Cartagena Reports

[OakTownPaul]

I want to say that maybe because you have been to Medellin that the term El Centro is throwing you off. Unlike in Medellin where El Centro is the "downtown" or business district. In Cartagena "Centro" is the heart of the historic center of the tourist area. The only person likely to get killed there are the touts (by you!) when they just won't leave you alone. When he says it does not seem as safe as it did in the past he doesn't mean that people are getting stabbed like El Centro in Medellin, he just means the overall ambiance is just more overall sketchy than it used to be.

I seriously mourn for the Cartagena of ten and fifteen years ago but your right you will never know so it shouldn't matter to you. Whats there today is all that matters and it really is still better than most places in the western hemisphere. With a few exceptions in Colombia and Braziul it probably ranks the top 3- 4 places that has the greatest concentration of hot chicas for sale in a small area.

When I started going to Cartagena it was still a place where mostly Colombians would go for a vacation or a weekend, and I think the touts knew better than to harrass Colombians the same way they harrass gringos. I used be able to walk the length of old town and not get accosted, plenty of art sellers and mimes and all that but they were respectful. So now the touts are so fucking aggressive if someone bothered me that much in the states they might get a bloody nose. They have gotten rediculous and even the fact that they are even allowed to harrass you that much makes you feel unsafe in a way. I may be wrong but I think that is what he means. I have not heard of anyone getting assaulted in the old city.

You do not need an amigo so much as you need earplugs. Just put some headphones on and everytime someone who is not a gorgeous babe seems to want to approach you just point to the headphones and shake your head.

Thank you very much for the clarification, and the description of the positives. (You are right about my mistaken use of El Centro.) If necessary, I will have my headphones with me. Fortunately, though my spanish is extremly limited, I have mastered the art of saying "No, gracias" . And then ghosting any further attempt to talk.

[PerkinWarbeck]

MoJo is right. The touts are unbearable in Centro. I usually stay in Manga, but my favorite restaurants are there. At this point, I don't even get dropped off at the Clock Tower anymore. I have the taxi drop me directly at the restaurant and wait til one comes passes by later to leave. Can't even leisurely walk around during the afternoon / evening without getting accosted. A damn shame.

[Tomasb]

Yes, I did not mean that I feared that I could be assaulted while in El Centro compared to past visits. I only meant that the people hanging out late at night don't have your best interests in mind. It was just a lot more mellow in years past. It's also a lot more difficult to find places to bring girls as most of the top hotels and even AIR accommodations are a lot more strict about allowing non registered guests to enter your room. However, there are some that don't restrict guests but you have to dig and sometimes I suspect you find out their restrictions upon your arrival as they are not posted in their reservation information. I have also been told that the prison penalties for assaulting tourists is significantly more than if they assaulted or robbed a local Colombian citizen.

I don't think that I could go to the extreme of finding two hotels to stay, one for you only, and the other for your lady guest as there are not that many budget hotels in El Centro anymore. I used to stay at a place just steps from the Clocktower and they were charging about $20 per night only a few years ago. Now, it's $60 and they are listed on Booking.com. Albeit they did renovate the hotel but I was fine with the prior set up because the nightly or short time price was cheap. They install a flat screen tv and a new shower and all of a sudden the price triples. I recall some of the Clocktower girls used this hotel for short term assignations though not sure with their new pricing structure if that still works price wise. I can see a scenario where a hotel such as the one I mentioned has a vacant room and the desk clerk rents it to a friend of theirs for an hour or so and gets a cut.

Anyway, it is what it is. I still like to go but yearn for the older days when life there was a bit more simple.

[Elvis 2008]

I appreciate your words of wisdom. But like all good advice, I will ignore the most important part (about Cartagena's diminishment) and go anyway. It's already booked, and it will be my first time, so I will not know any better. LOL (I arrive August 28, and will stay 9 days.).

However, I am taking note of your comments about El Centro. Unless I am with an amigo, I will probably not venture downtown until after I get my feet wet. I am not a rookie, as I consider myself to be a "moderately" experienced traveler in this space, but I know when to be cautious. (I have been to Thailand (Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket and Chang Mai), the DR (Sosua / PP, Santiago and Santa Domingo) Spain (Barcelona and Ibiza), Mexico (Tijuana and PDC) Kenya (Nairobi and Mombassa), Costa Rica (SJ and Jaco) and Medellin, Colombia. However, this being my first time in Cartagena, and I never forget that I have "gringo" pasted on my forehead, I have no spanish skills, and I am no longer the hunter (like back home) - I am the hunted.

When I go to new place, like I am now, I will frequently stay at multiple places just to get a feel for the various options. I will also overbook, so that I can make some changes once I see the City. There are times when I will end up paying for two different hotel rooms for the same night. (This is usually a cheap hotel, where I know I can bring someone home, and then another "nicer" hotel.) What I like about a good hotel is that it helps conjure a GFE. (Which is what I like.).

Oaktown, I am not sure what you want. Bocagrande is the place most mongers go. Thing is the best beaches are not there but on the islands and the boats that go to them are actually closer to the second nice part of the city, Manga. That is where my apartment is. It is safe, quiet, and there are no touts. There are a few hotels but there are some nice condos and Airbnb's there. My favorite part of the hotels was just watching the pelicans do their dive bombing runs.

I have not stayed at the Hilton which I heard was the best but at the Marriott, Intercontinental, and the Dann Cartagena. Of those, I liked the intercontinental the best, but the Marriott is guest friendly.

My favorite restaurant in Cartagena was Di Silvio but I tried a new Italian place and liked it better. The name was Semolina, and it is in the Bocagrande Mall, and they have crazy quick service compared to the other restaurants I have gone to. Another real cool place to hang out and have food and drinks is Las Ramblas Mall. It is outside the city, and as Cartagena can be a little congested, this place is nice because it has plenty of space. Food, music, and drinks were also quite good out there. Persepolis in Bocagrande has good Persian food.

San Felipe castle has amazing views and check it out at sunset. You will be blown away at the beauty on a nice night.

Cartagena is a cool place but I would rank it fifth for mongering behind Bogota, Medellin, Cali, and Barranquilla. The women just wanted too much there IMO. I think the way you do Cartagena is to bring in a woman you like from another city, but that is just me.

[Mojo Bandit]

I will ignore the most important part (about Cartagena's diminishment) and go anyway. I

However, I am taking note of your comments about El Centro. Unless I am with an amigo, I will probably not venture downtown until after I get my feet wet.

I want to say that maybe because you have been to Medellin that the term El Centro is throwing you off. Unlike in Medellin where El Centro is the "downtown" or business district. In Cartagena "Centro" is the heart of the historic center of the tourist area. The only person likely to get killed there are the touts (by you!) when they just won't leave you alone. When he says it does not seem as safe as it did in the past he doesn't mean that people are getting stabbed like El Centro in Medellin, he just means the overall ambiance is just more overall sketchy than it used to be.

I seriously mourn for the Cartagena of ten and fifteen years ago but your right you will never know so it shouldn't matter to you. Whats there today is all that matters and it really is still better than most places in the western hemisphere. With a few exceptions in Colombia and Braziul it probably ranks the top 3- 4 places that has the greatest concentration of hot chicas for sale in a small area.

When I started going to Cartagena it was still a place where mostly Colombians would go for a vacation or a weekend, and I think the touts knew better than to harrass Colombians the same way they harrass gringos. I used be able to walk the length of old town and not get accosted, plenty of art sellers and mimes and all that but they were respectful. So now the touts are so fucking aggressive if someone bothered me that much in the states they might get a bloody nose. They have gotten rediculous and even the fact that they are even allowed to harrass you that much makes you feel unsafe in a way. I may be wrong but I think that is what he means. I have not heard of anyone getting assaulted in the old city.

You do not need an amigo so much as you need earplugs. Just put some headphones on and everytime someone who is not a gorgeous babe seems to want to approach you just point to the headphones and shake your head.

[Kalo79]

I'm in Colombia for 10 days every month and if you send me a P M I knew some in Medellin all know each other about 21-23.2 very light skin looking like a European 8 and 9's. I have built up a good phone book working in Bogota, Medellin with a base in Cartagena.

Hello,

I'll be in Cartagena from August 10th to August 16th. I would really appreciate, if you can share some good contacts.

[OakTownPaul]

I have been coming to Cartagena off and on for about 15 years.

The first several years until about 2013 were great for mongering. A lot of hot Colombians from other coastal cities and towns, MDE girls who tended to be more beautiful and voluptuous, and nary a Vennie to be seen. Most of the action was inside the old city near the clock tower though there were some scattered clubs on the side streets that might yield some action. I generally took them back to my short term apartment rental or hotel without any difficulty. It was usually pretty good service too with the occasional dud but at the price I was paying it hardly mattered.

But over the last few years, there has been a sea change and not for the good. The Vennies seemed to have taken over the scene and the quality of the Colombians has dropped significantly. Prices have increased and quality has come down and it seems the quality of the mongerer has also decreased. This seems to have had a negative effect on the various housing options in the city with many of the landlords or AIR hosts specifically not allowing visitors under any circumstances. In fact, I found only a few AIR places that did not specifically disallow visitors in my last review this morning. I suppose some jerkoff guy banging a chica on a second story veranda for all the world to see does not help ease this situation, as what occurred a few weeks ago.

I did not like that the action appears to have shifted from the clock tower to a couple of street inside El Centro. On my last visit, some of these girls appeared to pop up out of bushes or doorways or hustlers tried to entice you to go to a certain club (for a kickback). For the first time, Cartagena to me did not seem as safe as in the past. I would prefer having all the action in the Main Clock Tower Plaza where they can be observed a bit easily.

Nevertheless, I really see the quality and fun factor to have dropped significantly. First, finding a decent place to do the deed seems more and more problematic but the quality of the experience seems much less than in the past. I would not even bother with a Vennie but a decent looking Colombiana seem pretty pretty thin on the ground too, I will still go because I enjoy the overall vibe and, in fact, will be visiting late October but mongering is hardly worth the hassle. Maybe I am getting older or living in the past but it's no wonder as the past sure was better.

I appreciate your words of wisdom. But like all good advice, I will ignore the most important part (about Cartagena's diminishment) and go anyway. It's already booked, and it will be my first time, so I will not know any better. LOL (I arrive August 28, and will stay 9 days.).

However, I am taking note of your comments about El Centro. Unless I am with an amigo, I will probably not venture downtown until after I get my feet wet. I am not a rookie, as I consider myself to be a "moderately" experienced traveler in this space, but I know when to be cautious. (I have been to Thailand (Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket and Chang Mai), the DR (Sosua / PP, Santiago and Santa Domingo) Spain (Barcelona and Ibiza), Mexico (Tijuana and PDC) Kenya (Nairobi and Mombassa), Costa Rica (SJ and Jaco) and Medellin, Colombia. However, this being my first time in Cartagena, and I never forget that I have "gringo" pasted on my forehead, I have no spanish skills, and I am no longer the hunter (like back home) - I am the hunted.

When I go to new place, like I am now, I will frequently stay at multiple places just to get a feel for the various options. I will also overbook, so that I can make some changes once I see the City. There are times when I will end up paying for two different hotel rooms for the same night. (This is usually a cheap hotel, where I know I can bring someone home, and then another "nicer" hotel.) What I like about a good hotel is that it helps conjure a GFE. (Which is what I like.) It seems kind of silly to even try for the GFE when you have reserved 30,60 or even 120 minutes for a small room within 500 yards from where you first met the young lady. (Or maybe I have just never had that kind of GF. LOL) In any event, my biggest disappointment is not being able to get a top hotel and "know" that I can bring a guest home. Fortunately, I was able to score 4 nights (early in my trip) at a verified "guest friendly" ISG recommended apartment in a good location. (Very popular, and these were the only days available.) Afterwords, I have a reserved (I) a cheap love hotel where I know I can take someone and (ii) a pretty nice 4 - 4. 5 star hotel in Bocagrande. Plan: If I meet someone (in the first 4 days) who is worthy of a repeat experience, I might have them join me when I check into a new hotel mid-stay. Otherwise, I might cancel the reservation if it does look good.

As I have been derelict in contributing content, I will provide a report (mainly focusing on the accommodations) upon my return. Nobody wants to hear me talk about my meeting the girl of my dreams, falling in love and. Wait! I do not even want to hear about that!

[NeilGeorge]

I have been coming to Cartagena off and on for about 15 years....

I did not like that the action appears to have shifted from the clock tower to a couple of street inside El Centro. On my last visit, some of these girls appeared to pop up out of bushes or doorways or hustlers tried to entice you to go to a certain club (for a kickback). For the first time, Cartagena to me did not seem as safe as in the past. I would prefer having all the action in the Main Clock Tower Plaza where they can be observed a bit easily.

Nevertheless, I really see the quality and fun factor to have dropped significantly.

Has the police presence dropped? Or are the police still hanging around the Clock Tower area to prevent sex tourism?

[Tomasb]

I have been coming to Cartagena off and on for about 15 years.

The first several years until about 2013 were great for mongering. A lot of hot Colombianas from other coastal cities and towns, MDE girls who tended to be more beautiful and voluptuous, and nary a Vennie to be seen. Most of the action was inside the old city near the clock tower though there were some scattered clubs on the side streets that might yield some action. I generally took them back to my short term apartment rental or hotel without any difficulty. It was usually pretty good service too with the occasional dud but at the price I was paying it hardly mattered.

But over the last few years, there has been a sea change and not for the good. The Vennies seemed to have taken over the scene and the quality of the Colombiana has dropped significantly. Prices have increased and quality has come down and it seems the quality of the mongerer has also decreased. This seems to have had a negative effect on the various housing options in the city with many of the landlords or AIR hosts specifically not allowing visitors under any circumstances. In fact, I found only a few AIR places that did not specifically disallow visitors in my last review this morning. I suppose some jerkoff guy banging a chica on a second story veranda for all the world to see does not help ease this situation, as what occurred a few weeks ago.

I did not like that the action appears to have shifted from the clock tower to a couple of street inside El Centro. On my last visit, some of these girls appeared to pop up out of bushes or doorways or hustlers tried to entice you to go to a certain club (for a kickback). For the first time, Cartagena to me did not seem as safe as in the past. I would prefer having all the action in the Main Clock Tower Plaza where they can be observed a bit easily.

Nevertheless, I really see the quality and fun factor to have dropped significantly. First, finding a decent place to do the deed seems more and more problematic but the quality of the experience seems much less than in the past. I would not even bother with a Vennie but a decent looking Colombiana seem pretty pretty thin on the ground too, I will still go because I enjoy the overall vibe and, in fact, will be visiting late October but mongering is hardly worth the hassle. Maybe I am getting older or living in the past but it's no wonder as the past sure was better.

[Kc Talent]

Cartagena isn't a Facebook scene. It's a club + Tinder town.

I'm in Colombia for 10 days every month and if you send me a P M I knew some in Medellin all know each other about 21-23.2 very light skin looking like a European 8 and 9's. I have built up a good phone book working in Bogota, Medellin with a base in Cartagena.

[RamDavidson84]

Its been 3 years since I was last at the clock tower. I am just wondering what is the going chika asking rate t When I was there last they were asking around 200,000 Cop. Some chickas were neg others were firm. So hows the current asking prices, any one know.

Inside the clubs, the better looking chicas are starting at 150-100 $ USD per hour, most start at 100 $ and expect you to negotiate. Outside, a little cheaper, 250-350 k. Many girls you see in the clubs will also be walking the streets from club to club and posting up at the clock tower. I am sure the mid to lower range chicas will ask less. Many more chicas than mongers here. The hecklers are quite annoying. They ruin this destination as a top mongering spot. I have also noticed that the chicas performance can be very unpredictable. Sometimes they are gorgeous / young and falling in love and won't leave, other times they are average in the looks department and they won't even GFE and are out before you can nut. Makes things interesting I guess.

Question. I have a friend visiting. Our airbnb doesn't allow guests and I don't want hookers / drama back there anyway. Can you get a short time hotel suite, where there is two rooms connected? So we could party / drink beers together and then fuck them in separate rooms? All the short time rooms I have ever been in were just set up for a couple / single room.

[Ukman57]

Its been 3 years since I was last at the clock tower. I am just wondering what is the going chika asking rate t When I was there last they were asking around 200,000 Cop. Some chickas were neg others were firm. So hows the current asking prices, any one know.

[PerkinWarbeck]

Thanks for the good advice. I just checked the USD to Peso exchange rate. Today, $100 USD = 428,967 Pesos! (It was reportedly as high as $100 USD = 460,000 Pesos 2 weeks ago.).

Hope this rate stays good, or gets better by the time I arrive in Cartagena on August 28.

I have not yet booked my hotel. I am now looking into the best way to use the strong dollar when paying for the hotel. (I imagine the larger chain hotels are still charging their same fees in USA Dollars.).

Unless you have a chica coming with you, I wouldn't bother with the major hotel chains. They aren't that good anyway, and they are strict on guests. You can get an AirBnB and bribe the doorman to let you bring in girls. Wouldn't be a way to use the exchange rate to your advantage in the AirBnB case, but you'll still be coming out way ahead paying for everything in pesos.

[OakTownPaul]

Never pay in dollars. The USD is rising relative to almost all currencies due to rising rates. The Colombian peso is as weak vs the dollar as it has been historically. Pay in pesos and enjoy.

Thanks for the good advice. I just checked the USD to Peso exchange rate. Today, $100 USD = 428,967 Pesos! (It was reportedly as high as $100 USD = 460,000 Pesos 2 weeks ago.).

Hope this rate stays good, or gets better by the time I arrive in Cartagena on August 28.

I have not yet booked my hotel. I am now looking into the best way to use the strong dollar when paying for the hotel. (I imagine the larger chain hotels are still charging their same fees in USA Dollars.).

[Nypher]

The article my friends sent me says that the reason they did it is because they wanted people to see. It also says the guys paid $3000 under the table to the police because they did not want problems. A normal fine for that type of infraction is 416,000 pesos or $93. Just goes to show how much mfs love overpaying!

I saw an article too that said the same.

"They took advantage of the situation, my friend had to collect the money with the rest of his colleagues. They took approximately 3 thousand dollars. The next day, other police officers arrived and since my friend had already gone to the airport, they went there to question him, but finally he was able to travel,” added Barros

https://colombia.detailzero.com/news...the-event.html

Looks like it was his last night in the country, and he wanted to go out with a bang jajaja!

But selfish shit like this is why I don't travel in large groups anymore because the actions of 1 idiot can cost everyone the AirBB due to some of the Hosts put in the house rules if the police show up for any reason, they reserve the right to immediately cancel the reservation and the occupants must leave the property immediately. Also to add, he had to collect money from his friends to pay the $3000 bribe to which now his boys have less dollars on hand to enjoy their vacation smh.