My teen-aged girls loved this little tropical island in the Caribbean. The beaches are some of the most beautiful anywhere and you can have a large section of the beach to yourself. The water teems with sea life, which kept our girls busy.

The island is so small that there are is only one resort with 40 rooms and they do not allow visitors on the island that are not guests of the resort. On our first day, we went to the beach and a couple, which we hadn't noticed, politely asked us to move down the beach so that they could have their little beach to themselves. It was no problem to accommodate them, as there is so much beach and so few people, that we found our own little beach to ourselves that was well equipped with chairs and a large grass umbrella.

The main building is basically an enormous grass hut with spacious rooms. The decor of the rooms is rustic and dated, but they are air conditioned and clean with comfy beds that gave us great sleeps after days of swimming, snorkelling, and birdwatching.

The food was excellent and the staff was typical Colombian hospitality where they take pride in the quality of the food and the graciousness of the service.

In the other reviews, there was mention of a bus-and-boat transfer to the island. We went by boat from Cartagena in July, but you may want to check and see how they work the transfers in the off season.

Most of what you can read about this hotel here in the reviews is true. I’ll try to talk about things I haven’t read here.


Information not on Decameron’s website:

• There are two hours of departure from Decameron Cartagena to Decameron Isla Palma: 11am and 1pm. (We were misinformed about this).
• For the 11am group, there’s breakfast included at Decameron Cartagena. (We had not been informed about this).
• It looks like there are several ways of getting there. In our case, a bus picked us up for a 3 hour ride (Last 30 minutes on unpaved road) until a town called Berrugas and then a 30 min speed boat ride to the hotel.
• On the way back there are two hours of departure from Decameron Isla Palma, to Decameron Cartagena: 9am and 1pm. For the people of the 9am shift, there’s complimentary lunch at Decameron Cartagena.
• Sandwiches, chips and beverages are offered during the rides and half way there, the bus makes a stop for people to go to the bathroom.


About the hotel itself:
• It’s a 3 star hotel at the most.
• There’s noise all day long. Really, this was such a turn off for me, I went there looking for some peace and relaxation and it was hard to relax when there’s latin music playing all day long, loudly. The only place that has no music is the beach.
• There’s a briefing, but they’d do better to print this information on a piece of paper and leave it in the room, cause there’a a lot to memorize.
• The hotel is clean, though there are some run down areas that could do with some maintenance.
• Unlike some old reviews mention, there’s running water and power all day long.
• Our room has a private bathroom, very big.
• Service was really good and you can tell that most of the staff go out of their way to provide you with anything you need.
• There’s a water jug in the mini-freezer in the room. This water comes from mineral water dispensers located throughout the hotel and is safe to drink.
• There are a couple of soda bottles in the mini-freezer, but nothing to get them open with!
• Activities and meals start and end strictly on time, as well as transportation.
• Shampoo is not included. You’ll only find towels and soap in the bathroom. The rest, you need to bring yourself or buy at the only boutique at the island for an inflated price.
• They charge you for the safe-box separatedly.
• If you don’t attach the “Arrange this room” sign to the doorknob, they won’t tidy up your room.
• They have this weird thing, they give you a card for your beach towel. So to get a beach towel, you give them your card and when you return the beach towel, they give you back the card.


About the beach:
• 10 minute walk to get to the beach.
• No vendors, private beach with warm water.
• Coral sand beach, not too soft. Shallow water. Not many waves, no surfing. Ideal for children.


About the activities:
• The dolphin show is a bit sad. It seems that on weekends it varies a little bit, but during weekdays it is the same three stunts over and over again.
• The shows in general are mediocre, but the staff really do try hard to entertain you.
• Dance lessons are a hoot.
• Eco-walk is a bit sad, there are many things in desperate need of maintenance, like the huge fish tank with its water spilling and filtering from cracks. Drinks during this walk are not included.
• Massages at the spa are great, I recommend those.


About the food:
• In general, the food is mediocre. The selection is all Colombian typical dishes which are supposed to be amazing, but… not here.
• Bread seemed stale most of the time.
• Beware of birds picking on your food.


Beware of:
• There are lots of mosquitoes. Perhaps this changes depending on the season, but we were unprepared.
• From what we saw, it is possible to bribe the dolphin trainer, especially if you’re a woman, because (unless the two women we saw with his are his wife and her friend) it seems he likes to get a little grab here and there and in return, he’ll allow you to swim with the dolphins, feed them and get really close.

Sure the bus is rough and it plays the music loud and constant but the isla is a gem. Rooms are large, unique and clean. Meals are varied and plentiful. Staff are friendly.
Isolated, away from the beaten path, but with nature surrounding you and a beach that cuts through the ocean with waves on one side and tranquil waters on the other will keep you occupied. A jacuzzi area that has a dolphin show and the sunning area is set around a pretty big jacuzzi with a well-shaded area and a palapa bar. We were asleep before the night show but probably didn´t miss much..and we slept well. Oh, the water supply? As much as you wanted and as hot as you could stand. Drinking water was always available. Our 2 night trip was extended to three and we could easily have stayed for weeks!

I booked the hotel from August 28 to September 3. Well first of all the misinformed us and told us that it would be a 2 hour boat trip to the island. They forgot to mention that starting septermber 1 it is no longer a 2 hr boat ride but instead a 15min boat ride to some god forfibben town called rincon and from there a bus ride through the middle of nowhere in unpaved mud roads. The bus goes not more than 5 mph since there are so many holes and it is an up and down rocking bus for an hour, if not more (look at the videos I will post). So we left the island at 9:30 and arrived back around 1:30 PM. So we paid for 2 nights 3 days and got 2 nights 1 day (in which it rained) since the first day we arrived by the time the got us a room it was past 4:00 PM.

We were not the only ones that they misinformed. There was a couple that had arrived at 5:00 PM because the bus got stuck in the mud. The hotel management told us that they couldn't do anything about it. However, the regular staff is very nice. The rooms were very nice (specially if you get a room with the bathroom in the second floor) and clean. The food and the drinks were ok, the snacks were not good, and the cigatettes definetely not. The island is very nice and the is an ecologic tour with a lot of animals which was great. The water sports were a little dissapointing because you can only do them around a very small area. It is not worth the money or the ride in bus (and also the bus has no bathroom, so good luck traveling for 3 1/2 hours). Also there is a huge issue with security, I don't think that it is a safe area to travel in, specially since it is desolated for most of the trip.

Basically if they were to take you there in boat (not boat and bus) in time for you to at least enjoy half a day and also take you back around 1 to enjoy a morning, it would have been a much more pleasant trip. And also hope it doesn't rain because you will get extreamly bored.