Islabela Full-Day Tour by Boat from Cartagena with Lunch

Posted By : cminossi54
To get away from the harassment of vendors and street vendors on urban beaches, we decided to take a trip and get to know the famous and trendy Islabela, which is only accessible from the sea. We booked a tour, which included transportation, lunch on the island itself and to Anyone interested should visit the Oceanarium, as Islabela is the starting point for the attraction.
Islabela offers a good infrastructure, with beds, sun loungers, tables, a very pleasant, calm and peaceful beach, bar, restaurant, good service, bathrooms and showers.
The place offers a good menu of snacks, drinks and beverages, the beach is quiet and offers a good stretch of white sand, but I highlight that it is recommended to enter the sea with sneakers, as the place has many rocks and reefs.
I didn't particularly like the meal served, but it's a very personal opinion, as other people in the group liked it, but the juice served was simply horrible, very sweet and hot, I couldn't drink it.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-21 16:09:52

Posted By : Cem I
Clear water, but lots of sharp coral in the sand, making it hard to walk (no signs to warn you). Customers are not allowed to choose where they sit. Our lounge chairs were four or five rows back from the water despite the availability of empty chairs closer. Lots of waiters around seemed to be doing nothing, not very customer friendly. The boat ride to the island and back was very rough and bumpy.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-06 17:29:52

Posted By : Richard_H
Liked it so much we did it twice. Such a relaxing beach, good yoga and snorkel. Good food options, too!
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-04-05 10:54:57

Posted By : Anashwara_M
It’s totally about 4 hours you get to spend at the beach. The vegetarian lunch option was terrible - boiled pasta and vegetables. For a resort that has other vegetarian things on their menu, this is unacceptable.
This package is overpriced, for what it is, and I wouldn’t recommend
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-03-09 12:48:00

Posted By : Angel_A
One of the best times we had on a small island. Clear water, relaxing time and good food included. Plenty of drink to chose and great prices. Will go again.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-24 17:48:23

Posted By : Nancy_P
I’ve used Viator previously and by far this trip was NOT WORTH IT!!!
Restaurant/ eating place surrounded by flies. The beach chairs assigned to us were horrible . We request hangers and that took a while still horrible they catered to two groups and and hotel guest. I paid 80 per person and this was not worth a quarter of the value!
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-24 09:52:57

Posted By : Heathet_G
This trip would have been exceptional but it was difficult to navigate because none of the guides or staff spoke English. The beach had a band of corral making it pretty dicey to get in the water. We did the aquarium and would have liked to snorkel there but didn’t understand that was an option until it was too late. The food was great we both had fish. Our trip was cut a little short due to weather - if we hadn’t waited at the port for 1.5 hours prior to departure we could have had more time.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-20 09:17:00

Posted By : ABCXYZ1234567890
I was hesitant to book this day trip after reading some of the reviews, but I am so glad I went for it.

The port was really busy in the morning since there are a lot of different island tours meeting around the same time. However, finding the door I was supposed to go through was easy along with finding the Islabela staff. As others have already noted, the boat didn't leave until about 8:30. However, I would still get there early to check in so that you don't feel rushed. The line to get into the actual port was kind of long and the last thing you want is to be stressed about missing your excursion. Also, make sure you have your passport number with you, because the staff will ask for it when they check you in.

I booked an English speaking tour but the only people that spoke English were the staff who check you in at the port. However, it's not hard to figure out what's going on . Learning a few basic phrases in Spanish goes a long way and all of the staff that I encountered on the island had phones with translation apps so communicating was easy.

This is a tour for pure relaxation which was exactly what I wanted. It is a small beach but at the same time it didn't feel too crowded. It was absolutely beautiful and relaxing. I didn't partake in any of the extra activities (snorkeling and massages). Those things were offered but not in a pushy way. The lunch was good and the boat ride to/from were good. We started getting on the boats back around 2:30, we left around 3pm and got back to Cartagena just before 4pm. I think that was the perfect amount of time to enjoy the beach.


Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-09 05:43:29

Posted By : Linda_W
Was a great day on the beach. As others have mentioned this tour is NOT in English. That’s fine, we are in Colombia after all. And we managed although we missed that there was the opportunity to snorkel since we couldn’t understand what our guide was saying.. So to say it is available in English is misleading. And my confirmation said snorkeling was not available. Anyhow i would still recommend this if you’re looking for a good break from the noise of Cartagena.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-08 07:12:33

Posted By : Cameron_C
Wonderful way to see one of the many Rosario islands. The trip starts late. You get there around 10. It is 1 hour & 5 mins to get there. This is more of a laid back tour vibe. The boat ride was absolutely stunning. You get one welcome drink and lunch included. Excursions like snorkeling, towels, & more drinks & food are extra. The shore has a lot of rocks. So I would suggest either renting the shoes that they have or wear flip flops when you walk into the water because it really hurts to walk in. We left at 2:45pm. The staff was fantastic ! Would do another island tour next time !
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-02-05 16:41:22