Colombia / Bolívar
Playa Marbella
Playa Marbella is a grassy beach facing north-west, 6.5 km north-west of Cartagena (Bolívar, Colombia). The sea averages 29.5 °C in June, its warmest month, and 27.1 °C in March; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Marbella
Beach-day index 7.8/10 · Colombia median 7.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 27.7 °C | 27.3 °C | 27.1 °C | 27.6 °C | 28.7 °C | 29.5 °C | 29.5 °C | 29.4 °C | 29.5 °C | 29.3 °C | 29.0 °C | 28.6 °C |
| High °C | 34° | 35° | 35° | 35° | 33° | 33° | 33° | 33° | 32° | 31° | 31° | 32° |
| Low °C | 22° | 23° | 24° | 24° | 25° | 25° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 23° |
| Rain mm | 2 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 125 | 86 | 110 | 107 | 128 | 177 | 126 | 31 |
| Cloud % | 37 | 41 | 54 | 68 | 79 | 75 | 74 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 69 | 44 |
| Wind m/s | 2.4 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Daylight h | 11.6 | 11.8 | 12.1 | 12.4 | 12.6 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.5 |
| Record high/low | 39°/20° | 40°/21° | 41°/22° | 42°/23° | 41°/21° | 40°/23° | 40°/23° | 40°/23° | 39°/23° | 38°/22° | 37°/23° | 39°/22° |
| Beach index | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in November–January; December scores 8.7/10 with highs of 32 °C, sea at 28.6 °C and 31 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Colombia in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 1.4 °C warmer than the Colombia median for June (28.1 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 28.6 °C, warmer than 94% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (177 mm) and January the driest (2 mm); the yearly total is about 940 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.5 hours in December to 12.7 hours in June; in mid-December the sun rises at 06:11 and sets at 17:42 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-west (320°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:24 local time on a bearing of 294°.
Straight out to the north-west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 177 m deep and 43 m at 3 km, so deep water starts close to shore. Behind the beach the ground is about 6 m above sea level 500 m inland and 35 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 72% built-up land, 15% grassland and 4% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 55% of that circle.
- Built 72%
- Grass 15%
- Bare 4%
- Wetland 4%
- Mangrove 3%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Average daytime highs reach 35 °C in March.
The beach is tagged as supervised.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 23Restaurants, cafés & bars
- –Public toilets
- –Showers
- 9Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 39Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Campsites
- 1Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 24Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 4Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 13 restaurants, 3 cafés, 5 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 39 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Museo de Muñecas Un Momento de Fantasía museum 380 m SW
- Casa Museo Rafael Núñez museum 710 m SW
Historic sites
- Cartel Letrero De Cartagena monument 720 m NE
- Monumento a los alcatraces monument 820 m NE
- Baluarte de San Lucas monument 860 m SW
- Castillo De San Felipe, Cartagena monument 990 m SW
Nature
- Centro Historia De Cartagena nature reserve 890 m SW
Diving & boat hire
- Quinta del Mar Boats 740 m E
Campsites
- Hotel Bellavista (informal campground) 90 m SE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rafael Nuñez International Airport Cartagena | CTG | 3.0 km | east |
| Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport Barranquilla | BAQ | 97.1 km | north-east |
| Las Brujas Airport Corozal | CZU | 126 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 24 bus stops within 1.5 km and 9 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 914.6K residents); within 30 km there are 7 (about 1.1M).
Map
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 11.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature n10278478997; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_18PVS_20240215_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 1.9K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.