(Bloomberg) -- Some places in the world are best seen by cruise ship: the Galapagos, Alaska, the Nile. Now you can add inland Colombia to the list.
In January, California-based AmaWaterways will be the first to ply a 500-mile portion of Magdalena River from the comforts of the upscale, 60-passenger AmaMagdalena. The seven-night journeys, from $4,000 per person, will sail through the heart of the Colombian Caribbean, a region filled with jungles, historic towns and remote villages—along with indigenous fauna like Magdalena river turtles, Central American jaguars, northern screamer monkeys and Caribbean manatees.
Though the region is relatively undeveloped for tourism—to say nothing of luxury accommodations—the AmaMagdalena will offer a plush way to see the sights: The European-style riverboat has terraces for all its staterooms, a spa, pool and multicourse Chef’s Table dinners among its luxury draws.
Rudi Schreiner, co-founder and president of the boutique cruise line, has aspired to add the destination to his offerings for some 20 years. He says it has the historical and cultural draws of the Mekong, with the extraordinary biodiversity of the Amazon, and describes the river as “a place with lots and lots of highlights.” Notably, it’s filled with the sorts of untapped soft adventures that currently hold wide appeal for cruisers—think bird-watching from small excursion boats (the region claims more than 1,900 native bird species), visiting coffee farms or touring Nueva Venecia, a colorful fishing village built on stilts over a marsh.
The AmaMagdalena will sail the region year-round, with the January start dates contingent on the completion of both the ship and the dock infrastructure Schreiner is building along the river, which flows 950 miles from the Andes north to the Caribbean in the west of the country. A similarly sized second ship, the AmaMelodia, is due to follow in June 2025. In total, the project represents a $50 million investment for the cruise line.
With 26 ships, not counting the new ones, AmaWaterways is known for its cruises on the Danube, Rhine, Seine and other rivers of Europe. It also plies the Nile, Mekong (through Cambodia and Vietnam) and Africa’s Chobe River. In March, global investment firm L Catterton–formed in 2016 through the partnership of Catterton, LVMH and Bernard Arnault’s family office Financière Agache–purchased a “significant stake” in the 22-year-old river line, with an eye toward growth (financial details were not disclosed).
Trips will begin and end in the Caribbean beach towns of Cartagena and Barranquilla, making for relatively easy access. But other ports will be largely unknown to many consumers. Mompox, for instance, is a well-preserved 16th century inland outpost where Spaniards once hid gold from pirates; today it’s home to a vibrant tradition of silver filigree jewelry making.
For all his fascination with Colombia, Schreiner felt it was possible to develop the trips only as recently as 2018—thanks in part to the country’s political transformation and newfound tourism popularity. A peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was signed in late 2016, with the goal of restoring safety into the interior, including Medellín (where AmaWaterways will offer pre-cruise land tour packages).
In 2023 the country welcomed more than 5.86 million visitors—up 174% from 2021 and 30% from 2019.
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Schreiner says some of his customers have expressed safety concerns, with the US State Department recommending American travelers reconsider travel to the destination in its current Level 3 advisory. “What you have is the older generation who still remember [Colombian drug lord Pablo] Escobar,” he says. “But you see today, especially in Carategena and Mompox, a huge influx of young North Americans who don’t have any of those recollections.” What they see is a new destination with bragging rights.
Building boats and docks
The Magdalena startup hasn’t been without hitches.
Building two new ships, several docks and a fleet of nine excursion boats, each its own roof and bathroom, took more time than expected, as did government approvals and paperwork, Schreiner says. While he still hopes to benefit from a government-funded dredging project that is carving access for oil barges to Mompox, some of his own deals with local operators have gone south. Pitfalls also included scrapping plans to build his ships with all-Colombian parts when it became evident that not all the needed materials were available locally.
About 2,000 reservations were canceled when it was clear operations wouldn’t be ready for 2024, as originally intended. Many passengers moved to the 2025 itineraries, which are sold out for the first several months; reservations recently opened for 2026.
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Now Schreiner has a team of European shipbuilders in Cartagena and is working with a Medellín architect for the ships’ interiors, which will reflect the lush river landscape in the color scheme and art. As the ships are readied, trainers are coming from Europe to work with the all-South American crew, which will number 30 per ship and include an all-Colombian navigation team. The effort, Schreiner says, is to make the onboard ship experience as authentically Colombian for guests as possible, in a place where river cruising is currently nonexistent.
The itinerary
In 2021, Schreiner and his wife—company co-founder Kristin Karst, executive vice president of AmaWaterways—checked out the river for five days by speedboat, staying at local properties. They were blown away by the natural beauty of verdant riverbanks and lakes, as well as the culture which melds indigenous, Spanish and African influences. He also got bedbugs.
It strengthened his resolve for an alternative way to see the river. Now the two itineraries will ply the Magdalena in both directions, with turnarounds in El Banco, a town where freed slaves arrived in 1749 and where local women now perform the Afro-Caribbean cumbia dances that are so popular throughout the country. At other ports, guests can listen to vallenato (another traditional music genre from the river region) and learn about some of the country’s most delicious crops: coffee, chocolate and rum. In Barranquilla, home to a massive annual Carnival celebration, guests will get a private Carnival re-creation, complete with costumes and more live music.
With about 6,000 annual guests on the two ships, exploring the river will be an exclusive experience, at least for now. But competitors are watching and hatching their own plans for the river, Schreiner says. “I think once we are there and they see the huge potential, you’ll see a lot of ships coming.”
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