Nonstop to CTG or a connection through Bogotá?
Rafael Núñez International Airport, code CTG, gets nonstops from several US hubs, including airports in Florida. If your home airport is not on that list, an itinerary through Bogotá, code BOG, is a normal alternative.
The temptation is to sort the search results by the headline number and ignore the shape of the journey. I would compare a nonstop with a connection that keeps the flights on the same booking. A separate-ticket arrangement may look tidy in search results, but it asks you to own the risk of a missed onward flight.
The taxi ride starts in Crespo, not outside town
CTG sits in Crespo, a neighborhood of northern Cartagena between the Caribbean coast and the Ciénaga de la Virgen lagoon. You have landed inside the city limits. The taxi is not a transfer from some remote airfield; it is the ride from the city’s northern side to the part of town where you have chosen to stay.
Authorized taxis wait at the exits of the domestic and international terminals. The airport publishes a destination-zone table for those rides. Getsemaní and the pier sit in a nearer zone than Bocagrande, so the hotel location changes the taxi charge even though the airport itself stays the same.
I would go to the authorized taxi line and check the destination zone before getting in. You should know the neighborhood name, not just the hotel’s branding, because the driver is taking you to a place, not the description written by a booking engine. This is a poor moment to discover that the room marked “Cartagena” sits in a different part of Cartagena than you pictured. Save the improvisation for dinner.
The room decides which Cartagena you experience
Inside the defensive walls, the historic center puts the old town outside your door. The Puerta del Reloj, the Clock Gate, is the familiar way in. San Diego, within the walls, offers a quieter setting among old buildings that include converted convent hotels and university properties.
Just outside those walls, to the south, Getsemaní has old buildings that now house boutique hotels. Staying here puts you beside the historic center rather than inside it.
Bocagrande changes the day. This peninsula has beachside high-rise hotels, shops, and restaurants. You can walk out toward the beach, while the old town becomes a taxi ride. The sand here is grayish and volcanic, which can make the water look muddy even when it is not. If the photo in your head shows a generic Caribbean beach, that is worth knowing before you pick the room.
A walk through the walled city is a different holiday from stepping out of a Bocagrande tower toward the shore. When you look at the room photos, decide which walk you are paying for.
The Rosario Islands begin at a specific pier
The Rosario Islands are an archipelago off Cartagena, protected as a national natural park. Many visitors go on a day tour. That makes the departure pier part of the hotel decision, even if you do not intend to sleep on the islands.
Passenger boats for the islands leave from Muelle La Bodeguita — muelle means pier — on Avenida Blas de Lezo, in front of the Clock Gate. This is the authorized departure point. Tour operators tell passengers which pier gate to use, so keep that detail with the booking rather than relying on a vague instruction to “go to the harbor.”
The pier and park charges are generally separate from the tour booking. Bring pesos in cash for the pier; you do not want the departure to depend on whether you can sort out an extra payment while everyone else is moving toward a boat.
If you’re staying inside the walls or in Getsemaní, the pier is a walk. From Bocagrande, the island outing begins with a taxi. I’d book that ride the evening before.
Handle Check-Mig before the humidity gets involved
US passport holders can visit Colombia for tourism without a visa for up to 90 days. Check-Mig is the part the airline may ask about.
Check-Mig is a free online pre-registration form from Migración Colombia. The immigration authority says it is recommended rather than mandatory for arriving or departing by air. The US Embassy advises completing it before flying, and some airlines ask for it at check-in. I would complete the form on the official Migración Colombia site and keep the confirmation available. Do not pay another website to submit a free form.
Cartagena stays hot and humid through the year. Rain is more common from May through November, including a particularly wet October. January through March brings drier conditions. If the islands are the reason for the trip, I’d start the date search there; the walls look the same in the rain.
