Isla Grande, Cartagena, Colombia

Isla Grande in the Rosario Islands in Colombia was a nice little island escape from Cartagena city. There are several islands you can travel in the Caribbean to depending on your price range and the distance you want to travel. We opted for Isla Grande as it was nearby and we could get a boat ticket for the next day. White sand, blue skies and even bluer water, how could we resist when we were so close?

We did a lot of research but I still don’t think I was quite prepared for this big little island. The boat ride out there was about 90 minutes and a bit bumpy. It is secluded and a perfect place to relax and read a book for a couple days. The wifi wasn’t so strong and there just aren’t a ton of people wandering around so enjoy the peace and quiet.

Most of the hostels that we found didn’t have kitchens to use at all so that left us with either purchasing some basic foods on the mainland and bringing it with us or buying our meals in the restaurants there. The prices were a bit steep for basic things like 20,000 ($6) for spaghetti or 35,000 ($10) for fish which isn’t a lot but for the average Colombian meal it is.

We only stayed one night and woke up to find the cutest crab in our room! hah! This was definitely Island living.

As soon as we arrived we looked into our different options for activities and decided on a canoe ride through the mangroves. This was about 30,000 ($9) per person and was an awesome little trip through the thickest mangroves I had seen and around the lagoons. I was worried about dropping my camera in so I just took my iPhone with my waterproof case lol. We saw birds and snakes and it was so calm and enjoyable.

Of course, when on an island some swimming and relaxing at the beach is a must. The water was just gorgeous and it was so lovely, a great place to grab a coconut and chill out! Towards the end of the day it got windy so the sand started blowing everywhere but we were ready for find some dinner by then anyway.

We left the next afternoon and a word of advice to anyone considering going to the islands… Don’t take anything with you that isn’t waterproof. The ride out there wasn’t bad at all but the ride back to the mainland was something else entirely! The entire wayI was getting splashed with water… correction… I was getting drenched with water. I tried to protect my small bag as much as possible but by the time we reached land I was completely soaking wet and dripping. My bag is water resistant so my camera inside and phone were spared but that was by far the wettest boat ride I’ve ever been on including any themes parks I’ve been to.