Tag: Islas de San Bernardo

The Beautiful Islas De San Bernardo

The beautiful Islas De San Bernardo, combined with the Islas Rosario (where I dove outside of Cartagena), make up one of Colombia’s national parks. There are 9 coastal coral islands in San Bernardo and I was going to stay on one of them, Isla Mucura.

These southernmost islands are much less busy than the Rosario islands, which makes sense since Cartagena is much busier than Tolu.

Getting There

The manager of the hotel I was booked into arranged for my passage on the launch on Saturday morning between 8:30-9am. We left at 9:15. But not before everyone had to walk into the ocean and climb a ladder to get onto the boat! Not kidding, even the old folks climbed this ladder. And they were quite agile!

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A Trip to Tolu

For my last weekend on my own, I wanted to explore the country around Cartagena. I looked in my Lonely Planet for ideas of a weekend getaway. Then I read it – 2 hours by bus to the south and a cute little beach town called Tolu! Sold! I took a trip to Tolu.

Planning for Tolu

I booked a hostel for Friday night in Tolu and packed my bag. Another independent adventure in Colombia! I couldn’t wait.  And when I learned the school was closing at 1pm on Friday, I was even more excited. I could catch an earlier bus and check out the seaside town before nightfall.  Fun!

Bus Ride to Tolu

The 2 hour bus ride turned out to be almost 4 (we left late and then got stuck behind something without moving for 40 minutes), so I missed the sunset. The bus leaves from the Terminal Transporte in Cartagena, supposedly every hour. I got to the terminal at 1:45P, was told the bus was at 2:30p and it left at 2:45p. The cost itself is very cheap, only 30,000 COP each way ($13.50 CAN, $10.50 US). The bus is air conditioned, has WIFI, reclining seats and shows movies. I am told this is standard for the distance bus services in Colombia. Not bad! I just wish it had been faster.

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