Arriving in Colombia - A Complete Guide to the Cali Airport

Diana and I have made it safely to Colombia. We've actually arrived in the airport in Cali twice--first on our international flight from Miami, and second on a domestic flight from Bogotá as we returned from a quick family trip to the lovely beach city of Cartagena. We took advantage of these two trips to take some notes about what you can expect when you arrive in Cali

Arriving on an International flight

A quick note: neither Diana nor I have entered Colombia from any country except the USA--so there's some chance that those of you connecting through Panama or Guatemala may have a slightly different experience... but in any case, this should be pretty close.

First of all, expect to receive a customs form from your flight attendant while you are still in the air. It should look like this:


Everything should be relatively self explanatory. Note that you'll definitely want the address of the hotel, as this is requested on the form. To remind you, that address is

Hotel Dann Carlton
Carrera 2 No 1-60
Barrio El Peñón
Cali, Colombia
Phone: (57) (2) 8933000

They don't ask for the phone number on the form, but in our experience, they did ask this later--so keep it handy.

Once you exit the plane, you'll be directed towards customs. Cali's airport is pretty small, and the international terminal seems to consist of only one or two gates, so it should be very obvious which way to go. Just in case, you'll want to follow these signs.


You'll note that most people are standing to the right, while a few people walk forward on the left--diplomats, folks with kids aged 3 or younger, and the elderly get to skip the line. We ended up waiting in line about 40 minutes, so you probably want to wear comfortable shoes, and use the restroom on the plane before landing.

Eventually, you should make it up to the front of the line, where you'll need to speak to the immigration officer.


They'll probably ask you a few questions. For us, they asked us both what we do, how long we would stay in Colombia, and where else we would be traveling within Colombia. They will probably look at your customs form, but they will return it to you when you are done; keep it handy, you'll need it in a moment.

After you make it past the immigration officer, walk down the stairs right in front of you (or follow the signs to the elevator--ascensor--if you need that). Once again, there shouldn't really be any confusion here; there's pretty much only one way to go.


At the bottom of the stairs, there will be a single luggage carousel. In all likelihood, by the time you have cleared immigration, your bags will already be out. Collect your bags, and head towards the exit.


There will be people there to help you with your bags, if you want, like the three gentlemen in light blue shirts in that photo (you should probably tip them somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 pesos--$2.50). You'll hand your customs form to the customs officer (who may not be wearing a uniform), who will also check your bags against the luggage tags / receipts you received when you checked in for your flight at your point of origin. Next, walk through the vaguely-metal-detectorish thing, and out into the main customs area. There will be a few officers there randomly selecting folks for a more thorough search. Statistics are on your side, but even if you get selected, it shouldn't be too painful. The good news is, you are basically out of the airport now! You'll exit now, and will be funneled out into an outdoor patio area where you'll see a big crowd of people waiting to collect their guests and loved ones. Skip down past the "domestic flight" section to see the last bit of info: what you should do once you are outside.

Arriving on a Domestic flight
The Domestic terminal of the Cali airport is slightly larger than the international, but still pretty small. It's also well marked, with signs in English and in Spanish.



Just follow those signs and should be fine. They'll take you right to Baggage Claim.


Baggage Claim is very small--you shouldn't have any problems finding your bag. Once you've got your bag, you should walk outside--they will funnel you through one door. At that door, an airport employee will check your bags against the baggage tags / receipts you received at your point of origin, so be sure to keep those handy.

Once you've cleared that check, you'll be outside of the airport!

Outside of the Airport - Getting to the Hotel

Once you've exited baggage claim (and customs, if you are arriving on an international flight), you'll find yourself outside, in a covered area where passengers meet their friends and loved ones. There should be some fencing that separates the passengers from the waiting crowd, which should also serve to funnel you in one direction.


That photo is taken from just inside of the domestic terminal's Baggage Claim -- you can see the fencing and the crowds towards the background of the photo. The view from the international terminal is pretty much the same.

Step outside, appreciate the lovely weather in Cali (it's currently projected to be about 79 degrees Fahrenheit on the days most of you will arrive), and start looking for us. A note: the ride from the airport to the hotel is about 45 minutes or so (potentially more, if you hit traffic), so you may want to hit the restrooms before leaving.

You should be looking for one of the following:

Diana and I will be picking up some guests directly. By now, you should have a good idea of what we look like.

Diana's brother will be picking up others. Here's a photo:


From left to right, that's Shäiel (Diana's sister, pronounced like "Child" without the d), Lucho (Diana's brother, pronounced "Lewch-o"), Diana, Pipe (Diana's brother, pronounced "Pee-pay"), and Eduardo (Diana's father).

The others will be picked up either by an employee of Diana's father or by a driver we've arranged through the Dann Carlton. In either case, they'll be carrying a sign that says something like "Pomerantz Trujillo Wedding". If possible, we'll post a photo of the sign(s) here soon.

Please keep an eye out an email from us soon telling us who will pick you up. We've been able to arrange transportation for all of you who requested it, with minimum wait times, so we should be pretty much good to go!

With this information, you should be all set--entering Colombia will be a breeze! We can't wait to see you!