Barranquilla, Columbia

[sadia]

Has anyone cruised into Barranquilla and spent the night there? Is there anywhere safe to anchor ?

[colemj]

The general knowledge here in Columbia is to avoid Barranquilla at all costs. It is a dangerous place to be with a cruising boat. We have been told that by marina people, port captains, customs people, immigration people and agents. All guide books give the same advice.

Mark

[RTB]

It does not look very inviting. Noonsite: Barranquilla

[Elsakis]

Cartagena is a much safer, CLEANER, and better port. However if your spanish is not good Colombia might not be the right place for you. It is a nice place to visit but finding an english speaking person outside of the port can be hard.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Elsakis

Cartagena is a much safer, CLEANER, and better port. However if your spanish is not good Colombia might not be the right place for you. It is a nice place to visit but finding an english speaking person outside of the port can be hard.

While this is correct, the Columbian people have endless patience for attempting communication by any means possible. That includes drawing pictures, waving arms, charades, running to get other people who will help them draw, wave, and charade, etc. They never give up or get exasperated with you. They truly seem to want to communicate and don't blame you for not knowing the language as long as you are trying.

Communication without knowledge of Spanish IS possible in Columbia, and with the total immersion one receives, one will pick up enough useful Spanish through these communication sessions.

Or at least become a world-class charade player.

If you plan on eating out a lot, you will be best advised to at least learn the Spanish words for the parts of the animal you normally would NOT expect to see served. Just sayin'....

Mark

[Sandiiyam48t]

I am at the new marina in Puerto Velero outside of Barranquilla. It is very clean (I found Cartagena filthy) I can swim off the boat, the docs are great the staff is very nice and helpful over all I would say spend a week in Cartagena to see the sites and then if you want to leave your boat to go home or do in land tours this is the place. Even better than Santa Marta.
Granted it is a bit south of the city and not easy to get there, the marina owner is doing everything he can to help cruises ( he himself has an older Oyster and knows what we want).
So far I am very happy here
Sandi May 2013

[gbanker]

No knowledge of Barranquilla but did stay at the national in Santa Marta which was an excellent experience.
Don't worry about lack of Spanish. We found limited Spanish all that was needed to get by.
Can not recommend Cartagena. The barnacles are the worst!

[coqui811]

Barranquilla is a commercial port city and has no facilities for private cruising vessels.
Santa Marta has a very nice marina and is a great place ti visit/ It is laid back, lots of tourism and the city has lots to offer for a short or long term stay. There are two excellent shopping center and as far as repairs are concerned, any good cab driver will take you to a place where they can fix or make what you need. I spent 11 months there in 2010. No haulout facilities

Puerto velero is a new marina development which is quite far from Barranquilla and, that I know of, there is no regular scheduled transportation to Barranquilla, Taxis are out of the question so shopping for anything would be a major project. I visited there last year for a brief period. No haulout facilities.

Cartagena is the major location for boating in Colombia. There are two marinas, Club Nautico and Club de Pesca. Also two major haullour yardsThere is lots of historical things to see and do in Cartagena, It is a modern city with many shopping centers and there is not much you cannot find there. There are two chandrelies with reasonable stocks but high prices due to import duties. I was here for 11 months in 2011 and back since last October.