternoon, and you leave with the thing. There's also a private dance class, which is more useful than you think if you're going back to the city that night.
Then there's our back of house sustainability tour, which is the one we're quietly proudest of. We're B Corp certified and solar-powered, and the tour is where we show you the composting, the water, the waste, and the parts we still haven't fixed. We send half a ton of waste to landfill a month and we'll tell you that on the tour rather than leave it off the website.
What the island won't give you
White sand. For that you want the Rosario Islands, and we run boats out there. Fair warning: that crossing is rougher than ours, which is smooth most days.
Also: no phone signal on the island, and we're not wheelchair accessible. The hotel was built before we knew better and we're not going to pretend otherwise. See you on the boat.