About Cartagena Up

Cartagena Up is a locally verified guide to Cartagena, Colombia. I'm Yatan — I've lived here since 2021 and work remotely from the city.

Most Cartagena guides are written by people who visited once. This one is maintained by someone who goes back to the same cafés every week, photographs the event boards at the Claustro de la Merced, and runs speed tests before recommending a place to work.

Every listing is personally verified. Every WiFi speed is a real measurement. Every event comes from a local source — not scraped from a tourist aggregator.

I also operate Casa Gaviota, a private beach house in Barú. Where relevant, I disclose this.

The events section tracks LGTBIQ+ events in Cartagena as a dedicated category — use the filter on the events page to find them. Cartagena has an active scene and it's underrepresented in most city guides.

Something wrong or out of date? Tell me on WhatsApp.