Santa Marta.
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Overview

Santa Marta is a Caribbean beach city in the Magdalena Department of Colombia's Costa Norte.

Understand

Santa Marta an important commercial port and tourist destination. Every day, there are cargo ships coming and going and the action is very much visible. From the beach, the view of the Caribbean Sea is more or less to the west (beautiful sunsets) with a huge rock of an island jutting up out of the water to make a somewhat dramatic effect. Off to the right is the port snug behind another even bigger rock. This is a decent beach if you like beaches that are right in town with lots of people, vendors, and noise. Vendors are extremely aggressive if you are on the beach.

Aside from the old center, the main attractions of Santa Marta are its two resort-like suburbs El Rodadero, to the south, and Taganga, to the north. El Rodadero has several high-end hotels and private "clubs" that cater mostly to wealthy Colombians, whereas Taganga used to be a fishing village and is very popular with (mostly foreign) backpackers. Taganga has many scuba-diving agencies.

There is a high and low season. High season is December through April, with its peak from mid-December to late January (due to school and university vacations). In the low season the sun burns less due to more clouds.

Get in

A public bus departs frequently in front of the Santa Marta airport. It goes to the main street of Playa El Rodadero and to the city centre to Carrera 4 and 5 (August 2021). You can exit the bus anywhere, there are no bus stops. For the way back from Santa Marta to the airport the bus goes on Carrera 1, then Calle 22 and then Carrera 4 (January 2024). The bus has Aeropuerto written on the relatively small sign in the front window.

From there you can take a bus to Santa Marta. For international flights, there can be big savings when arriving in Medellin, Bogota or Cali and then taking a separate flight to Santa Marta.

It's all the way out of town on the main highway. To the city centre, take a bus that goes in the direction of Taganga, departing right on the highway (without crossing the street). If carrying a big backpack, you might be rejected by some colectivo drivers. Just wait for the bigger buses.

With a taxi the trip takes around half an hour. In the bus terminal, you can get free WiFi at the tourist office.

If you want to stay in El Rodadero and come from the direction of Barranquilla, you can exit the intercity bus near El Rodadero and then take a bus or taxi to your accommodation. There is a city bus between the Terminal and El Rodadero, even though it takes some time as the bus goes through the centre of Santa Marta first.

From Santa Marta centre to the Terminal de Transporte you can catch a bus/colectivo with the sign "UCC TRANSPORTE" on Carrera 1.

For more comfortable road travel across northern Colombia, a few companies offer air conditioned van services between Cartagena and Santa Marta, with stops in Barranquilla en route. Cochetur seems to be the most reputable of these. They will pick you up and drop you off at your desired location in each city. You will likely share the van with 6-8 people including the driver. Tipping did not appear to be expected but a thousand or two goes a long way here.

Get around

Streets are numbered. The beach can be considered "Carrera 1" or 1st St., and the first street is usually "Carrera 1A" or 1A St. The next street after the first row of buildings is Carrera 2 or 2nd St. Calles are streets running from east to west.

Moovit covers the area for finding connections. As there are no bus stops, buses can be entered and exited anywhere along their routes.

By taxi Unlike bigger cities in Colombia, taxis do not run on a meter.

Some drivers will take you as far as Barranquilla, although you have to negotiate.

See

Museo del Oro. Displays a collection of precolumbian pottery, a nice collection of gold and a scale model of Ciudad Perdida.

Simon Bolivar's place of death. The official name is Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. Beautiful and very interesting gardens, lots of iguanas, study the map before getting any further. The guide will tell you only about the buildings and the history of the "Libertador".

Do

You can go to the beach near the port. Nearby is the Playa de Bahia. A bit more south you find the Playa los cocos. All of them have crystal clear water. If in El Rodadero, you can go to the Playa El Rodadero. And you can go to the beach directly at the airport. Watching airplanes arriving and departing while swimming in the sea.

Scuba diving. Nearby coral reefs provide good possibilities for scuba diving. All the scuba diving operators are at Taganga, so you'll need to go there to shop around (prices are very different from one to another). You can follow the PADI course (3-4 days), or just go for a 1-day dive (no licence required).

Jet ski. On the beaches, you can usually rent a jet ski in increments of 10 minutes. If you are not comfortable operating one, you can usually ask for a ride around. Life jackets are provided.

Birdwatching. Birdwatching at the El Dorado bird reserve above Minca ProAves.

Spanish School. The Neotropical Spanish School at Casa Scania is a small size Spanish School focused on quality giving classes in downtown Santa Marta and Barranquilla, USD8/hour with one student per teacher, USD6 per person in small groups.Course material, hot and cold drinks included. Casa Scania Calle 21 3-88 (between Carrera 3 and 4) Central Santa Marta. For more info see homepage.

Tayrona National Natural Park. This large park in the mountains abutting the modern city of Santa Marta was established to protect spiritual centers important to the native Tayrona cultures. Many indigenous persons continue to inhabit the mountains to this day. The park closes periodically to let the land rest and recover its spiritual energies. Closing dates are: ** from February 1st to 15th (during the Kugkui shikasa season), ** from June 1st to 15th (during the Saka Juso season), and** from October 19th to November 2nd (during the Nabbatashi season)

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park. Mountainous area where the Kogi indigenous population live. The Kogi are part of the Tayrona culture. The park is home to a fascinating archaeological site called Ciudad Perdida with its many tiered terraces. The Tayrona maintain that it's only the Hispanic interlopers who consider the site "lost": the Tayrona never lost track of it.

Adrenaline Addicts. They offer motorcycle rentals, lessons, and motorcycle tours spanning 1-7 days. Run by a pair of young Americans, new business with nice new bikes. Run from Drop Bear Hostel.

Mamancana is a private game reserve where you can do wallclimbing and canopying.

Lost City trek (Ciudad Perdida) The 4–5 day trek to Ciudad Perdida ("Lost City"), built by the Tayrona civilization between approximately 800 and 1400 CE, is one of South America's classic multi-day hikes. The trek begins approximately 50 km southeast of Santa Marta and covers roughly 44 km of jungle and mountain terrain (round trip), with overnight stays at simple camps. Independent hiking is not permitted — the route runs through indigenous Wiwa, Kogi, and Arhuaco territories, and authorities require travelers to use one of four authorized operators (Expotur, Magic Tour Colombia, Wiwa Tour, and Turcol). The trek is moderate in difficulty — hot, humid, and steep in sections — and the dry months (December–March, July–August) are the best windows. Booking directly with one of the four authorized operators in Santa Marta is significantly cheaper than booking through international resellers.

Buy

ATMs of the bank BBVA are available in the historical centre and throughout the city. At the Parque Bolívar there are three BBVA ATMs. And at the Carrera 4 / Calle 23 there are three BBVA ATMs.

In the historical center the minimarkets have a rather small amount of products. On Carrera 5/Calle 20 there is the big supermarket Exito. Also the Olimpica supermarkets have a big variety of products. Medium sized supermarkets are D1 and Ara.

Santa Marta is famous for its beach sellers. Since beaches are open 365 days a year, there are always people wandering up and down the beach selling anything.

The beaches in the southern suburb El Rodadero have aggressive sellers. Take this as an opportunity to haggle.

No stamps are sold at the Deprisa post office (Carrera 3).

Carrera 5th is a big shopping promenade, with stores accompanied by street stalls and vendors. Some streets are pedestrian-friendly, such as Carrera 3 between Calle 15 and 20.

Eat

There are a lot of eating options. They seem to be good at roasting and grilling chicken. They do a good job of grilling beef, tough but flavorful. Seafood is plentiful and relatively inexpensive with lots of shrimp and seafood cocktail vendors. Most varieties of fruit are available even those more common to cold climates. At night street vendors sell all types of snacks like pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, shakes, kabobs, rice in coconut milk, fried stuffed doughy things, etc. Coffee, hot chocolate, and both hot cinnamon and lemon are omni-present.

Street Food City center In front of the big Exito supermarket you find Colombian style grilled cut sausages and meat skewers.

A big variety of street food. It's from 17:30 to midnight in Carrera 6 / Calle 16. Excellent seafood soup from a man at the corner of 13th st. and 4th Carr (diagonally opposite the small church, next to the sunglasses vendors; you'll see huge pots of soup). Very cheap and delicious, but only in mornings. Sells out by noon. (updated June 2010)

BrosFy. It serves during the day and in the evening. It's near the hostel Avenia.

Rodadero Beach At the Rodadero Beach you can also find good-tasting street food. It's on Calle 12 between Carrera 2 and the beach. They serve during the day until 17:00. (updated Sept 2021)

Panadería y restaurante Baraca. You can try a local simple restaurant in Calle 11 / Carrera 3. The baked goods are also tasty and very affordable. Open Monday to Saturday until 20:00, Sunday until 13:00.

Restaraurant Las delicias. right next to Shopping Buena Vista.

Restaurant and Panadería La Especial. in El Rodadero near the Casa Mart Hostel. Right next to the restaurant is the bakery.

In the center of El Rodadero it's from COP12,000-15,000 (August 2021)

Merkabar / Welcome Restaurant. Good combination of local and gringo food. Good breakfasts, cheap filling lunches, and their famous "sopa del mar", soup overflowing with seafood. Their fruit juices are excellent. Gilberto, one of the brothers that owns and runs Merkabar, speaks English and is friendly and helpful with tourist needs.

The Great Manuel. Very nice seafood.

La Canoa. The restaurant is located in the Masaya hotel at the very top. Beautiful setting. Family atmosphere. Very quiet to rest.

Restaurante LamArt. Artistic gastronomy. Delicious food, great starters and awesome fish. Super cool spot.

Restaurante El Españolete. Excellent Spanish food. Specialized in paellas, tapas and grilled meat. His wife, Alexa, is Colombian and her smoothies are the best (she uses fresh passion fruit, mango, and other varieties of tropical fruits). They are both really nice and provide their customers with helpful tips to visit the best places in Santa Marta. The restaurant is housed in a colonial building and it is even haunted by a ghost!

Drink

Santo Domingo. The best place to party in Santa Marta. The owners are super nice, they will personally attend.

Crab's Bar. A fun rock n' roll bar. The Colombian owner (who is a spitting image of Neil Young) used to own a large rock club in Bogotá, but he sold it to settle down here. Every evening he VJs videos of all the great classic rock bands. Friendly staff, great vibe, nice decor.

Burukuka. A trendy nightclub on the way towards El Rodadero. Burukuka sits on top of a hill overlooking the sea, with a great terrace. It's a high-end place, so dress appropriately. Also serves food. Vía al Edificio Cascadas del Rodadero, just out of town, to the south.

Because Santa Marta can get brutally hot during the summer (upwards of 35°C/95°F), it is a good idea to constantly have a bottle of water with you. During the evenings, when it gets cooler, beer and friends is often an excellent combination. It would be good idea to take a couple of "Stubbie Coolers" (Australian vernacular for an item which keeps the beer in your bottle cooler or longer) as the heat will have you drinking warm beer by the time you are at the end of your drink.

Soft drinks can be found at nearly every restaurant - sometimes you can even pick it up in glass bottles. They are cheap.

Ask about Ben´s Bar on the Beach. Barrio Samario, La Puerta, and El Garage.

Juan Valdez Cafe. One of the surprisingly few excellent coffee options in town. Even many good restaurants don't have a good coffee machine and/or use good coffee beans.

Sleep

Hostels with dorms are available in the historical center, throughout the city and at the El Rodadero Beach. There are also accommodations in nearby Taganga, Minca or inside the Tayrona National Park. Santa Marta is quite hot, you may want to choose an accommodation with air conditioning.

Hostal Casamart. This is the hostel at the Rodadero Beach. With A/C, a pool, nice-styled bunk-beds and 5min walking to the beach.

Hotel Nueva Granada. Nice and small, with pool and jacuzzi, bar, comfortable and clean double and multiple rooms with air- conditioning or ventilators and free breakfast. The staff is very kind and helpful.

Casa Familiar. Private, mild mannered and friendly staff. Rooms are small and basic.

Hostal SolyMar. This is an immaculately clean hotel, which is a change from a lot of the places in Santa Marta. The immediate area is probably the best in Santa Marta, as opposed to the sketchier Calle 10 barrio. The staff is incredibly friendly.

Hotel Imperial Caribe. Nice rooms, friendly staff. Doubles, Triples, A/C more. Free Wi-Fi in lobby.

Hotel Boutique Don Pepe. Small hotel with 12 rooms, restaurant, spa and rooftop jacuzzi.

Rodadero Apartments. Apartments for rent day - season, near Tayrona Park and Taganga. 2 rooms with air conditioning, bathroom, LED cable TV, beach view terrace, free WiFi, pool, private parking, airport shuttle, local tours & snorkeling.

Hotel Palma Blanca. Private, comfortable, friendly and attentive staff, and a great swimming pool. All rooms have air-conditioning and wireless internet access.