We went to Castillo Grande, a black sand beach in the resort area of Cartagena which was extremely relaxing and much quieter than the other beaches we have visited. We spent a few hours sunbathing before heading back to Cartagena. We had a lovely leisurely lunch at this Bistro place and ate delicious fish and chips, and wandered around Cartagena which is a really pretty city with well kept buildings and incredible street art. The rest of the afternoon we got ev...

Cartagena's best beach is known as Playa Blanca, "White beach", and this is where we went for the day. I thought the beaches at Taganga were the busiest I would ever see but I was wrong! This beach was laughably crowded, not a spot of sand or sea without a Colombian in it! The photos I took just don't do it justice. We wandered down quite far an managed to find two sun beds in a pretty quiet and relaxin spot, perfect for a day of sunbathing. Being on the Caribb...

We had planned to leave on a bus to Cartagena around 7am, however this is now what happened due to two mighty hangovers and a very appealing pool right outside our dorm doors. Woopsie! We chilled by the pool and tried to shake off our hangovers for the morning and indulged in the amazing buffet breakfast provided by the hostel. We got a bus with a loony driver who managed to get us to Cartagena in under four hours! We checked in at Mamallena Hostel and then bei...

We went to Taganga for our first full beach day of many to come in the next few weeks. At almost 40 degrees it was definitely sunbathing weather! The beach wasn't the most beautiful I'd ever seen but may have had the most atmosphere and character of any beach id ever been to! Renowned as a party beach, Taganga was surprisingly clean with clear blue water and no litter, and the surrounding mountains of Santa Marta provided pretty great views. The beach was packe...

We arrived in boiling hot Santa Marta on the north and Caribbean coast of Colombia. I can finally pack away my jumpers and not see them again until England! Our hostel was called The Dreamer and was the best we had stayed at so far, with a huge pool and a grassy area surrounding it with loungers and hammocks, a great bar, kitchen, TV area, pool table - everything you could ask for in a hostel! We immediately set up for the day in a spot by the pool; time to get...