What is the best month to visit Cartagena?

January to March is the most reliable stretch: little rain, steady breeze and calm water for island days. December is just as dry but far busier and more expensive. If you want good weather without peak-season crowds, aim for late January or the first half of March.

Does it rain a lot in Cartagena?

It depends entirely on the month. From December to April it barely rains. From September to November it rains most days — usually a heavy downpour of thirty to sixty minutes in the afternoon rather than all-day drizzle, so a morning boat trip is often still perfectly possible.

Is Cartagena affected by hurricanes?

Direct hits are very rare. Cartagena sits south of the main Caribbean hurricane track, which is why it has been a working port for centuries. What you can get between August and November is indirect effects — swell, squalls and rougher water — which is a reason to keep island plans flexible in those months, not a reason to cancel the trip.

How hot is Cartagena?

Between roughly 28°C and 33°C in the daytime, all year round, with high humidity and sea temperatures around 28°C. The difference between the "hottest" and "coolest" month is a couple of degrees. What actually changes how it feels is the wind, which is strongest from December to March.

The best time to visit Cartagena

UpdatedAugust 19, 2026Tourism Business Operations, Cartagena

Warm all year, but not the same all year. What changes between December and November, and which months suit which kind of trip.

Cartagena does not have seasons in the way most travellers expect. It is hot every month of the year, the sea is warm every month of the year, and the difference between the coolest and the hottest month is about two degrees.

What does change — and changes a lot — is rain, wind, sea conditions, crowds and price. Those four are what should decide when you come.

The short answer

December to April is the dry season. Little rain, steady breeze, the calmest water of the year. It is the best window for island days, boat charters and anything that depends on the sea.

September to November is the wet season. It rains most days, usually hard and briefly in the afternoon. The sea is choppier and departures are more likely to move.

May to August sits in between. Warm, greener, occasional rain, noticeably fewer visitors and better prices.

Month by month

December to March — the reliable months

This is Cartagena at its most postcard-like. The trade winds blow steadily, humidity drops a little, and the water around the Rosario Islands turns the colour that sells the city.

It is also the busiest and most expensive stretch of the year. The last week of December and the first week of January are the peak of the peak — boats, hotels and restaurants fill weeks in advance, and prices reflect it.

The wind that makes these months pleasant on land also builds a small chop offshore, particularly in January and February. It rarely stops a departure, but it can make the crossing to the islands bumpier than the photographs suggest.

April and May — the quiet sweet spot

April still behaves like the dry season for most of the month. By May the first real rains arrive, but they are short and usually late in the day.

Crowds thin out sharply after Semana Santa. If you want dry-season conditions without dry-season prices, this is the window most people overlook.

June to August — green, warm, busy again in July

Rain becomes regular but rarely all-day. Locals call the drier spell that often falls around June and July veranillo — “little summer” — and it can deliver stretches of perfect weather in the middle of the wet half of the year.

July and August bring a second, smaller high season driven by European and North American holidays. Prices rise, but nowhere near December levels.

September to November — the wettest months

These are the months that get Cartagena a bad reputation, and it is only half deserved. It rains most days, sometimes very hard, and the streets of the old city flood quickly. But the rain typically arrives as a downpour of half an hour to an hour in the afternoon, not a grey day from dawn to dusk.

A boat trip that leaves at nine in the morning often runs exactly as planned. What you should not do in these months is book a rigid itinerary with no room to move a day.

October is statistically the wettest month of the year.

What this means for a day at sea

Sea conditions matter more than rain for anything on the water. In practice:

December to April: calm, predictable, occasional wind chop. Island days run as planned almost every time.
May to August: generally good, with afternoon showers that rarely affect a morning departure.
September to November: the most variable. Departures may be moved or reversed in direction to find sheltered water.

The captain and the port authority (DIMAR) decide whether a departure is safe, and that decision is never negotiable — which is exactly why you want it made by someone with nothing to gain from sailing anyway.

Practical advice whatever the month

Book island days early in your trip, not on the last day. It leaves room to move if a day gets cancelled.
Mornings are calmer than afternoons, in every month. Wind and swell build through the day.
Bring reef-safe sunscreen and reapply it. Cartagena is 10 degrees from the equator; the sun burns through cloud.
Rain does not cancel the walled city. The colonial centre is one of the best things to do on a grey afternoon, and it empties out when it rains.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best month to visit Cartagena?: January to March is the most reliable stretch: little rain, steady breeze and calm water for island days. December is just as dry but far busier and more expensive. If you want good weather without peak-season crowds, aim for late January or the first half of March.
Does it rain a lot in Cartagena?: It depends entirely on the month. From December to April it barely rains. From September to November it rains most days — usually a heavy downpour of thirty to sixty minutes in the afternoon rather than all-day drizzle, so a morning boat trip is often still perfectly possible.
Is Cartagena affected by hurricanes?: Direct hits are very rare. Cartagena sits south of the main Caribbean hurricane track, which is why it has been a working port for centuries. What you can get between August and November is indirect effects — swell, squalls and rougher water — which is a reason to keep island plans flexible in those months, not a reason to cancel the trip.
How hot is Cartagena?: Between roughly 28°C and 33°C in the daytime, all year round, with high humidity and sea temperatures around 28°C. The difference between the "hottest" and "coolest" month is a couple of degrees. What actually changes how it feels is the wind, which is strongest from December to March.