My 30th Birthday: 5-Day Colombia Itinerary

For the first time in my life, I successfully made an itinerary for a trip. My 30th, to be exact. I planned a five-day trip to Cartagena, Colombia, and took pride in having carefully planned everything. The itinerary was meant to be just guide for us, and not meant to be followed to a t. That's exactly how the trip went, so let's get into my 5-day Colombia itinerary.

We found round-trip flights through Copa Airlines for about $361 (which wasn’t our first option, but we went with it anyway). The flight included a one-hour layover in Panama. If I'm being honest, I wouldn’t suggest flying Copa. Before this trip, I supported Copa wholeheartedly (having traveled once with them before), but this trip solidified my original objections. Since there were five of us going, we wanted a space preferably with more than two bathrooms (three was ideal). The place we found was BEAUTIFUL. It came with three bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool in the living room, and a rooftop. It was perfect, and the host and his team were amazing. The place was located in the heart of Getsemani, a town known for its street art, murals, and architecture. This is also where you can find great nightlife, markets, malls, you name it.

Day 1: I wanted to ease into the trip with a very calm day, so the first day didn’t consist of too much. The plan was to spend the afternoon exploring Getsemani and end our exploration watching the sunset at Café Del Mar. we would head back to the Airbnb to get ready for dinner at Ana, and end the night bar hopping.

How it actually went: Since our flight landed at 11 am, our hosts were kind enough to let us check in early. We got ready and walked to the Walled City to have lunch at La Mulata, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant with seafood cuisines. I ordered the Mojarra- fried fish, rice and peas, and plantain chips. The fish was amazing. Better than fried fish I've had in the states, but that was expected. A couple others ordered the steak and weren’t too thrilled about it, but the ceviche was a 10/10. To top it off, everything was cheap. After lunch, we headed back to the Airbnb and decided to spend the night inside. We were exhausted from traveling all day, so we needed rest. Somehow, we ended up right back outside at Playa de Los Coches (where the nightlife is) to find food.

Day 2: This was my birthday, and I purposely planned the Rosario Island tour on this day. The Rosario Islands is a four-stop tour from 8 am to around 3 pm, to Playa Blanca, Orika-Isla Grande (twice, but different islands), and then to Cholon, the party island. Many group tours offer a variety of prices, but we found tickets through Tripadvisor for $74 (this didn’t include the tourist port fee, which is only about $14). One of the stops includes lunch, but everything else (drinks and food) is not included. I’ve done a boat tour before, and I remembered how hectic it got, so I didn’t plan anything until later that night. We were to have dinner at Niku and then end the night at Monkey Bar.

How it actually went: The Rosario Island tour was successful. The tour didn’t end until around 4 pm, which was enough time to head back home, nap, and get ready for the night. We weren’t able to make reservations for Niku, so we ended up at Cande (a traditional cuisine restaurant with live music), which was a great choice. The vibe was perfect and much needed for the night. The food was also amazing. We all ordered appetizers: picada caribe (crab claws, fish ceviche, stuffed crab shells, mussels and calamari, ceviche, crème de langosta (lobster bisque). My main dish, the arroz marinero (seafood rice with half-grilled lobster tail, prawns, conch, calamari, shrimp, and black mussels was AMAZING. The drinks were also good, and again, the prices? You couldn’t beat. Since we had a late dinner, we decided not to go out again. We were drained, but somehow, we ended up on the rooftop, playing Uno and drinking until 5 in the morning.

Day 3: Since the day before was a lot, I planned a relaxation day. Totumo Volcano was going to be the first stop. After the volcano, we planned to spend the rest of the day at Eteka Beach Club, a boutique hotel and slow beach club. After the beach club, we would head back to the Airbnb to get changed and then out to salsa classes. Back to the Airbnb for dinner with the chef, and then end the night partying.

How it actually went: Due to us staying up until 5 am prior, we barely made it up in time for either the volcano or the beach club. I knew that Totumo Volcano was an early morning excursion, but I was unaware of how long the excursion would be. I was also unaware that Eteka Beach Club had specific times for their ferry, the earliest being 10 am and the latest being 1 pm. I don't think I saw that n their website. Either time we choose, we wouldn’t be able to do both the volcano and the beach club, so we opted out of both. We ended up doing brunch at Epoca, which I would highly recommend, exploring Getsemani, and then finally enjoying the nightlife. We spent the entire night at Monkey Bar, which is a popular tourist lounge. It was a vibe, but I also prefer to hear a variety of music when I'm out. You know? Music that really get the crowd going. That’s my only complaint.

Day 4: I planned for us to do the Palenque tour this day, which was from 8 am-3 pm. After the tour, we would go back to the Airbnb, and then end the night at a cooking class.

How it actually went: We planned a beach day instead of the Palenque tour. Before the beach, we had lunch at Mexican restaurant called Rosa Mezcal. The food and drinks were good, but honestly, I’ve had better tacos. Since Cartagena isn't known for their beaches, it was a little hard to find one that wasn't an actual beach club. Our Airbnb hosts kept recommending us to beach clubs, which we objected to because our beach club day was already scheduled. We ended up finding a local beach about 15 minutes from us and spent about two and a half hours there. After the beach, we napped and headed out for the night. We ended up back on the tourist strip, Playa de Los Coches, but this time, we avoided the tourist traps. It's funny because we all agreed to not drinking as much that night, but somehow ended up this Wild Wild West-themed bar called The Saloon Gastrobar. Now, this place was exactly what we were looking for and needed. They played everything from Afro-beats to R&B and HipHop. The drinks were good, they had a mechanical bull, and the overall vibe was just great. We stayed there the entire night.

Day 5:  Sunday was reserved for brunch at Epoca, followed by a beach day and dinner at whichever place we decided.

How it actually went: Since we did our beach day the day before, this day was strictly for Eteka Beach club. We were so excited about this place! Eteka has beach passes ranging from $67pp to $83pp. The light day pass (the $63) included roundtrip transportation, a welcome cocktail, one non-alcoholic drink, access to two beaches and a pool, and a two-course lunch (main and dish and dessert). The $83 pass included everything listed above, except a three-course meal (starter, main dish, and dessert). This pass also included 20 lunch options, which all looked and sounded amazing. Everything was exactly as advertised upon arriving, except when it came to lunch. The pass included a selected “chef’s special” menu, for which we could only decide between two starters and two desserts. For the main course, our pass only included a select number of courses, all of which had to be under a certain price. If you picked a course outside the set price, you were required to pay the difference. Luckily, the food ended up being pretty good, and the beach club as a whole was amazing. The staff was pleasant, the views were immaculate. It was the perfect way to end our trip.

In all, I had a great time in Cartagena. It was the perfect balance between relaxation and partying, and I’m glad I went with the ones I did. I would like to explore other parts of Colombia though: Medellin or Bogota.

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