Spending the Night at Playa Blanca

I just had to stay in a hut on the beach. Everybody said it would be worth it. It’s better than a day trip, they said. It’s so beautiful when the crowds leave, they said. And so I did. Peer pressure’s a bitch.

While visiting Cartagena, there are tons of options for trips to the nearby beaches and islands – especially Isla Barú and Islas Rosario. Being a port city and all, Cartagena has beaches, though apparently they aren’t super nice. I have yet to visit the Bocagrande neighborhood where they’re located but I’ll take the Internet’s word for it.

But after reading so many lovely accounts of Playa Blanca, the popular Caribbean beach located on Isla Barú, I knew I wanted to visit and maybe even spend the night. During the day, it’s a common attraction for foreigners as well as Colombian tourists. People are shuttled, bused, and boated in from Cartagena and other cities.

The negative reviews that Playa Blanca receives come from the crowds, touts, vendors, and trash that sometimes accumulates due to all the tourism and crowds. And man are people trying to sell you stuff there! Jewelry, ice cream, “fresh” oysters (yea right I am not eating that out of your bucket, I don’t care how much lime juice you squeeze on it), fruit, jet ski rides (moto moto!), and oh my god so many massages.

For a better experience, the collective Internet “They” advise that visitors walk to one of the far ends of the beaches to avoid as many of these vendors as possible, or half your day will be spent saying, “No, gracias” and telling people in your broken Spanish that, “Yes, thank you very much, I know I am lovely, but I do not want to go on your jet ski to the mangroves even though I’m sure there is lots of lovely sea life. I just want to sit and read and relax.” (I am actually very good at saying that last sentence.)

But all of this chaos disappears at night when the vendors go home and the sun starts to set. After 3:30 most of the tours, boats, and buses have left, and therefore everybody who’s trying to sell them stuff leaves soon after. By 5:00 or 6:00 PM the beaches are almost empty except for those few who have decided to spend the night. The scenery is tranquil, the water is clear, and there’s often a beautiful sunset.

And the thing is, for some reason, not that many people choose to spend the night. Despite a wide range of accommodations on the beach, from hammocks and tents to palapa-esque hostels with private rooms, fans, and nighttime electricity, most tours will insist you only visit for the day or even a couple of hours. With these tours, you’ll likely arrive around 11 AM and then have to depart around 3 pM. That is definitely not enough beach time for me. So your other alternative is spending the night at Playa Blanca.

How do you do it? Well, I’m sure there are other better, cheaper ways. But this is how I did it…

Book a Shuttle from a Hostel

I stayed at El Viajero which offered a round-trip shuttle that left Cartagena at 9:30 AM or 1:00 PM for COP 50,000 (about $17.50). I’m sure this is inflated, but I knew I didn’t want to take a tour or negotiate for a boat ride on the docks (and possibly not be guaranteed a ride back). This hostel shuttle option allowed me to either return from the beach at 3 PM that day or stay the night and return the next day at 11 AM or 3 PM… or even a few days later if I wanted.

Hostel Media Luna and Mamallena offer these same shuttle services. We picked up others on our way out of Cartagena.

Just make sure you tell your driver or the rep at your hostel when you plan on returning so there’s space for you in the van on your way back (when you’re hot and covered in sand and desperate for a shower). I did not do this and the driver tried to give me a hard time, but thankfully it was just me and one other girl in the van on the way back, so it was fine.

Stay in a Hostel on the Beach… or Don’t

Upon our arrival to the parking lot of Playa Blanca, a bouncy, friendly Argentine girl approached us with flyers for Hostal Playa Blanca, offers of fans, wifi, electricity, and private rooms for 35,000 COP per person (about $12 USD). Now, I had been planning on sleeping in a hammock, so this was music to my ears.

After hemming and hawing over the decision of whether or not to spend the night, I decided I’d scope out the crowd that was planning on staying, see if I could find a friend, and then make up my mind. When I met a Chilean girl, Kate, at our hostel the night before, she insisted that you had to stay the night to see how beautiful the beach was, that all her friends had recommended it, and that she would stay with me so I wouldn’t be so nervous about potentially being alone, stranded, in the dark, on the beach. Because obviously, this was secretly my worst fear.

So when we were approached with offers of an actual room with a bed on the beach, we let ourselves be whisked away immediately. We were dragged onto a little boat that took us way down the beach, away from all the hustle and bustle, and thankfully, most of the touts as well. En route, we could see all of the different accommodations available on the beach, from hammocks, to eco habs, hostels, and even an all-inclusive resort on the far, far end.

Stay at Hostal Playa Blanca… or Don’t

We arrived at a stretch of beach where the palapa style Hostal Playa Blanca was located; it came complete with a bar, music, and beach chairs. Sure, this will do! We were shown two rooms to choose from:  one in the back with a window, a fan, a double bed, and a twin bed (well, mattress on the floor) or a room facing the beach with a fan, a double bed, and an always open front door (well, to be fair, it had a blanket covering the opening). As my second worst fear was being hot as hell, sandy, and salty all night, we opted for the beachfront room, if solely for the potential breeze. Sharing a bed would be worth it.

That’s kinda the beauty of this whole travel thing. Kate and I had known each other for less than twelve hours, and there we were sharing a bed in a hut on the beach.

A note about the toilets:  They exist (thank God), and there are three. Just know that if you use them, in order to “flush” them, you go to the nearby trash cans containing seawater, fill up a bucket with water, and pour it down the toilet until the water runs clear. This was actually not as bad an arrangement as I’d thought. I kind of imagined there would be no bathrooms… or a hole in the ground. It’s also COP $5,000 for a shower, which we opted against.

There are other options, of course. The French girl I rode back with stayed nearer to the parking lot entrance in a hammock, for around COP $5,000 I believe (possibly Hugo’s Place). She said the establishment had lockers and a security guard. Another one of my many hostel roommates from the week recommended the tents, hammocks, and huts at a set-up called Mar del Plata.

Have an Awesome Lunch of Fresh Fish and Coconut Rice

One of the (actually super nice) vendors selling jewelry recommended a place to eat where they serve freshly caught fish rather than fish from the market. Our hostel wanted us to order food in advance, and the kitchen oddly closed at certain times of the day, so we walked down the beach a ways and took the jewelry guy’s word for it – even if he was getting some sort of kick-back for his recommendation.

This spot served generous portions of fish, coconut rice, salad, and patacones for COP $25,000. We were sold.

Kate, looking effortlessly photogenic as always

We had a delicious, relatively healthy and filling lunch on the beach… so filling actually that we didn’t need dinner. (That could also have something to do with the fact that we ate lunch at 3 PM. These Latina girls and their eating habits are killing me!)

Swim at Sunset

Enough said. Enjoy the fact that the waters are calm and clear, there’s nobody there, the location is beautiful, and you aren’t being sold anything. We read our books, took photos, sunbathed, and chatted with some Argentines who arrived that afternoon. The sky turned some beautiful colors before the sun finally disappeared. We had a couple Cuba libres (2 for COP $20,000) at happy hour, drank some Aguila beers, and went to sleep early. Because, you know, it got dark around 6 PM and all that sun really drains ya.

Sleep… Or Don’t

Well, we went to bed early. I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight-ish because of the loud music playing directly below us, penetrating the already thin floor beneath my hard mattress (and don’t get me started on the pillow). While it was a very, very cool experience staying in this treehouse style room, it wasn’t super comfortable and I didn’t sleep all that much. But, you know, back to basics.

I’m sure if you had a few more drinks, you’d sleep just fine. And certainly lots of folks did stay up drinking and dancing.

Bring Enough Cash and Keep Track of What You Spend

I shouldn’t have to say this right? There aren’t any ATMs at the beach, as you might imagine, so bring enough cash to last you however long you plan to stay. And keep track of your drinks (at Hostal Playa Blanca anyway). They have a tab system at the bar… that may not be that accurate.

You pay your bill before you leave, and I definitely had to contest a few items. I wouldn’t have been able to pay for half the stuff they tried to put on there, because I didn’t bring that much cash… as I thought I’d be roughing it in a hammock.

This was my exchange with the owner while settling up:

Item:  Boat to and from parking lot for COP 60,000

“What? Nope, that was included.” (I’m not certain on this, but they definitely didn’t tell us we had to pay for the boat ride we were dragged onto).

Okay, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. *crosses it off*

Item:  Happy hour drinks for 20,000

“No, I paid in cash for those.

Oh, okay.” *crosses off*

Item:  Two Aguila beers

“Nah, I only had one beer.”

Okay, okay.” *crosses off*

Total: COP $55,000 for room, a cocktail, and a beer.

Is okay? 

“Sí! Gracias!”

Then I handed over the cash and hopped in the boat to head back. Finally, we’d finally come to a number that sounded somewhat legit, so I took the opportunity to exit.

A little shady, yes, and the rates of the room change too, so definitely remember what you bargained for or you could end up paying for a lot of extras. Kate got lucky. She said he just asked at the end of her stay, “So, what did you have? And how much did we say the room was again?” I can’t help but think the owner just didn’t like me because I didn’t speak Spanish super fluently and told him his caipiroska was too sweet.

So is spending the night at Playa Blanca worth it?

All in all, despite the weirdness of the hostel owner, I’d say that if you don’t mind roughing it a bit, you should definitely spend the night. You get to see a side of Playa Blanca that most people don’t when they just go for the day.

It’s extremely relaxing and very beautiful and calming once the crowds leave. The water is aqua, and going to sleep and waking up to the sound of the waves is absolutely lovely. And if that’s not enough for you, there are activities like snorkeling, kayaking, and visiting the bioluminescent plankton and mangroves nearby. For me, I think I would’ve always wondered if I was missing out had I not stayed the night.

Hey, maybe next time I’ll get that hammock!

Would you guys do spend the night on the beach? How do you feel about these accommodations?