Cartagena Reports

[YippieKayay]

- I took an Uber from the old walled city to Playa Hollywood a few times, and walked back for my health walk. Once, there were couple of girls that were waving to me. They were average. Once I attempted to have a coke under the umbrella at Playa Hollywood. The tout / waiter said it was an additional 20 K or 30 K for the rental of the umbrella. Is that normal / correct? Did they try to scam me? When I walked back thru the other beaches, one of the waitresses said the umbrella was free when she tried to get me to order drinks.

It's 15 k to rent an umbrella. Yes, the touts working the beach are scam artists.

It is off season in Cartagena right now. Between January and April there are more people there and thus more working girls.

[GreenBud]

- I wasn't impressed by the girls at the Clock Tower. I thought they were just average. I might be spoiled because I came from partaking at Bogota's Chicas Milenio. The girls there were similar with lower prices.

- There were streetwalkers across the street from the Clock Tower (as you leave the walled city). Most were butt ugly. But one was very cute. But she was of dubious age.

- A lot of guys were touting Isis.

- Spent some time at Isis. It's supposedly a strip joint, but there wasn't a lot of stripping going on. Most of the girls were above average. If you like girls with large breasts, this is the place. But with the large breasts, many came with a large ass. I prefer the small bubble butt asses that the Thais and Pinays have. But those were prefer that type of body, Colombia is it (I haven't been to Brazil yet).

- Prices were 280 K COP. If you wanted to pay with US dollars, the prices were slightly higher (if you got the good exchange rate).

- But most of the girls would not do BBBJ. A bummer. One girl said she would do everything. I took her out and went to that short time motel. Horrible service. That put me into a negative vibe.

- I took an Uber from the old walled city to Playa Hollywood a few times, and walked back for my health walk. Once, there were couple of girls that were waving to me. They were average. Once I attempted to have a coke under the umbrella at Playa Hollywood. The tout / waiter said it was an additional 20 K or 30 K for the rental of the umbrella. Is that normal / correct? Did they try to scam me? When I walked back thru the other beaches, one of the waitresses said the umbrella was free when she tried to get me to order drinks.

[Black Page]

Unless you are enjoying the beach, or playing tourist, there's not much reason to leave your room until after 8 pm.

RIP Cartagena UNESCO World Heritage site!

[JjBee62]

Cartagena is not the best mongering choice for someone that does not like to be out late, one of the worst choices actually. That said, go to the Hollywood area of the beach during the day and talk to one of the touts if necessary, stay away from Tony.

If I wanted strictly daytime action I'd choose Bogota. Even on the hottest day you're not likely to break a sweat and there's plenty of daytime and early evening options. Second choice Medellin. Much better daytime temperature, lots of options and much cheaper.

Unless you are enjoying the beach, or playing tourist, there's not much reason to leave your room until after 8 pm.

[Manizales911]

Can anyone suggest a girl friendly place in the old city? I am kind of getting bored staying in Laguito.

Also anyone have any other places to visit that might have day action? Other destinations. Cartagena is kind of getting boring to me overall and I am not a super late person anymore.

Cartagena is not the best mongering choice for someone that does not like to be out late, one of the worst choices actually. That said, go to the Hollywood area of the beach during the day and talk to one of the touts if necessary, stay away from Tony.

[Rzrfl69]

Can anyone suggest a girl friendly place in the old city? I am kind of getting bored staying in Laguito.

Also anyone have any other places to visit that might have day action? Other destinations. Cartagena is kind of getting boring to me overall and I am not a super late person anymore.

[YippieKayay]

You are correct that PTY is a bit more expensive than CTG as far as girls go & practically no beach activity at all in PTY.

For Panama City (Panama) there are a couple of options close to the city. One is the resorts just outside of the city like The Westin Playa Bonita which I have taken a chica too a lot in the past. When it's in season the resort has a bunch of nice upscale restaurants, and a nice pool. The beach itself at the Westin is so-so. Your other option is one of the islands off the city. There are a couple of them I believe. I've never been but they're there. The water isn't particularly clean or nice given all the ships that go to the canal on the pacific side. However, in Cartagena you can get to some half decent beaches on the islands outside the city but it's hit and miss, and the vendors are a plague on the beach experience.

The only downside to Panama City compared to Cartagena is that outside of the canal and a some eco-tourism there isn't much to do in Panama City during the day. Unless you like fishing maybe or gambling. The reason for this is that Panama City isn't a tourist city per se. If you step out of your downtown hotel in Panama City at 8 am you'll see people emerging from the subway and going to work. I would suggest doing a few days in PC to get a feel for it and then decide.

I'll say one thing in favor of Colombia: cheaper pussy, and better service overall. By service I mean Colombians tend to take more pride in their work at restaurants and hotels. I've seen that especially in Medellin.

[El Mechanico]

Hi everyone,

I was in Cartagena about a month ago and looking to do another trip in September. I'm trying to decide between Panama and Cartagena, leaning towards Panama. Can anyone tell me what the main differences between the two places might be? My thinking is that Cartagena has more to do during the day and better beach (as opposed to pretty much no beach in Panama), and the girls are pretty much the same as the girls who work in Cartagena are generally the same ones who go to Panama? Prices are higher in Panama if I am correct?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm leaning towards Panama for something new but just wanted to get people's opinions.

Go to Panama once & find out first hand. Go to the Panama Canal one day, do the Red Bus tour of the city for a day or 2, go to the seafood market & eat lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants there, stay near Cafe Habanos (which is close to the Veneto) & do your mongering. It is easy to set up day time action with one of the girls you meet at the Veneto of Habanos.

You are correct that PTY is a bit more expensive than CTG as far as girls go & practically no beach activity at all in PTY.

Since you have been to CTG, you can compare the 2 & decide for yourself. At minimum you will have seen the Canal which is quite impressive.

El Mechanico.

[YippieKayay]

That's good. I'm sure the locals have enough inconvenience with the sex tourists and prostitutes swarming around historical sites.

Well, if you noticed something, the prostitutes don't really come out until after 11 ish. There are some that are at the clock tower before, but very few. Once the normal businesses like restaurants close down, and the tourist goes back to his hotel to recharge, the prostitution begins.

Honestly, I have no idea what a cop would do if he found you with a bit of pot but I suspect you'll at least get a 'fine. '.

[Nordico]

It's called rule of law. It does not exist in Colombia. Feel free to carry all the drugs you want as a tourist and enjoy the fucking you'll get in the end. You won't get near a judge before the fucking is over. Seriously, I'm posting this as a message to prevent people from thinking its alright to run around with narcotics in Colombia as tourists. But keep doing what you're doing. I'm sure it will end well.

That's good. I'm sure the locals have enough inconvenience with the sex tourists and prostitutes swarming around historical sites.

[YippieKayay]

Why do they look for drugs, if it is not a punishable crime to carry it for personal use?

It's called rule of law. It does not exist in Colombia. Feel free to carry all the drugs you want as a tourist and enjoy the fucking you'll get in the end. You won't get near a judge before the fucking is over. Seriously, I'm posting this as a message to prevent people from thinking its alright to run around with narcotics in Colombia as tourists. But keep doing what you're doing. I'm sure it will end well.

[Nordico]

Police in Cartagena looks for drugs, as many foreign tourists in CTG are consumers. If you don't have, as I don't, there is no reason to worry. Just smile and respond positively to their professional inquiries. Their approach is severe at first, but once they see there is nothing wrong, they relax and the meeting will end up in pats-down and smiles.

Why do they look for drugs, if it is not a punishable crime to carry it for personal use?

[Nordico]

According to the cab driver from Dan Cartagena hotel the fixed rate from / to Bocagrande and Centro is 7,000 pesos. That is what he charged me. All other cab drivers charged me 8,000 pesos. 10,000 pesos is still cheap, barely over 3 dollars.

Here you have the official prices for Cartagena. http://www.transitocartagena.gov.co/...creto_0473.PDF.

If I understood it right, the official price between Bocagrande / Laguito and Centro is COP 6400 plus possible night surcharge (21-05) of COP 500. If the driver says 8000 or 9000, I'm OK with that.

[Thayerst]

Hi everyone,

I was in Cartagena about a month ago and looking to do another trip in September. I'm trying to decide between Panama and Cartagena, leaning towards Panama. Can anyone tell me what the main differences between the two places might be? My thinking is that Cartagena has more to do during the day and better beach (as opposed to pretty much no beach in Panama), and the girls are pretty much the same as the girls who work in Cartagena are generally the same ones who go to Panama? Prices are higher in Panama if I am correct?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm leaning towards Panama for something new but just wanted to get people's opinions.

[Black Page]

Offending Police: 1 officer on a bike
I realize that this is not exactly a mongering report, but watch your ass at night in Cartagena. In fact, watch your ass in all of Colombia at night for that matter.

"Offending police"?? That's absurd!
The police is there to keep your ass safe. Without so many policemen on bikes, night and day, trust me you could not walk around the city with or without girls. Cartagena (centro) became safe and so enjoyable by international tourists after the police started to patrol massively the streets of central areas.

I remember my first visit to Cartagena, some 10 years ago: after sunset, going out through the gate of the Walls under the Reloy was simply insane. Gangs of teens were just waiting someone to rob around the Parque del Centenario area.

I think I wrote this countless times, in this thread and also in the one of Medellin: my personal experience says that Police in Colombia in general, and in CTG in particular, is very professional.

I have been stopped and searched 1-2 times on most of my stays in Colombia, most times at night but sometimes also during the day (in Medellin, Bogota and Cartagena). I've never had a single problem. Each time, after no more than 5 minutes, after they had explored my pockets and examined documents, I received only big smiles and "welcome to Colombia".

Nothing to worry, if you have done nothing wrong. Being with a girl is not a problem. Why should it be? You are not in USA. There, you can have a gun in your pocket, but if you are with a girl dressed too sexy, presumably a street girl, hmmmmm. TROUBLE!

Police in Cartagena looks for drugs, as many foreign tourists in CTG are consumers. If you don't have, as I don't, there is no reason to worry. Just smile and respond positively to their professional inquiries. Their approach is severe at first, but once they see there is nothing wrong, they relax and the meeting will end up in pats-down and smiles.

....and remember that they are on our side.

Spot on!