I had been looking forward to visiting Islas del Rosario and was hoping it would be one of the highlights of the trip. The islas are a small chain of about ten islands 90 minutes by boat from Cartagena.
Isla Grande is by far the largest of the islands in the chain. For my stay, I picked Hotel Isabela on the second largest island of Isla Marina. I chose this "resort" because it was affordable and the photos looked great in booking.com and on its website.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the lowlights of the Colombia trip. While the small strip of beach and bay in front of it were beautiful and the food was very good, most of the rest of the experience was a disappointment. The other highlight was a night swim at the mouth of a small river. While getting into the water in total darkness was eerie, once you started moving your arms and legs, you could see sparkling crystals of light in the water called phosphorescent plankton. Something that made the visit (almost) worth it.
Three nights were definitely too long to stay here because there was little to do other than sit on the beach. Yes, after awhile that can even get boring. The beach was tiny, there was no beach equipment other than one kayak and there were no trails from the property from which to explore the island. The small cabinas where hot and a bit ramshackled. I was more than ready to leave when the time came. If I had it to do over again, I would pick another place to stay on the islands even if more expensive.
A few photos/videos from the visit:
From the private tour around the island
The return to Cartagena
The beach looks incredible. The cabina looks cute at least!