From Cartagena, With Love

I'm a strong swimmer, I tell myself, even though the waves around us are shaking the boat. So, taking a deep breath, I jump. The underwater scenery really is spectacular: deep coral canyons inhabited by schools of electric-blue fish and miniature ones speckled with blue dots. For an hour, I forget that a) I am miles away from the mainland, and b) the waves are getting higher.

It isn't my imagination. As the boat speeds back to Cartagena in the choppy water, I'm white-knuckling my seat. Is it me, or is the driver going really fast? Then, as the boat crashes down on a huge wave, the fiberglass cracks in a jagged line down the inside of the boat next to my seat. I look at Todd, and we start laughing. "The things you talk me into," I shout over the wind.

(Map by Newhouse Design) [enlarge photo] COASTAL CHARM Many pleasures—simple and sophisticated—are revealed in our guide to this Colombian city by the sea. • Launch the slide show VIDEO • Grupo Compay Segundo performs the Cuban song "Chan Chan"

Luckily, we make it back to shore. When another passenger asks the driver about the crack, he simply says, "No problem, we'll just patch it up."

Our last night in Cartagena, I talk Diana and her boyfriend into joining us for drinks (and maybe some dancing) at Café Havana in Getsemaní. During the day, the club looks like an abandoned building, with its floor-to-ceiling windows shuttered tight. By night, it's a different story—you can hear the music from more than five blocks away. It feels fitting to end our trip at a place with live Cuban music and what I'm told are the best mojitos in town.

We arrive around 10 p.m., just as a band is setting up on the stage, the fiddler tightening his strings. Photos of Cuban musicians are plastered on the walls, and couples are cuddling at the bar, squeezed in beside old men wearing guayaberas and neatly pressed slacks. "I feel like we could be in Cuba," I say to Diana, mentioning the many times we've heard "Chan Chan" in Cartagena. Earlier, Todd and I had eaten dinner at a scrappy little Cuban restaurant, La Bodeguita del Medio, where a projection screen showed concerts from the homeland, including one band that performed a moving rendition of the song.

"Yes, the song is popular in Cartagena," Diana says. That's when I learn that "Chan Chan" is a meaningful song not only to me, but for the many Cuban émigrés who've settled here. "The rhythm of the song really encapsulates Cartagena's soul," Diana adds.

The band starts playing, and Diana is quickly swept up in the crowd of dancers forming around the bar and snaking its way outside. Women of all ages sway their hips, and the waitresses do their best to keep from doing the same. Then I hear those familiar, melancholy chords. Except this time, I don't cry.

LODGING
Casa El Carretero
Calle del Carretero 10B-18, Getsemaní, 415/508-3927, casaelcarretero.com, from $165

Casa Boutique Veranera
Calle Quero 9-65, San Diego, 011-57/5-664-1111, casaveranera.com, from $189

Hotel Isla del Pirata
Isla del Pirata, 011-57/5-665-2952, hotelislapirata.com, from $279

FOOD
Casa de la Cerveza Cartagena
Calle del Arsenal and Baluarte San Lorenzo del Reducto, Getsemaní, 011-57/5-664-9261, casadelacerveza.com.co, plates from $8

La Cocina de Carmela
Calle del Santísimo 8-10, San Diego, 011-57/5-664-8298, entrées from $11