The Drift | Cartagena, Colombia: DO
A slow sail from Cartagena moves from planting mangroves to pulling bottles of rum from beneath the Caribbean, ending with a tasting aboard a restored wooden boat.
A WhereNext Original is an experience our team discovers, develops, tests, and takes operational responsibility for delivering. It introduces guests to people, places, and ideas they would be unlikely to find on their own.
The Drift begins aboard the Moana Lounge, a salvaged and restored boat that moves through the protected waters outside Cartagena’s old city.
There’s no rush.
The sail out of Cartagena is slow and deliberate, the skyline fading behind you as the Caribbean opens in every direction.
The experience unfolds in three distinct parts: planting mangroves along the shoreline, a picnic by the Caribbean, and a search beneath the water for bottles of Colombian rum that have spent three months submerged.
The tasting begins on deck as the boat turns toward Cartagena.
The Skinny
Sail from Cartagena aboard the restored Moana Lounge.
Plant mangroves along a protected stretch of Caribbean coastline.
Stop for a picnic prepared with locally sourced ingredients.
Retrieve bottles of Colombian rum stored beneath the sea for three months.
Taste the rum on deck during the return to Cartagena.
Planting Mangroves: A Living Coastline
A crab disappears into the mangrove roots as the tide slides through the sand.
Mangrove roots stabilize shorelines and provide habitat for fish, crabs, and other species that use the shallow coastal water as shelter.
Here, guests step ashore with the local team and plant mangroves along the shoreline.
There is nothing ceremonial about it. Hands go into the sand, roots are placed, and the group moves on.
A Picnic by the Sea
After planting, the group stops along the coast for a picnic prepared with locally sourced Caribbean ingredients.
It creates a natural break between the morning onshore and what comes next beneath the water.
Rum Beneath the Waves
Three months earlier, bottles of Colombian rum were lowered beneath the Caribbean.
Now the crew goes back for them.
The bottles are retrieved from below the surface and brought aboard the Moana Lounge. Once they are back on deck, the corks come out and the tasting begins.
The boat turns toward Cartagena with the bottles on the table and the city coming back into view.
How The Drift Became a WhereNext Original
The Drift began almost by accident.
In October 2025, WhereNext was producing its first proprietary content shoot in Colombia. María del Puerto offered us the Moana Lounge for a day on the water.
We brought travelers and Cartagena guides aboard for the shoot.
A few weeks later, I reconnected with María del Puerto and founder Nicolás Kraliczek. We kept talking about that day and began asking a different question: what if the boat itself became the thread connecting several experiences along the coast?
The Moana Lounge already existed. So did María del Puerto’s knowledge of Cartagena’s waters and the relationships behind the different stops.
WhereNext Travel Colombia worked with Nicolás and his team to connect those pieces into a single experience that could become part of a larger Cartagena journey.
What started as a filming day became The Drift.
The Drift was co-developed by WhereNext Travel Colombia and María del Puerto.
If you're curious about the remarkable origin of the boat and the artist behind its transformation, we recommend reading the story behind it here:
