Tour of Rosario Islands & Playa Blanca in Cartagena, Colombia with "Official" Tour Guides = Most Horrendous Tour I've Been On

Horrendous has to be the only word for this tour.  I have seen reviews of other tour companies that might not be as terrible, but this review is specifically for the official tour company of Cartagena.  ​DO NOT GO WITH THEM!

I'll be honest, I don't even know the name of the company, but the guides are found at Muelle de la Bodeguita (see further below for where this is specifically).  I was told that this is the only "official" tour company, and you'll definitely know them when you see them because they all have badges and make sure you know that they are the only official tour company of Cartagena.

Let's begin with A) what we were told and then what actually happened... just the facts; B) then, I'll explain why this tour is so awful; and C) finally, I'll give you directions on how to do the tour if after all this you still decide you want to go.

A) Facts

• What does the tour consist of?  A day long tour of 1) the Rosario Islands (Islas de Rosario) on Isla Grande, and 2) Playa Blanca.
• We were told: with a fast boat, we would be on the boat for a total of 1.5 hours (45 minutes there, and 45 minutes back.
  • In reality:  For the first stop, it took us a little less than 2.5 hours to get to the Rosario Islands.  To get back, you have 30 minutes to Playa Blanca + 1 hour back to port = 1.5 hours.  Total time on boat: 4 hours.
  • The slow boat was supposedly supposed to take 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get back.  If they kept to schedule, that's the same timing that we had for a lower price, plus, drinks on the boat.  They seemed to follow us pretty closely, but I'm not positive.  If they ran behind similarly, then I don't even want to think about what that'd be like.
• We were told: the tour included a stop at the aquarium (see further below for my thoughts on the aquarium).
  • In reality: This was true.  However, they conveniently left out the part about the aquarium having a separate entrance fee.  

B) Why is this tour so horrendous?

1. All the information above (time on the boat and extra cost of the aquarium), and just the sleaze attached to these lies in the first place.
   
   
2. The tour guide only spoke Spanish.  I guess I didn't specifically ask if the guide would speak any English, but I kind of assumed it would be at least somewhat bilingual.  It wasn't.  If we hadn't been next to someone who could loosely translate, we wouldn't have even known what time to be back at the boat after each stop.
   
   
3. The aquarium (Oceanario) was terribly sad.
   
   Dolphins (from PETA here): Wild dolphins live in large, complex social groups and swim vast distances every day in the open ocean. In captivity, they can only swim in endless circles in tanks that are the equivalent of bathtubs, and they are denied the opportunity to engage in almost any natural behavior. They are forced to perform meaningless tricks and are often torn away from family members when they’re shuffled between parks. Most die far short of their natural life spans.  Wild dolphins navigate by echolocation, but in pools, the reverberations from their own sonar bounce off the walls, which can drive them insane. 
   
   Sharks: Sharks use between eight and 13 senses, but small tanks and noisy crowds may interfere with them, frustrating and confusing the animals.  While sharks in the wild may travel up to 45 miles in a day (and some species have to swim constantly in order to breathe), sharks in captivity swim in constant circles, and some sustain injuries to their noses as they rub against the sides of the tanks.
   
   Other animals: similar reasons to the above. 
   
   I feel awful for having supported this environment, and I'm sorry.
   
   
4. Playa Blanca: although the water is a beautiful clear blue, the beach is crowded and there isn't much beach space as the bars take up most of the sandy area.  The water does feel wonderful though as it is a little warmer than other beaches I've been to.  There are also rocks in the water that will cut your feet, so watch out!

C) Directions and specifics

1. Finding the dock / port that the boats depart from so that you can find a tour company.  I actually had a really difficult time finding any information on this, but finally, I was able to find the name of the main dock: Muelle de la Bodeguita.  Address: Avenida Blas de Lezo, Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia.  See pictures below for a map.  The boats depart around 8:30 AM, so get there with plenty of time to find a guide and get on the boat.  We got there around 7:45, and we had plenty of time.
   
   
2. Finding the "official" tour company (they said that all the others are illegal, but I don't know how true that is).  As of 7/26/2017, all official tour guides were wearing blue shirts and had badges to prove they were official.  I did see an older post saying that they all wore green shirts, so they may change the uniform sometimes.
   
   
3. Getting the right price: The official brochure says that the fast boat with lunch included will cost you 60,000 Colombian pesos (about $20 as of 7/26/2017).  It's cheaper for a slow boat or don't include lunch.  However, we had 3 people and were able to barter down to 50,000 Colombian pesos per person (and possibly could have gone lower).  Note that this price does not include the tax that you have to pay the port of 15,500 Colombian pesos.  
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4. Side note: I suggest bringing your own beer in a big backpack or something.  All of the ones you will find around the islands are 5,000 Colombian pesos, and they are much cheaper from a grocery store.  The islands also have Piña Coladas for about 20,000 Colombian pesos.   

Finding the Muelle de la Bodeguita (dock that the tour boats depart from)

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Photos of the aquarium (Oceanario)

A little girl feeding a dolphin. You shouldn't interact with dolphins like this. See link above to PETA website.

Some of the cages for the animals. You can see that they are pretty small.

Dolphins swimming in circles on top of each other.

Sharks swimming in circles in a very crowded small cage.

You can see that they are literally on top of each other.

Over crowded sea turtles in a small cage.

Conclusion
In an obvious conclusion based on all of the above, do not do this tour.  I repeat, do not waste an entire day + a lot of money on this tour.  If you want to see the islands, there are other ways I'm sure.  If you want to see Playa Blanca, I hear that the hostels have private beaches that aren't as crowded (plus, all of the day trip tourists leave around 4:00 PM, so you'd have the island to yourselves).