Isla del Encanto, Cartagena // Colombia

If you are visiting Cartagena, a day trip to a surrounding island is a must. Here's why:

We had assumed Cartagena had beautiful beaches right off the main walled city. While we were correct in assuming it has beaches, I wouldn't necessarily call them beautiful. Boca Grande, the main strip (fashioned after Miami Beach in Florida) houses the longest stretch of beach closest to the historic city center in Cartagena. The beach is windy, overcrowded, and teeming with salesmen and women selling you everything from mangos, to massages, to worthless trinkets. I'm generally not very critical of any place we travel, but I have to say... Boca Grande was not really my cup of tea.

Fortunately for us, we had heard there were many beautiful excursions to the surrounding islands. We walked to a local travel agent, and shopped around for prices and options. The most popular beach is Playa Blanca, however it was going to be quite crowded the week we were there (as it backed up to New Years). Wanting a less crowded option, we booked a day trip out to Isla del Encanto.

This ended up being a fantastic option for us! Kevin and I paid a reasonable price for the all-inclusive tour. Included was round trip boat transportation out to the island (it took about 45 minutes each way), use of all beach chairs/cabanas/umbrellas, a delicious lunch (with lots of gluten free options, I might add!), a lovely beach with great facilities, and just really pretty grounds. I'd say the beach only had around 80 people on it, so it felt small {especially since many of the people chose to add other excursions to their day like snorkeling or scuba diving, taking them away from the beach!}. Kevin and I spent the whole day reading, swimming in the ocean, eating, and lounging on our beach bed!

I'm so glad we chose this fun adventure!! Happy Wednesday friends! xoxo