Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena for digital nomads

Cartagena is a travelers’ dream. From one of the best colonial cities to beaches to high-rise rooftop pools and pumping nightlife – it’s damn near impossible to get bored in Colombia’s biggest beach city.

My advice to digital nomads: Cartagena is fun for one week to one month. Find a place in Bocagrande where everything actually works and plan to only do 3-5 hours of work a day. After a month, you'll be ready to leave even though you had a good time.

Pros

  • It's a walkable city, very vibrant and so many things to do around. You'll meet people right away, either local or tourists.
  • There are many coffee shops to work, and also with great coffee. Finally there's a good coworking spot in Selina.

Cons

  • Cartagena is hot. Typically, you’ll find temperatures between 75-90 degrees Farhenieght year around. The average temperature hovers between 80-82 degrees on a normal day. May, June, and July are the rainy season – but the rain just isn’t that bad in this beach city compared to other places.
  • As the majority of money coming into Cartagena is from tourism, the city is pretty safe. Police are found around most corners in the colonial city and Bocagrande never seemed sketchy. Other areas of the city may be a little rougher, but this isn’t Cali, Colombia or Venezuela.
  • Spanish is the official language of all cities in Colombia. As a tourist city, you can definitely find English speakers here. You’ll still be better off with Spanish in Cartagena. By speaking Spanish, you’ll avoid getting scammed as much as possible.

Working on this article... I'm going to add these topics:

  • Cost of living
  • Where to stay
  • When to go
  • How to move around
  • What to eat