Adventure full day Isla Barú + Mangroves + Snorkel + bioluminescent plankton
Description
You will live a magical adventure on Barú Island, the perfect place for a full day adventure, you will enjoy the wonders of the Colombian Caribbean, its crystal clear waters, where you will see different types of animals and birds, you will learn the importance of mangroves in our ecosystem. You will practice snorkeling and see different species of fish and their habitat. We will visit the Mambo Beach club in Playa Blanca, an exclusive place where you will enjoy its comfortable facilities and you can rest in front of the sea. the highlight of the day is the bioluminescent plankton, an unforgettable experience the most complete to discover the magic of the island that waits? Book your full day adventure today.
Tour Options
Itinerary
1. We start with the pick up at your hotel, hostel, accommodation or whatever your location is. between 6:00 am and 7:30 am in an air-conditioned transport We will pick up other travelers as well. You must be patient because traffic is sometime a problem. We will enjoy a panoramic tour of approximately 45 minutes through the beautiful city of Cartagena until we reach the Barú Peninsula. 2. We will pass through the Baru bridge without stopping where we will find the Corles del Rosario and San Bernardo National Natural Park. The Barú Peninsula (sometimes called Isla de Barú or simply Barú), is separated from the territory by the Canal del Dique. Until 2014 the only way to cross it was by raft, or its variants. It was in that year when the so-called "Baru Bridge" was inaugurated. (Barú is an artificial island that was formed almost 100 years ago by the construction of the Canal del Dique. The three towns on the island are Ararca, Santa Ana and Barú).
2. We arrive at Playa Blanca Famous for its white beaches and turquoise waters. it is the only public beach. . Once in Barú, we will walk about 5 minutes until we reach the Beach Club, where you can spend time in a sun lounger or chairs, you can explore the beautiful crystal clear waters. Lunch is a voucher for 30,000 consumables on the menu. You can make use of huts, lounge chairs, bathroom and social areas at no additional cost. 3.Visit to the Mangrove Swamp You will be picked up in a native boat to go to the mangrove swamps where you will see different types of animals and learn the importance of mangrove swamps in our ecosystem. You will practice snorkeling and see different species of fish and their habitat. At the end you will be able to feed them and interact with them.
On the white beach you will wait for nightfall, we will take you in the company of native islanders in a boat to see Plankton is a group of organisms that float and drift in suspension in fresh or salt water. when shaken, they produce a brilliant light like a star or diamond. Plankton performs a very important task in fixing or capturing CO2 found in the atmosphere and exporting it to deeper ocean waters or to the seabed. Plankton is also responsible for the production of more than half of all the oxygen on our planet. At the trophic level it is the beginning of the food chain.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We pick up the northern area of the City of Cartagena, the Historic Center, Bocagrande and Gethsemane. We will contact you to arrange a time and confirm the pick-up location. You must be in the lobby or meeting point at the time of pickup.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(116)
Fun day. A lot of down time (which we loved). Were transferred to different operators during the day, but were well taken care of. Not a lot of English. Simple ham sandwich before bioluminescence experience; when we said we were vegetarians, we got two slices of bread (only). All of the guides were kid and helpful. Overall, an outstanding experience.
Very disorganized. 1- We hired the bus service; they told us they would pick us up between 8:00 and 8:30 at the hotel, but at 8:15 they informed us that the bus trip was canceled due to protests on the road and that we would go by sea, but we had to pay an extra 80,000 COP plus the access to the dock plus the transportation to the dock (they later offered to reimburse us for the Uber, but it was actually insignificant). Later, the girl who gave us instructions via WhatsApp told us that the change was actually because very few people booked the tour, so it was not feasible. Therefore, they made us pay extra for something that is entirely their responsibility. They did not provide any sensible response. In the end, we paid because we did not want to have problems. They offered to reschedule, but when one travels for only a few days, they generally have everything organized; it would disrupt everything else we wanted to do if we changed the day. That is why we reserved well in advance. 2- They changed guides all the time; the one who took us to Barú left us with the snorkeling activity people and left (we did not see him again). Then they moved us from one spot on the beach to another location to do the plankton activity (we did not see the previous ones again) and we returned with them to Cartagena. 3- The return to Cartagena was a disaster. From the place in charge of the snorkeling activity, we had to carry all our things on the boat (we were carrying a large backpack because we were out all day and wanted to change clothes on the way back), we jumped into the water and then returned all wet. Upon arriving back at the beach, they made us get off the boat and walk to the beach exit and immediately get on a bus that took us closer to the hotels (those in the center were left at the clock tower and had to walk back all wet, in swimsuits, to their hotel). They didn't even give us 5 minutes to put on clothes or go to the bathroom. All of this at night. 4- The tour included photos taken during the snorkeling and mangrove activity, and they were going to send them to us via WhatsApp. More than a week later, I am still waiting for the photos; the person from the tour is not responding to my messages. Clearly, I would not hire any tour with this agency again. It was a huge mess.
espero este bien dando respuesta a su comentario en esos dias si habia protesta en el pueblo de santana por lo cual no se podia exponer a las personas por tal motivi optamos por salir via maritima y esta informacion fue enviada a todos los clientes que ese dia tenian actividad con nosotros y se les notifco con imagenes de la protesta y tambien se le dio la opcion con todos los adicionales que este traia como tambien se le dijo que se podia reagendar o cancelar el plan y que de esta manera supieran que habia otra oopcion pero que tendria adicionales el link de las fotos del tour de los mapaches se le envio por este misma plataforma para que descargue sus fotos tomeremos su comentario para seguir mejorando que tenga lindo dia
From start to finish this was a disaster. Get a message from the tour "meet us here at this time" with a whatsapp number. I go there at that time, message the number that I'm here. Signed up for an English tour, but aside from the first shpiel on the bus, no one actually ran any of the tours in English. No bother, I am like a B1, so I could manage in Spanish. First location was a restaurant at the beach, where they blasted music crazy loud (seemed like the guides whole job was to get us on the bus there and then hang out). Then went to the mangroves (reminder all is in Spanish though I signed up for English) which consisted of, quite literally, going about 10 meters into the groves, seeing the raccoons, then backing out of the groves. All of 15 minutes. Then "snorkeling" but...without snorkels. This was just something where they took us into medium deep water and gave us goggles. They did not have enough goggles for everyone so we had to take turns. 40 minutes (but that was mainly so everyone could get a chance, so I'd say 15/20 minutes of "snorkeling"). At this point we got back to the restaurant, waited for 3-4 hours for the plankton thing. I should have just gone home, but sunk cost fallacy kept me in. The guides left, and no one had bothered to tell the rest of us who to talk to, where to go, or anything. Eventually was herded by the restaurant staff (not the tour guides) to where the plankton boat would launch. Plankton thing was beyond a disappointment. I don't know why but they gave us all a struggle sandwich (bologna on white bread, literally that's all) as a"treat?". Plankton, very cool. I didn't care to have photos taken (extra 30mil cop) so I went with the "no photo-group". We stayed in the plankton area for ~15 minutes then went back. As we headed back we saw the "photo-group" and they were taking their time (presumably so everyone could get their photos taken, so why we were rushed back to the bus is beyond me). Ended up waiting on the bus for ~30 minutes until we'd all boarded. Finally, we're heading back and as a coup-de-grace, the tire on the bus explodes 45 minutes away from Cartagena. This wasn't a random puncture, but the entire tire exploded (I'm going to go out on a limb and say this was the first maintenance they did on that bus). I asked the guide what the plan was, but he spoke way too fast for me to understand. I asked him to speak slower, he asks what language I would prefer and I said English. The guide sighs, doesn't speak English (so literally why ask?). Eventually I get that they called for another bus that was 30 minutes away. 30 minutes later we're herded onto another bus and finally make our way back. Just a complete, unmitigated, disaster from start to finish.
First and foremost, we sincerely apologize for the frustrating experience you had with us, which fell far short of our quality standards. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to detail every aspect of your day; these types of reports allow us to correct serious issues immediately. We take your feedback very seriously and have already initiated the following corrective actions: Language and Guiding: We deeply regret that the English tour you paid for was not provided. We are auditing the performance of the guides assigned that day, as the lack of support, the dismissive attitude, and the language barrier you reported are completely unacceptable for our team. Logistics and Wait Times: We will immediately evaluate the itinerary for the mangrove activity, snorkeling (ensuring a complete inventory of equipment), and the downtime at the restaurant to prevent these delays and the lack of information from recurring. Safety and Maintenance: The situation with the vehicle's tire should never have occurred. We have requested a technical report from the transportation provider and a thorough fleet inspection to ensure the safety of all passengers. Thank you for your feedback; we will work hard to provide better experiences.
Poorly organized. The English guide was not terribly fluent. The place is overcrowded and filled with people constantly selling stuff.
We hope you are well. We are very sorry that your experience was not to your liking. We will continue to strive and work hard to ensure that our experiences meet the expectations of our visitors.
Mike amazing guide and all the staff on the lookout. Thank you.
agradecemos su comentario esto nos ayuda y nos motiva a seguir mejorando dia a dia en nuestros servicios de esta manera brindar servicio de calidad en la ciudad de cartagena
Satisfied with what you delivered, you lived up to our expectations.
espero este bien nos alegra mucha que todo fue de su agrado trabajamos duro dia a dia por brindar lindas experiencias en la ciudad de cartagena
They didn't take me to a quiet beach and the snorkeling is just the picture no 3 glasses for 25 people you couldn't swim or see fish. Also then we were changed places on the beach and could not get into the sea because it was full of stones and regular food almost gave me a damaged fish but the administrator noticed and changed it generally very regular
espero este bien agradecemos su comentario esto nos ayuda a mejorar dia a dia en nuestras actividades y brindar un servicio de calidad
Very nice the tour about the raccoons was the best although I would have liked it to last longer your visit everything was wonderful, highly recommended and your team very friendly
tomaremos en cuenta su recomendacion para seguir brindando un servicio de calidad a todos nuestros visitantes
juancho is a specialist guide tells you everything related to the tour I congratulate him and mambo is a nice place I came recently and highly recommend
agardecidos con su comentario ya que esto nos dice que estamos trabajando bien y brindando lindas experiencias en la ciudad que tenga lindo dia
Juancho was very attentive, explained all the activities, served the food on time and very rich... the snorkeling and the amazing raccoons
espero este bien nos alegra mucho que todo fue de su agrado trabajamos duro dia a dia por brindar lindas experiencias en la ciudad de cartagena
