Cartagena Reports

[DJHeywood]

Went through the forum, here are some questions I have as a CAR 1st timer coming for Christmas weekend. I'll make a detailed trip report and willing to share any exp I have from North Am and Europe.

Recs on where to stay girl friendly airbnb / hotel that's walking distance to clocktower / clubs and Playa bocagrande? Even worth staying walking distance and just Uber everywhere? Uber separate from picked up girls?

Background: Early 30 syo mixed brown gringo, have passed for Dominican or dark Cuban / Brazilian. Have exp (Miami / ATL, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Montreal, Tijuana, Cancun / Tulum, Bogota). My Spanish is weak, but enough to negotiate prices / service, greetings. I'm going solo.

Goal: To as safely & efficiently, have sex with working girls for my short stay. I should be situated by Fri evening and leave very early Mon morning. I don't plan on doing touristy things, or going too luxury on food until I figure out the girls. I don't care to drink much alcohol while soliciting.

Logistics: Last recs on where to stay in forum came up short.

Gameplan: 1 pm-6 pm range check out Playa HW. 10 pm-1 am scope out clocktower & clubs. I'd like to get 2 or 3 girls a day. I feel like I'll get the gringo tax even tho I pass for LatinX (until I speak). Plain face, but I'm in good shape & dress clean (but also plain, nothing flashy).

[Mr Enternational]

Don't pay it -- approach next one who catches you attention. The ballpark for Clock tower sh be 300,000 -320,000. It is Christmas season so prices will be inflated.

LOL. So he should be paying $80 instead of $100? Dude it is Colombia. Who cares what season it is. A taxi does not charge me more due to it being Christmas season, so those broads should not either. My first time to Cartagena I was also shocked at the prices of not only the girls, but also the accommodations. The prices are not on point with the rest of Colombia. Even San Andres Island is more inline with the rest of the country.

[Adinga]

Don't pay it -- approach next one who catches you attention.

The ballpark for Clock tower sh be 300,000 -320,000.

It is Christmas season so prices will be inflated.

I recommend staying out of the clubs as it is difficult to interview / converse with the girls.

Good luck.

[Jabskiiler]

My first time here to my shock a lot of the Chicas are asking $100 USD.

[Questner]

Call 165 Gaula in case of extortion.

https://www.policia.gov.co/

https://www.cartagena.gov.co/denunciascorrupcion

[Elvis 2008]

From a post on reddit:

Hi there. I'm from Medellin, Colombia, but I travel a lot and I've been thinking about doing a post about Cartagena, as I think many people need to know the reality.

What made me want to do it today was the recent post where a guy talks about his trip through Latin America and how he was robbed in Cartagena.

I would just like you to know that Cartagena is an absolutely spectacular city, I have been to every continent and over 30 countries and I still think Cartagena, in terms of beauty, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I think it is not worth visiting unless you are up for a very rough and perhaps disappointing experience, and here is why:

The basis of Cartagena's problem is that it has the most corrupt politicians in Colombia, there is so much corruption that there are only very rich or extremely poor people in Cartagena. Of course, there are exceptions, but visiting Cartagena you can see the inequality if you go outside the historic center.

Precisely because of this inequality, there are so many people trying to make you buy something from them, every three seconds (I swear, this is not an exaggeration), they will have sellers trying to sell anything; sometimes aggressively.

What you will not realize unless it is too late, is that many people in Cartagena have created extremely sophisticated strategies to make you pay a lot more than what things cost, especially if you look like a foreigner.

And I'm not talking about a bottle of water costing them $5 when it should cost $1, I'm talking about, almost every day in the Colombian news, we see several foreigners being offered shrimp on the beach, or a massage at a spa center, or a dinner at a restaurant that looks legit, and then their bill goes up to over USD $1500 for some reason the vendors claim. And because there is so much corruption, almost all the police can be bought, which means that these vendors already know the cops and promise them a cut of the money, so the police will be against you.

I teach Spanish as a foreign language, and all of my students have come back incredibly disappointed from their trip to Cartagena. It is still amazing to me how it remains such a popular destination. Just yesterday, my student from Canada came back from Cartagena and told me that the first night he was walking back to his hotel and two policemen (yes, two policemen) robbed him.

Again, I do think that Cartagena is, architecturally, the most beautiful city in Colombia, but the experience is so terrible that it doesn't end up being what anyone expects. I'm sure there are many exceptions and that it is possible to have an amazing time in Cartagena, but if you are planning a trip to this city, please be aware of the things I say.

Cartagena pre-COVID was a much better place to visit. The lockdowns had a dire effect on the people. I wish more people would realize this, but the the majority of Cartageneros earn less than 50 k pesos for an honest day's work. In the barrios east of Armenia, there is truly abject poverty.

Without tourists coming in during lockdowns and with an influx of Venezuelan migrants, the city declined even further. City leadership has been poor as services have declined in quality.

While all this happened, as the lockdowns ended, instagram blew the city up. So while the poor have become even worse off, the city is now receiving an increased amount of tourists that would normally go to Cancun or Punta Cana. Now the gringo pricing is driven way up, and the public beaches in Cartagena proper, which were never a good place to go, have become unbearable.

I live in Manga. A sit down restaurant was just robbed a few blocks from the police center earlier this year. Pie de la Popa is across the bridge and has seen a lot of robberies lately. The police presence is even stronger downtown, and at night, they don't allow motos in, which makes it even safer.

Fair enough, but last time I was in Cartagena, it was as hot as I can remember it. If you are looking at getting out of the cold in the North, the place is a no-brainer. I have been to Florida in December / January and froze my ass off. You do not need to worry about that in CTG.

I am not saying the poster is wrong but he makes it seem like there is this Colombian versus North American attitude. Cab drivers try to rip off anyone including Colombians. Yeah, if you go to Hollywood beach, you are going to have the toots bug the crap out of you even if you are Colombian, but if you go to Playa CastilloGrande, the toots are nowhere near as obnoxious.

I don't know about the overcharging at a restaurant thing, but I do know that often when I have had a disputed charge, the bank / credit card company will put a stop to it and compensate me. And my gal stares at the bills with an eagle eye to make sure we are not overcharged for anything.

I am sure there are corrupt police in Cartagena, but I have dealt with much more corrupt ones in and around Cancun.

I have not had any issues with Cartagena like what is described and I suspect it is because I hang mostly in Manga and have not been looking for drugs and or sex. If I were looking for women around the clock tower at night, I am sure things would be different.

And yeah, I get the poverty. I get how high rents are and how much of the city is off limits to people who do not have the money, and that creates tension.

Still, he makes it sound like everyone gets mugged or ripped off, and I have not been. I just stay away from the troublesome areas and stay away even more so at night. When I last looked out my window, there were three cruise ships docked in CTG. If things were really as bad as the author says, would the cruise ships still be coming?

[Wet Nose]

From a post on reddit:

Hi there. I'm from Medellin, Colombia, but I travel a lot and I've been thinking about doing a post about Cartagena, as I think many people need to know the reality.

What made me want to do it today was the recent post where a guy talks about his trip through Latin America and how he was robbed in Cartagena.

I would just like you to know that Cartagena is an absolutely spectacular city, I have been to every continent and over 30 countries and I still think Cartagena, in terms of beauty, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I think it is not worth visiting unless you are up for a very rough and perhaps disappointing experience, and here is why:

The basis of Cartagena's problem is that it has the most corrupt politicians in Colombia, there is so much corruption that there are only very rich or extremely poor people in Cartagena. Of course, there are exceptions, but visiting Cartagena you can see the inequality if you go outside the historic center.

Precisely because of this inequality, there are so many people trying to make you buy something from them, every three seconds (I swear, this is not an exaggeration), they will have sellers trying to sell anything; sometimes aggressively.

What you will not realize unless it is too late, is that many people in Cartagena have created extremely sophisticated strategies to make you pay a lot more than what things cost, especially if you look like a foreigner.

And I'm not talking about a bottle of water costing them $5 when it should cost $1, I'm talking about, almost every day in the Colombian news, we see several foreigners being offered shrimp on the beach, or a massage at a spa center, or a dinner at a restaurant that looks legit, and then their bill goes up to over USD $1500 for some reason the vendors claim. And because there is so much corruption, almost all the police can be bought, which means that these vendors already know the cops and promise them a cut of the money, so the police will be against you.

I teach Spanish as a foreign language, and all of my students have come back incredibly disappointed from their trip to Cartagena. It is still amazing to me how it remains such a popular destination. Just yesterday, my student from Canada came back from Cartagena and told me that the first night he was walking back to his hotel and two policemen (yes, two policemen) robbed him.

Again, I do think that Cartagena is, architecturally, the most beautiful city in Colombia, but the experience is so terrible that it doesn't end up being what anyone expects. I'm sure there are many exceptions and that it is possible to have an amazing time in Cartagena, but if you are planning a trip to this city, please be aware of the things I say.

Cartagena pre-COVID was a much better place to visit. The lockdowns had a dire effect on the people. I wish more people would realize this, but the the majority of Cartageneros earn less than 50 k pesos for an honest day's work. In the barrios east of Armenia, there is truly abject poverty.

Without tourists coming in during lockdowns and with an influx of Venezuelan migrants, the city declined even further. City leadership has been poor as services have declined in quality.

While all this happened, as the lockdowns ended, instagram blew the city up. So while the poor have become even worse off, the city is now receiving an increased amount of tourists that would normally go to Cancun or Punta Cana. Now the gringo pricing is driven way up, and the public beaches in Cartagena proper, which were never a good place to go, have become unbearable.

I live in Manga. A sit down restaurant was just robbed a few blocks from the police center earlier this year. Pie de la Popa is across the bridge and has seen a lot of robberies lately. The police presence is even stronger downtown, and at night, they don't allow motos in, which makes it even safer.

[GeorgeCarta22]

LOL I feel the exact opposite I only stay at bocagrande, bocagrande and the islands are for the day time, centro for the night time for partying, there is nothing to do in the walled city in the day time after you roamed around the whole place a few times, I usually get a nice beachfront apartment which has nice views so it feels like an actual vacation, you can't get that in centro, you got to know which buildings are chica friendly, and pretty much all of them are if you tip the doorman or make friend's with them.

When I combed through all the airbnb the bocagrande places looked the best. But almost all of them said "no sex tourism".

And I honestly didn't even think about tipping the doorman.

Even with this data point ID be nervous of booking an airbnb that "doesn't allow sex tourism" because I could potentially risk my whole vacation.

[Sammon]

I believe he was killed because instead of giving up the chain, he fought back. That jewelry just isn't worth it.

I used to tell them "don't be flashing money", they told me "stop pocket watching".

I used to tell them "stop trying to take 2 chicas at once", they told "me stop dick policing".

I used to tell them "stop wearing the jewelry", they told me "stop fear mongering".

Can't tell these old heads shit because they stuck in their ways, can't tell these young cats shit because they know everything.

So now I don't say much in the whatsapp groups or forums anymore.

Very good advice for mongers to go anywhere in the world. In addition do not take your wallet. Carry only local currency enough for your needs. Even if you loose it no big deal.

Most of the world robbery happens by being beaten up. Killing is not common but Colombia is different. I felt quite safe in Cartagena even walking at el centro at night. It is better to keep to major thoroughfare where there lots of people walking. I found Uber us quite safe and fairly inexpensive.

[TusiMan]

Friends,

Bocagrande and Laguito are for Colombian families, and those families do not want to see or hear Cartagena's sex trade. I'm surprised there are any tourist accommodations that even allow a muchacha to your room. If you need to take a girl somewhere, there is an hourly hotel, Hotel Mar why Sol, that you can take a girl to in Bocagrande.

Either that, or an incall at the girl's place are your best bets.

I have no idea why people still stay down there. There's no night life. The beach sucks. The aren't any good restaurants. No clue.

I only go down there for the occasional outcall if a muchacha catches my eye, or the movie theater in plaza bocagrande that shows new releases in English.

LOL I feel the exact opposite I only stay at bocagrande, bocagrande and the islands are for the day time, centro for the night time for partying, there is nothing to do in the walled city in the day time after you roamed around the whole place a few times, I usually get a nice beachfront apartment which has nice views so it feels like an actual vacation, you can't get that in centro, you got to know which buildings are chica friendly, and pretty much all of them are if you tip the doorman or make friend's with them.

[Nrlmus]

Does anyone has an opinion on spending New Years Eve in Cartagena? For the maximum impact does it make sense to just wonder around and have random good time with people (I understand the security concerns but I'm relatively experienced traveler) or try to book the place like El Beluarte and just go there?

How does it compare to the New Years eve at Rio's Copacabana beach which I think is something that one must do once in a lifetime?

[World Wide Wes]

Greetings everyone and thank you to the many contributions. I have shared a few myself. I'm heading to CTG in a couple weeks and was wondering if anyone had any info on boat rental recommendations. I don't feel like getting haggled or jerked when we get to the dock. Thanks in advance.

[Black Page]

If he brings $1 k usd in cash into Colombia then he will need to convert it into COP using one of those money exchange places that offers a lower rate than the ATM machines. Then he can use the COP cash to pay the prostis. He will probably get around 4 millones de pesos for his $1 k usd.

And he will lose money versus what he would have got by taking cash COP from local ATMs. This topic is so old, yet it comes out periodically.

The only reason I see to bring 1000 USD cash to Colombia is if they are black money that one does not want to deposit in a bank account. In that case, ok, take that money to Colombia and spend it for fun.

[Gabacho]

Use the ATM to get pesos for payments to girls. Please do not give dollars or even talk to ones who ask for dollars. The girls know you are not a regular if they talk dollars to you and will charge you more than normal.

If he brings $1 k usd in cash into Colombia then he will need to convert it into COP using one of those money exchange places that offers a lower rate than the ATM machines. Then he can use the COP cash to pay the prostis. He will probably get around 4 millones de pesos for his $1 k usd.

[John Gault]

I plan on bringing around $1 k in USD in cash just for prostitutes, I plan on visiting the Delirium Night Club, where all of the black people will be at. I can't wait to get to Cartagena. I'll be there for a week at the end of November.

Any tips, pointers anybody wants to give me?

Use the ATM to get pesos for payments to girls. Please do not give dollars or even talk to ones who ask for dollars. The girls know you are not a regular if they talk dollars to you and will charge you more than normal.