2.13/5
563 reviews
Photo by Luis Vidal via Unsplash

Cartagena

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locals

walled

enjoy

stay

beach

weather

sunsets

affordable

bars

visitors

grande

great

natural

inexpensive

tourist

hard

treat

person

scenario

Cartagena offers an affordable cost of living with plenty of decent food options and reliable internet, making it a functional short-term destination for digital nomads. The weather is consistently warm, and in certain residential areas, people are friendly and the environment is laid-back. The nightlife is active, and there are bars and rooftop venues that many visitors enjoy. Areas like Bocagrande and parts of the Centro can offer convenience and amenities, if you're mindful about choosing your stay location.

However, the city comes with some downsides. While it's a coastal destination, the local beaches are generally underwhelming and often crowded with aggressive vendors. Cartagena attracts a large number of tourists, making many places expensive and overly commercialized. Visitors have noted challenges engaging authentically with locals, with frustration over constant transactional interactions and visible socioeconomic divides. There are also concerning levels of prostitution and sex tourism, especially in nightlife areas. Safety varies by neighborhood, with some locals advising against walking alone at night. Overall, while Cartagena can be enjoyable for a limited stay, it may not meet the expectations of those seeking deeper cultural immersion or a quieter work-life setup.

AI-generated summary of reviews

Personal Rating: 2/5

As a nomad kiteboarder, I spent 2 weeks in Cartagena just to work and enjoy the sunsets on the water.
On the positive side, the city provides affordable accommodation options and a decent food scene with noteworthy restaurants like Celele or bars like Alquimico. The city's nightlife boasts lively bars and rooftop venues, and the sunsets are truly beautiful.

However, prostitution and sex tourism is really to much and to present, which may be uncomfortable for some visitors... Safety can be a concern depending on where you stay (locals advised me not to walk alone at night). The city is really noisy, and full of scams.

A short trip there can have it's charms if you stay in the Centro or Boca Grande or Castillo Grande. If you look for protitutes, it's like open bar. Overwise I think this place is a bit overrate for the DNs lifestyle.

2 years ago

I mostly don't like it here. Possibly I am too used to USA or have not traveled enough.

PRO: It is beautiful, with great natural resources, inexpensive rates & lots of activities to do. There are carriage rides & snorkling, beach events, etc. Lots & lots of great places for brunch or dinner & drinks.

CONS: There's a strong cultural, economic & racial divide here. The locals see the tourist as distinctly different from them. It's hard to find any locals to have a conversation & just treat you like a person, no matter how down to earth you are. Pretty much any transaction can devolve into begging & visible frustration if you say no. There's a lot of resentment that presents in many conversations.

Ultimately it creates a scenario where it's hard to be a person & treat the locals like people. Apparently, the best-case scenario is to enjoy the locations where the restaurant/bar/lounge/etc forcefully keeps the locals out. They put the best places on the second floor so that you don't even see the locals. But for someone like me who was hoping to have authentic experiences in Colombia, it is frustrating to find that it is not really possible.

3 years ago

I was there for one week and stayed in Bocagrande, about a 10 minute taxi ride from the Walled City. Pros of Cartagena: Inexpensive locale, reliable and fast internet, good weather (if you like it hot), not terribly crowded (aside from Walled City), beauty/history/nightlife of Walled City. Cons: Local beaches are average at best and riddled with vendors who accost visitors non-stop, street vendors are less pushy but everywhere, fluency in Spanish is very helpful (not really a con, just is), Walled City is loaded with tourists and priced accordingly. Cartagena struck me as a one-trick pony like a Las Vegas. Some people love Vegas because of the weather and the entertainment. Cartagena has the weather and the Walled City. Unfortunately even though its a coastal city, it's tough to enjoy the beach.

6 years ago

The beaches are not good. You'll have to go to the islands or natural park if you want a nice beach. Unless you're looking fo a Miami remake, don't stay in the area with all the newer high-rises. The walled city is cute, but it's not worth staying there. Within a day you've seen it all and it's relatively expensive. Everyone is a tourist and it's super hot because there's no breeze with the walls. I recommend staying in a residential area south of the high-rises. It's a safe and charming place with friendly locals who are always out on their porches. Everyone says hello to you here. More culture, more affordable, laid-back, but no co-working.

7 years ago

✅ Very affordable

✅ Fast internet

✅ Warm all year

✅ Friendly people

✅ Good nightlife

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Easy to do business

✅ Democratic

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Poor beaches

❌ Pushy vendors

❌ Overrun with tourists

❌ Authentic experiences hard to find

❌ Safety concerns

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ Not very safe

❌ Pretty slow internet

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Nomads.com members really didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are not that great

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not safe for women

❌ Not family friendly

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels

99 37°
hot

102 39°
hot

95 35°
hot

97 36°
hot

95 35°
hot

100 38°
hot

Real

86 30°
very warm

84 29°
very warm

86 30°
very warm

Humidity

sweaty
79%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
87%

sweaty
86%

sweaty
85%

sweaty
83%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
10mm

dry
5mm

dry
11mm

rainy
77mm

rainy
131mm

rainy
192mm

rainy
154mm

rainy
212mm

rainy
236mm

rainy
254mm

rainy
150mm

dry
40mm

Cloud

pockets
25%

pockets
22%

pockets
23%

pockets
44%

pockets
45%

pockets
42%

pockets
47%

pockets
46%

pockets
41%

pockets
36%

pockets
34%

Sun

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
11 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

1,114 people

1,255 people

1,077 people

1,360 people

1,156 people

817 people

564 people

800 people

636 people

756 people

820 people

1,327 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Cartagena's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

	Brand Designer @ Contra
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	Administrative Executive @ Prime Design & Build
	Principal Software Engineer @ Shippo
	3D Logo Designer @ Contra
	Tech Lead Data @ Zensurance
	Senior Software Engineer @ Emergent Software
	Senior Product Designer Europe @ Hostaway
	Full Stack Developer @ RainFocus

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✈️60min

$3,971 / mo

12 Mbps

Medellín

Colombia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🙂 Good

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety very bad

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 70 😷

✈️37min

$1,397 / mo

🌇 Also went here415 people

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.13/5 (Rank #907) 563 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍4 liked it 👎6 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Bad
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,539 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 8Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Hot: 28°C83°F (feels 32°C90°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 79%
👌 Safety	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Good
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Very bad
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Great
💰 Income level*	Very low: $484 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Good
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Okay
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
👩 Female friendly	Bad
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Latin America
🚩 Country	Colombia
🗓️ Average trip length	7 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	8 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌦 28°C 83°F + 🥵 Sweaty (79%) = feels 32°C 90°F
🔌 Power	115V 60Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Tappsi
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10,000 COP in USD	USD 2.32
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	COP 1,000,000 = USD 232
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best coworking space	Fundación Surtigas
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Coworkation
☕️ Best coffee place	Juan Valdez Café
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Isabella Jean's Coffee
🏪 Best 24/7 coffee place	Hampton By Hilton Cartagena
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	9% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	850,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$5,806 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 45% 👱‍♀️ 55%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Falabella
🏠 Apartment listings	Flipkey
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Copa Airlines
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Avianca
🏥 Best hospital	Clinica Las Americas

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,539 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$983 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,244 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$641 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$990 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,321 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$548 / month
🏠 Median home price	$138,780
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$46 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$43 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$240 / month
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$1
👩‍🏫 International school	$4,121 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$4 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$7 / trip