Getting in
- Rafael Núñez International Airport, Cartagena: There is no airport on Barú. Arrange a hotel transfer or private driver directly to your Barú accommodation; allow roughly 1.5–2 hours by road, longer in Cartagena traffic. A purported 45-minute airport-to-Barú transfer is only plausible in unusually clear conditions, not a planning time. Do not take an airport taxi to the old town and then buy a same-day Playa Blanca boat tour unless you want to spend much of arrival day in transfers.
- Cartagena (Ciudad Amurallada / Getsemaní): For Barú, road transport is usually the sensible arrival route: pre-arranged transfer, shared shuttle where your hotel offers one, or a private driver via the Barú bridge. Budget about 1.5–2 hours door to door. Boats from Cartagena’s tourist piers are useful for a day at Playa Blanca or the Rosario Islands, but they are weather-dependent and often slow, crowded excursion boats rather than efficient transport with luggage.
- Cartagena Transport Terminal: The intercity terminal is about 11 km east of Cartagena’s old town, not on Barú. Use it only if arriving by long-distance bus, then continue by pre-arranged road transfer to Barú. Do not expect a convenient rail-style connection: Colombia has no passenger train link here.