CARTAGENA
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The 5 most popular emerald museum & workshops in Cartagena. Here's what they actually deliver, who runs them, and what they cost.
Behind-the-scenes emerald tour in Cartagena: museum, mine replicas, jewelry making, and hotel pickup for $18 in 1–2 hours.
“This is good tour but they do push selling the emaralds. I enjoyed the history and I wish the museum was separate from the gift shop.”
Hands-on emerald jewelry class in Cartagena with museum time, free pickup, tools included, and enough time to make choices you’ll actually wear.
“The emerald jewelry excursion was educational, interesting and a lot of fun. I left with four lovely pieces of jewelry that I will wear and treasure.”
Learn how emerald gemologists judge value in Cartagena, handle real specimens, get an emerald sample, and watch silver or 18K gold jewelry made.
“I had a wonderful time. Emeralds are my birthstone so I was really excited to take this tour. Ricardo was a great instructor. He's very knowledgeable and passionate about his family's business. I really learned a lot about how unique and special emeralds are. The snacks and champagne was great bonus. Jasmine was a great…”
Polish rough Colombian emeralds into cabochons in a small Cartagena class at Caribe Jewelry, then tour a standout mineral museum.
“EXCELLENT experience! I'm an amateur rockhound and gemologist, so of course I had to try emerald polishing. I polished three emeralds - kept one (as the class allows) and was able to purchase the other two at a very reasonable amount. It was fun and informative learning from a gemologist and actually shaping then polishing…”
Private 3.5-hour Cartagena tour blending a star fortress, Las Bóvedas, emerald workshops, the Gold Museum, and Getsemaní streets.
“The guide was very nice and helpful since we were a group of 80+ years. Our only complain was that the meeting place was not very clear and we expected to see a person with my name and we had to ask help from another guide to find out where they were and they ask…”
