Playa Blanca Barú

"It was a relaxing atmosphere. The water was clear and the waves were weak. The food and drink was worth the cost. I don't much care for beach dogs but I don't let them bother me anymore as they can be a nuisance. But overall it is a very nice place to visit."

Kevin

"The beach itself is great, beautiful water/view!
However, the amount of people offering jetski rides, massages, and souvenirs, kinda ruins the experience because every 5 minutes someone will approach you. I particularly didn’t like the dudes offering jetski rides; I’m in the water trying to relax, and when they drive the jetski near you there’s a lot of gasoline smell.. that really annoyed me."

Diego Grinberg

"It is a beautiful beach, but this is not a trip that the occasional tourist who is not used to traveling in complex environments will find relaxing. It can definitely be a tourist trap. My family and I are experienced travelers.

Getting there. We rented a car and drove. First warning, be careful if you do this with google maps or other navigation apps. You will find several playa Blanca’s in them, and some directions make you take a wrong turn and you end up in a sketchy neighborhood. If you do decide to drive yourself, follow the signs for playa Blanca after you cross the bridge into Baru Island. A small portion of the road right before you get there is unpaved and in bad shape but we got through it in a Renault Logan so not that bad. We met a few people on the beach who took a bus tour there, several complained that they were supposed to get there at 9, but arrived closer to 10:30. If you drive, by the time you hit the bridge to Baru, motorcycles will start to follow you to take you to their restaurants. Ignore them. Just keep following the signs and keep an eye on your gps and on people that will get on the road in front of you to try to force you to follow them to their restaurants. Just keep going slowly and be careful not to touch them with your car, but I would not come to a stop either. You should not enter any neighborhoods deviating from the main road.

Once there. We did at around 9:30. There are two main parking lots close to the two entrances to the beach. The parking lot #2 is a shorter walk. Still, not accesible for someone with mobility issues (a bit of a walk and down a slope with some steps). We walked right past the vendors and into the restaurants.

Restaurants. They continue to give two sets of menus. If you look like a foreigner they will show you one that has at least double the prices that are in the one that they show to Colombians. They will also tell you to pay for the beach chairs and umbrellas. We kept walking and found a place where we negotiated free beach chairs if we ate there, and that had the menu with prices in a bog menu printed in the wall of the restaurant, which was a sign to us that this place was not playing the same scams that others were.

The beach. Beautiful. If you like snorkeling, choose your location based on that. A snorkeling spot we found was walking to the left of the entrance #2 for a bit. That section of the beach has also a large sea section designated for swimming that includes some corals. Be careful with your valuables. We went barebones. One phone and some cash, and kept it all on ourselves in one of those waterproof bags.

Snorkeling. Disappointing, you see some corals, mostly damaged. You see fish, some beautiful ones and they come close. But I would rate the snorkeling a 2/5 at most.

Swimming. Before noon, nice. Once it gets crowded, two things happen. One, the water gets dirty with food packages and stuff. Two, the concentration of jet skis and lanchas that get into the swimming designated areas makes it uncomfortable to swim to the corals. I did my second outing to snorkel around 1:30 and had to constantly keep an eye on watercraft. Some get uncomfortably close even inside of the swimming designated areas.

Tours. We did not take any. They offer a lancha ride to playa tranquila. A beach that is less crowded. This is a scam. It is the same beach, you just have to walk about 20-25 minutes in the sand to get to that section (walk to the right of then entrance #2 and keep going for a bit).

Vendors. There are many that offer goods and services. In our experience, this was not an issue. Once you say no they kept walking. Might (very likely) be different if you are not fluent in Spanish or have a foreign accent.

Timing. As noted, get there as early as you can. By 3:00, 3:30 the place started to empty as the buses left. Vibe started to change a bit, with more locals coming in. We did not have an issue staying a bit longer but would leave well before it gets dark so you can hit the main road in daylight still."

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