Bus from Cartagena to Barranquilla

tompower says on Jun 27, 2008, 09:11:

cartagena-barranquilla-santa marta Shuttle Van MAR SOl is a bus service that runs an hourly van service from cartagena to barranquilla then to santa marta.
They use mercedes benz vans that are all very new, they seat no more than 13 people. They are a very organized and an impressive service. What you do is call them give your name and number and where you are, my experience with them is only cartagena to barranquilla and return but I'm certain the service is excellent all the way to santa marta. If for example you are in the hotel dan carlton in the Laguito, you call and reserve your time for the next available bus they run every hour from 6am till 4 pm to barranquilla/santamarta. The van comes to your hotel and they go around cartagena picking everyone up then they stop at the cartagena office near the airport and then they leave on the costal highway to barranquilla when they arrive at barranquilla they drive a route around the city to drop people off, they dont go all the way south in barranquilla they'll drop you off at a point as far south as they go, in cartagena they won't go any farther from the center than pie de la popa (where the monastery on the hill is). If the van is leaving the cartagena office at 6 am they start picking people up at 5am if you call they'll say like be ready at 5:30 am . They always show up i've never been stiffed and i've used them dozens of times. Sometimes if the passangers are from all over cartagena they'll pick you up in a taxi and the taxi will take you to the office where you'll board the van before going to barranquilla.
Best of all it only costs 19,000 pesos and these guys know the highway they fly through the security and speed traps never longer than 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to barranquilla.
I know they're good because all the other van services try and steal their passengers. There's a home depot at the pie de la popa and sometimes when I'm waiting there for the mar sol van the caribe van(another service) will come by and say mar sol sent them for me and its bull shit. Mar Sol is great and a great price, why use a private car for 120,000 pesos they actually take longer sometimes.
Here's the numbers for the mar sol office in barranquilla:
3683272 3694228 3008083147 3135450004 3736425 3574265
their address is calle 93 # 47-13 their right up from the McDonald's
Here's the numbers for the Mar Sol office in Cartagena:
6564192 3008056659 their office address in cartagena is crespo cll. 70 no. 6a/120 When you walk out of the airport in cartagena theres a main street in crespo i don't know its name but you just walk one block to the right and their office is on the sea side of the street, once again walk directly out the airport to the main crespo road and turn right walk one block and you'll see the mar sol office on the right hand side.
The Mar Sol van service between Cartagena-Barranquilla-Santa Marta is Tom Power approved.
Remember, were all in this together.

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adrienne79 says on Jun 27, 2008, 12:19:

great information Tom, thanks!
Any idea how much a bus or van fro the terminal will cost? Is this a cheaper option or just a quicker option? sounds goo though.

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Papi de Alejo says on Jun 27, 2008, 12:45:

I used the bus from the terminal to Santa Marta. It cost 20,000 pesos. I was told that the cost to Barranquilla, where we stopped on the way, was 10,000 pesos. The bus was clean, air-conditioned and roomy enough. They do know how to fly along that two-lane highway. We did have to slow down rather suddenly once to avoid hitting a cow.

PdA

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nueva york bombero says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:46:

The buses in the terminal are fine... I think it's 12000 COP from Cartagena to Barranquilla, then another 10000 COP to Santa Marta. Cheap, A/C, comfortable and just under 2 hours.

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tompower says on Jun 28, 2008, 05:16:

if your arriving by air to cartagena its better to go marsol to barranquilla because they are right there at the airport in crespo,... the bus terminal for regular intercity buses is way out on the east of town a good hour through congested cartagena. FYI - there are two highways from cartagena to barranquilla the original and a newer toll highway that follows the coast. The intercity buses and trucks take the old highway which starts past the bus terminal, the new toll highway leaves north east from crespo and because only cars and puerta a puerta ( thats what these types of shuttle services are called) use the highway people fly along at light speed.

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