Early, before 8:00
These are the least hot hours. At 7:00 it feels like 30 °C (86 °F) in February and 34 °C (93 °F) in October. Castillo San Felipe opens at 7:00, and the island boats leave from 8:00.
Cartagena, Colombia by the hour
Photo: Felipe Ortega Grijalba, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pick your month and see how a day works: when the streets are cool enough to walk, when the boats leave and where to be at sunset.
Cartagena is a walled port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, listed by UNESCO in 1984. You come for the old town, the fortress, Getsemaní at night and boat days to the islands. The one thing to understand: the clock runs the day. Walk in the morning, spend the hot hours on the water or in the shade, and come back out at sunset.
Day planner
What does a day look like in your month?
November
Earliest sunset, showers common, more ship days
Feels like 35 °C (95 °F) at 8:00 and 37 °C (99 °F) at 13:00, 34 °C (93 °F) in the breeze. Rain on about 9 days a month. Sea typically calmer. Sunset 17:37.
Sunrise 5:57Sunset 17:37Rain on about 9 days a monthSea typically calmer15 ship days
- Feels like (shade)
- With breeze
- Rain
- Sunset
- Ship day
- Walk
- On the water
- Indoors
- Shade
- Getting there
Slot 1, Early 6:30 to 8:00
The walled city at first light
The streets are cool enough to walk until about 8:00 this month, at or below the guide’s 35 °C line in still air. Walk the old town inside the walls before then.
Walk
Slot 2, Midday 8:00 to 16:35
A pool, a museum, a long lunch
The hot hours in the streets run from about 8:00 to about 17:45 this month, hottest from 10:00 to 15:30. Good for a pool, the museums or a long lunch; short walks in the shade are fine. The Palace of the Inquisition is open 9:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday.
Indoors
Slot 3, Sunset 16:35 to 18:05
Sunset at 17:37, from a roof or a boat
Even with the breeze the wall stays over the guide’s line until after dark this month. Watch the sunset from a bar with a view, or take a sunset boat instead of the wall.
Indoors
Slot 4, Dinner 19:30 to 21:00
Dinner in the old town
Eat in the walled city or Getsemaní. On hot nights, ask for a table with air conditioning.
Indoors
Slot 5, Night 21:00 to 23:00
Getsemaní after dark
The streets have been cool enough to walk since about 17:45 this month. Walk through Getsemaní and end at Plaza de la Trinidad; take a taxi back if you sleep outside the walls.
Walk
More than one day? The itinerary planner lays out 2 to 5 nights on the clock for your month.
A typical ship day in the 2026-27 port schedule runs 07:30 to 18:00 (median arrival and departure of the 155 single-day calls). The plan is the cruise port planner’s, with its default buffers and all aboard half an hour before departure. If your ship leaves at 14:00, as 31 of the 155 single-day calls do, skip the afternoon. Plan your own arrival and all-aboard times.
iThe hours
How a day works
The hottest part, 10:00 to 15:30
At 13:00 February feels like 37 °C (99 °F), or 32 °C (90 °F) in the breeze. October feels like 37 °C too, and still 35 °C (95 °F) in the breeze. Spend these hours on a boat, in a pool or in a museum; short walks in the shade are fine.
Sunset
The sun sets at 18:10 in February and 17:45 in October. February’s wall feels like 29 °C (84 °F) in the breeze at 18:00. October still feels like 34 °C (93 °F) at 17:00, breeze included: take a sunset boat.
Night
Evenings are for dinner in the walled city, then Getsemaní. At 21:00 February feels like 32 °C (90 °F). October still feels like 34 °C (93 °F), so book a table with air conditioning.
iiThe year
Month by month
| Month | 8:00 | 13:00 | 13:00, breeze | Rain days a month | Sea | Sunset | Ship days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32 (90) | 37 (99) | 33 (91) | under 1 | rougher | 17:58 | 22 |
| February | 32 (90) | 37 (99) | 32 (90) | under 1 | rougher | 18:10 | 17 |
| March | 33 (91) | 37 (99) | 32 (90) | under 1 | rougher | 18:13 | 14 |
| April | 34 (93) | 38 (100) | 34 (93) | about 2 | moderate | 18:13 | 17 |
| May | 36 (97) | 39 (102) | 35 (95) | about 7 | calmer | 18:16 | 2 |
| June | 36 (97) | 38 (100) | 36 (97) | about 9 | calmer | 18:24 | 3 |
| July | 35 (95) | 39 (102) | 35 (95) | about 9 | moderate | 18:28 | not in schedule |
| August | 36 (97) | 39 (102) | 35 (95) | about 10 | calmer | 18:21 | not in schedule |
| September | 36 (97) | 38 (100) | 35 (95) | about 10 | calmer | 18:03 | 6 |
| October | 35 (95) | 37 (99) | 35 (95) | about 12 | calmer | 17:45 | 11 |
| November | 35 (95) | 37 (99) | 34 (93) | about 9 | calmer | 17:37 | 15 |
| December | 33 (91) | 37 (99) | 34 (93) | about 3 | rougher | 17:43 | 18 |
iiiContents
Where to next
- 01
Pick your island
Rosario, Barú, Tierra Bomba and more, by boat time, beach and sea.
- 02
Where to stay in Cartagena
Walled city, Getsemaní or Bocagrande: heat, night noise, pools and beach.
- 03
Things to do, by hour
Sorted by when each works: cool morning, hot midday, sunset or night.
- 04
The best time to visit
Heat, rain, sea and ship days, month by month.
- 05
Safety and what things cost
Official travel advisories, and official prices for taxis, sites and the dock.
- 06
A day off the ship
Hours ashore planned around your arrival and all-aboard times.
About this guide
cartagena.info is an independent guide to Cartagena, Colombia, edited by Rainer Lang. It is not an official site of the city, the port or any tour company. Some links earn the guide a commission when you book; the partner sets the price, and the guide adds no fee. More about the guide
Sources
- Cruise terminal of Cartagena, Colombia: distance to the Centro Histórico (walled city): 3.2 km. SPRC / Grupo Puerto de Cartagena: Terminal de Cruceros page (Wayback snapshot 2026-10-17).
- Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, Cartagena, Colombia: full rate (Tarifa Plena) for foreign adults and anyone without Colombian ID: 38000 COP. ETCAR (Fortificaciones de Cartagena): Resolución 005 of 9 Jan 2026, 2026-01-09.
- Palacio de la Inquisición / Museo Histórico de Cartagena (MUHCA), Cartagena, Colombia: opening hours Monday to Saturday: 9:00 to 18:00. Museo Histórico de Cartagena de Indias (MUHCA): visit page.
- Palacio de la Inquisición / Museo Histórico de Cartagena (MUHCA), Cartagena, Colombia: opening hours Sundays and holidays: 10:00 to 16:00. Museo Histórico de Cartagena de Indias (MUHCA): visit page.
- Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena, Colombia (UNESCO World Heritage): year inscribed: 1984. UNESCO open data API, dataset whc001 (World Heritage List), id_no 285.
- Muelle La Bodeguita, Cartagena, Colombia: park fee bundle (13,500 park + 18,000 dock) for the Islas del Rosario: 31,500 COP. Corpoturismo Cartagena de Indias: ticket store (catalogue in page source).
- Muelle La Bodeguita, Cartagena, Colombia: dock fee 'Uso de Muelle 2026' per person: 18,000 COP. Corpoturismo Cartagena de Indias: ticket store (catalogue in page source).
- GetYourGuide listing 'Cartagena: 5-Stop Rosario Islands Day Tour with Lunch & Beach Club Passes', Cartagena, Colombia: Eco ticket hours: 8:00 to 16:30. GetYourGuide product page t497946.
- GetYourGuide listing 'Cartagena: Rosario Islands Excursion with Snorkeling and Playa Blanca in Barú', Cartagena, Colombia: meeting time at Muelle de la Bodeguita, gate 2: 8:30. GetYourGuide product page t934710.
- Felt temperature by month and hour. NOAA NCEI Integrated Surface Database, station 800220 (Rafael Nunez airport, Cartagena), hourly observations, 2016 to 2024; medians per month and hour (Steadman apparent temperature, shade).
- Sunrise, sunset, sea and rain by month. Sunrise and sunset for the 15th of each month, UTC-5. Rain: IDEAM: Normales Climatológicas de Colombia 1991-2020, station 14015080 Aeropuerto Rafael Núñez, mean days with 1 mm or more and mean millimetres per month. Sea: typical values from the Open-Meteo Marine model, 2016 to 2025 (CC BY 4.0).
- Ship days. Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena, Programación de Cruceros 2026-27 (PDF updated 2026-11-03).
Photographs
- Bay of Cartagena with the San Pedro Claver church and old town at sunset. Photo: Felipe Ortega Grijalba, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Thatched house on a small cay in turquoise water. Photo: Maria Pia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Colonial houses with wooden balconies and bougainvillea in the walled city. Photo: Laslovarga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Torre del Reloj above the Puerta del Reloj, the main gate in the city wall. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Arcade of Las Bóvedas below the walls at sunset, with kites in the sky. Photo: Jami430, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Colonial facades with wooden balconies on Plaza de la Aduana. Photo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Brick walkway on top of the city walls, with the Caribbean on the left. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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