The 15 Best Playa Blanca & Barú Beach Trips from Cartagena

1.Full-Day Rosario Islands Including Barú, Bocachica & Playa Blanca

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 1,729 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $88Our pick

Review the Rosario Islands day trip from Cartagena, with snorkeling, Cholón, Playa Blanca, lunch, boat tips, costs, and who should book.

“The boat was CRAMMED with people. You’re thrown in with random groups of families and partners. And it was not a nice boat. The first island could have been skipped. Snorkeling was great, as was the party island and the lunch. But I would definitely try to find a more private boat for a better time.”

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2.Baru and Playa Blanca Full Day

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 371 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $39

Review of Cartagena’s Playa Blanca day trip: clear Caribbean water, lunch, transport, beach chairs, vendors, rustic facilities, and real value.

“Awful company. Stay away from them if possible. Their advertisement features a “comfortable air-conditioned transportation ” and it is actually an old van very unsafe. The expected pickup time was 6:30 am and they only showed up at 7:15am (45 minutes waiting for them). On the way we had to stop in the middle of the road to change to another van to go to the final destination. On the way back, we supposed to be back in Cartagena by 2:30 and we got back around 6pm. Other than the traffic, the reason for the delay was because our old-unsafe van, crashed against a tree and broke the windshield. Please…”

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3.Playa Blanca in Baru Island

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 208 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $75

Review of Cartagena's Playa Blanca tour to Baru Island, with beach tips, transport details, lunch value, vendors, guides, and what to expect.

“Beautiful white sand and blue waters, the place itself is beautiful, however it’s not out of this world, been too many other beaches better than this. Be prepared to get pestered and bombarded by locals trying to sell you things , we just ignored them. The tour leader was nice.”

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4.Cartagena: Snorkel, Mangroves and Playa Blanca Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.8 · 132 reviews

Review of Cartagena's Baru snorkeling and mangrove tour, with Playa Blanca lunch, transport details, guide tips, and honest drawbacks.

“This tour was one of my favorite tours while in Colombia. I had never done snorkeling before so I really enjoyed it. The tour was great. Daniel (bus guide) Ivan (boat guide) both did a great job. They promised to send me all the pictures they took and they did the only thing I’d recommend for anyone planning to attend this tour is to make sure your tour guide sprinkles some bread before they snap your pictures to make sure they capture fish around you otherwise you will end up with just a picture of yourself under water :( I think that was the only downside for me. The food…”

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5.Cartagena: Isla Baru Beach Club at Playa Blanca

★★★★★★★★★★3.7 · 124 reviews · 8 hours · from $40

Review of Cartagena's Playa Blanca day trip, with Mambo Beach Club, lunch, transport, costs, practical tips, and honest drawbacks.

“My husband and I were unsure what to expect but overall very much enjoyed our trip to Playa Blanca. Finding our guide to board the charter bus to Playa Blanca was easy. Our start time was pushed to 10AM vs the 9AM that we had signed up for, which was a little annoying at first but worked out. It was over an hour to the beach after dropping off other guests at the Aviary. We were passed off to a waiter from Mambo once at the beach. He led us to the beach club, where we were greeted by the rest of the staff. English was limited here but manageable.…”

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6.Cartagena: Barù Island Playa Blanca with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★3.8 · 89 reviews · 7 hours · from $26Best value

Spend a beach day on Barú Island with hotel transport, bilingual support, fresh fish, coconut rice, and three hours at Playa Blanca.

“El transporte se demoró, llegamos pasadas las 10 a la playa y el tiempo de estadía en la playa se redujo. La salida sí fue puntual”

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7.Full day At Beach Club in Playa Blanca Baru cartagena

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 67 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $40

Review of Cartagena’s Playa Blanca Beach Club Mambo day trip, covering transport, lunch, facilities, beach conditions, costs, crowds, and practical tips.

“My family and I really enjoyed the water, however, please be aware that people selling items on the beach can be very persistent if you entertain them. The food was okay, nothing to really rave about. The walk heading down to the beach can be a bit much for those who have issues going up and down steps and the ride to and from the beach is about 1hr30min more or less depending on traffic. I suggest planning accordingly if you plan on doing something afterwards.”

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8.Playa Blanca Barú: VIP Access to Mambo Beach Club

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 61 reviews · 9 hours (approx.) · from $39

Review of Mambo Beach Club at Playa Blanca Barú, with transport, lunch, chairs, music, costs, beach conditions, and practical tips.

“This is the only bar on the beach that offers sunbeds without a parasol, and only these are included in the price. To be in the shade you have to pay 80k (or 50%) extra. The 30k meal voucher only buys you fried rice. If you want fish that's another 30k. Music is played very loud even in the morning so this is not the place for relaxation. You'll get a better deal elsewhere.”

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9.National Aviary & Mambo Beach Club Baru – Playa Blanca

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 55 reviews · 8 hours (approx.)

Visit Colombia’s National Aviary, watch a bird show, then relax at Mambo Beach Club on Playa Blanca with lunch and hotel transfers.

“My husband and I booked this excursion while visiting Cartagena and had a wonderful time! The National Aviary was so much fun. There are thousands of cool birds, and we even were able to make the park's live show. The beach was nothing but blue waters and white sand beaches. It was gorgeous. The beach club was a short walk from the parking lot, which honestly wasn't bad at all. The staff at Mambo Beach Club was so kind and welcoming. Amor was our server and made sure we were well taken care of the entire time. There were plenty of vendors on the beach, so bring pesos if you…”

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10.Playa Blanca Full-Day Trip from Cartagena

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 48 reviews · from $63

Review of Cartagena’s Playa Blanca day trip, with beach time, local lunch, transport details, costs, crowds, and practical tips.

“Our tour guide was amazing! He went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable. He even helped us confirm and locate our pick up point for a different excursion that we planned for the following day with another company! Definitely recommend going!”

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11.Rosario Islands Trip visiting Cholon, Playa Blanca and Snorkel

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 33 reviews · from $108

Visit Bocachica, snorkel Rosario reefs, party in Cholon, and relax at Playa Blanca on an eight-hour Cartagena boat trip.

“Cesar was INCREDIBLE! I will say that I’ve heard that the snorkeling is not-so-good in this region, but I found this to be false! This was one of the BEST snorkel adventures I’ve done in my life (I’ve done about 10)! So many different fish, just breathtaking!! Every one of the staff made everyone’s stay comfortable and MEMORABLE!”

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12.Full day at Isla baru playa blanca in Mambo Beach club

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 26 reviews · 8 hours · from $30

Review of Mambo Beach Club at Playa Blanca, Baru, with transport, lunch voucher, crystal-clear water, costs, and practical tips.

“me gustó mucho la atención y las instalaciones”

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13.Cartagena: Scuba Diving Day Trip at Playa Blanca with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 22 reviews · from $120

Review of Cartagena’s Playa Blanca scuba trip, with reef time, lunch, transport details, costs, and practical advice before booking.

“I asked for a guide in English, but had someone who only spoke Spanish. What was good was that the bus came to the hotel. An hour late, without letting me know or responding to a message. Furthermore, I got the entire explanation in Spanish. The guide did not know that I was registered for scuba diving. I had to find out for myself. Diving was very good, only the description said one hour of diving and this was only 20 minutes. Even after that I had to figure out where I had to go myself, the guide, Mary, was nowhere to be seen and did not respond to whatsapp…”

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14.Cartagena: Rosario Islands, Playa Blanca, Baru

★★★★★★★★★★3.1 · 20 reviews · 8 hours · from $36

Review of Cartagena’s Rosario Islands and Playa Blanca tour, with boat views, oceanarium visit, lunch, transport details, and honest value advice.

“As ilhas são lindas, mas devia haver um pouco nais de tempo nelas. Usamosnaescaras de mergulho em Pao Pao que estava lotada! Difícil ver peixes com tanta gente em volta, o grande espetáculo são as aves que sobrevivam a ilha. O ideal seria fazer mergulho em lugar com menos gente. O maior problema foi o ponto de encontro. Fomos para o lugar solicitado, mas la havia pessoas de outros grupos. Quase perdemos o passeio apesar de termos chegado na hora estipulada. O que menos gostei foi da guia Karen. Ela fala muito rápido e dá poucas informações que bao são precisas. Quando se escolhe um tour em espanhol nao necessariamente…”

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15.National Aviary and Playa Blanca Plankton Full-Day Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 17 reviews · 15 hours · from $83

Combine Barú beaches, Colombia’s National Aviary, and glowing plankton on a long, eventful day from Cartagena.

“This was such a terrible experience. At the beginning thy seemed very organized when they picked us up and took us to the aviary, then they just dropped us off with a “guide” who just left us and picked us up at 12. Then they took us to this semiprivate beach place called Mambo with mid food, extremely loud, they just left us, and went home I guess, and asked the restaurant waiters to take us to the new tour operator “AfroCorales” to give us the plankton tour, they sold us a photo package for 60k COP, and promised to send pics that so far have not shown up. Lastly,…”

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