Like most travelers, Kelsey and I were planning a trip to the North of Colombia to see Tayrona National Park (official site), Minca, and Palomino. We booked a flight to Santa Marta that was arriving at 9 PM at night, and figured we may as well spend the next day in the city to explore before heading off to Tayrona.
Let’s just say … we regret this decision. Santa Marta is famous for a few things. First off, it is the place where Simon Bolivar, the “George Washington of Latin America”, died of sickness. It is also one of the oldest cities in Latin America, and was Spain’s first settlement in Colombia.
If Santa Marta didn’t have an international airport, I’m not so sure anyone would ever come here. For most, Santa Marta is only the jumping-off point to Tayrona National Park, Minca, or Palomino. And for a good reason.
We’ve been to a bunch of places in Colombia, and Santa Marta is by far our least favorite. In Santa Marta there is trash on the streets and homeless people everywhere. Drug addicts sleeping on street corners. Trashy beaches that are so polluted no one dares swim in them.
To top it all off, we almost got robbed on our one day in Santa Marta. We were walking a few blocks back from dinner when a man ran at us in an alley and demanded we give him money. He was waving his hand in his shirt as if he had a knife or something else. We refused a few times but he kept insisting. If it weren’t for the help of two Colombian men who happened to be walking by, we easily could have been robbed!
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Things to Do in Santa Marta
There are a lot of blogs titled “Things to Do in Santa Marta” and then proceed to list off a bunch of things that aren’t in Santa Marta. Tayrona, Lost City Trek, Minca, … In this post we will share with you our top things to do in and around Santa Marta.
1 – Free Walking Tour
Your guide will show you around the first Spanish settlement in what is now Colombia, back when it was called the New Kingdom of Granada. You’ll get to see the Plaza de Bolivar and the Presidential Palace as well. We booked our tour here. Although, I honestly wouldn’t recommend this tour. There really isn’t that much to see in Santa Marta, and the amount of people who come up to the tour asking for money / blasting music in your face / try to sell you something makes the tour really unappealing. To top it all off, our guide wasn’t very enthusiastic about Santa Marta either. He was from Bogota!
The best free walking tour we’ve ever been on was Zippy Tours in Comuna 13 in Medellin. If you go to Medellin make sure you check them out, you won’t regret it!
READ 👉 The Top 9 Things to Do in Medellin 🇨🇴
#2 – Taganga / Play Grande
Taganga is about 15 minutes North of Santa Marta. You can take a taxi here for 15,000 COP. Then, there is a beautiful walk you can do along the coast to get to Playa Grande, which is seen as the most beautiful beach in the vicinity of Santa Marta.
Just to warn you, I wouldn’t expect too much. The views are nice, don’t get me wrong, but the beach is still trashy, and there’s really nowhere to relax. Vendors will harass you the whole time you’re there, and almost all of the beach is filled with chairs that you have to pay for.
If I had a day in Santa Marta, I would do this in the morning then come back by lunch time. Some people have also been robbed on this walk, so make sure you go with a group during the day.
⛵️ Book the best Sailing Trip to Tayrona HERE ⬅️
#3 – Try some Arepas de Huevos
This is typical dish from the Carribbean region. An Arepa, stuffed with egg, and sometimes meat. May as well give it a try from one of the street vendors while you’re in town. We got some from a street vendor by the marina. They were ok, but nothing special.
READ 👉 Top Things to Do in Minca – A Jungle Paradise! 🙉
#4 – Gold Museum
If you’re into history, this is your spot. This museum has a bunch of gold artifacts from all over Colombia, some of which are more than 2,000 years old.
#5 – El Rodadero
Decent beaches. El Rodadero is the spot to party in Santa Marta outside the historical center. This is where rich Colombians go for vacation. Think Miami Beach. If we could redo Santa Marta, we would actually stay in El Rodadero. (we stayed in the center – but it’s very dangerous and dirty)
➡️ Read: Is Ecuador Safe to Visit in 2024? 🇪🇨
#6 – Visit Parque de Los Novios
Kind of like the town square for the ‘Centro Historico’ in Santa Marta. Hang out here and try some street food. Maybe have a beer and observe how the locals live.
There is also one of the most popular streets that leads to Parque de Los Novios. This is where we found one of the best ice cream/gelato places we had in a long time called Gnam Gelato Italiano. We highly recommend you walk down this street and check out the food and colorful decorations. It felt safe, but it is really busy.
Tours from Santa Marta
If you don’t have a lot of time in Colombia, a good idea is to use Santa Marta as your home base and just take a few day trips to see all the important stuff in Northern Colombia. This is not a bad idea, as you won’t have to waste time switching hotels, checking in, taking taxis and busses, etc…
If you were to do this, here is what we would recommend…
For $60, this tour will show you a coffee farm, chocolate farm, beautiful viewpoint, and you’ll get to swim in the river. And a Colombian lunch. And transport there and back. This is a really good deal.
🚌 Book the best Minca Day tour HERE ⬅️
With this sailing tour, you will get to avoid all the lines and hassle of Tayrona and sail directly to the beaches from Santa Marta! You can swim, snorkle, and check out all the beaches of Tayrona without having to hike for hours from the entrance like all the other peasants do. HUGE plus. Tayrona is a HUGE hassle to travel to – take our word for it. If we could redo our trip, we would take the sailing trip directly to Tayrona from Santa Marta instead of taking the bus then walking in!
And for only $67? Not bad at all. (Ultimate Guide to Tayrona)
👉 Book Your Sailing Trip to Tayrona HERE! 🙉
Odds are you won’t have time for the 4-day Lost City Trek, but if you do, it’s worth checking out. This hike is very popular amongst backpackers and tourists who come to Colombia. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (We didn’t do this)
👉 Book the Lost City Tour HERE! 🇨🇴
Where to Stay in Santa Marta
We recommend you get out of Santa Marta as quickly as possible, as it really is not a nice place. However if you are flying in at night, you will probably have to spend a night or two here.
We recommend you stay in El Rodadero. This is a nice and safe area south of the city, with a beautiful beach and nice restaurants. It’s about a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport, and will be a good “jumping-off” point to Tayrona or Minca.
DO NOT stay in the Centro Historico. This area is very dangerous and I would not recommend it. You are going to need to take a taxi if you want to go anywhere. Even a few blocks as there are TONS of homeless and drug addicts everywhere in this neighborhood. You will not feel safe.
👉 View all your hotel options in Santa Marta HERE! 🇨🇴
However, if you would like to tough it out in the Centro like many other travelers do, the most popular by far is Dreamer Hostel.
If you’re looking for a peaceful place to stay in El Rodadero, I would recommend Hotel Mandalas House by DOT Boutique. This is a calm, safe, modern, clean place to stay near the beach. Comes with a pool and free delicious breakfast!
How to Get to Santa Marta, Colombia
The airport in Santa Marta is Simon Bolivar International Airport. How you get here will depend on your starting point. There are direct flights from Bogota, Medellin, Cali, and the US. You can also get here by bus, which is how most will arrive if you are coming from Cartagena.
From Cartagena to Santa Marta
The bus is about 4 hours long from Cartagena. You can book your bus here. The bus to Santa Marta is comfortable with AC and usually a bathroom on board.
💡 A lot of people travel by bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta. Book your bus ticket HERE! 🚌
From Bogota to Santa Marta
You can fly or take a bus. The flight is about an hour and will cost you around $50. From the airport you can take a taxi or a bus to Santa Marta. The drivers at the airport are AWFUL to deal with in our experience. Much worse than the ones in Medellin. There is no set price so you’re going to have to haggle it down. The price should be 30,000 COP to the center by taxi, and less to El Rodadero because it’s closer to the airport.
The bus from Bogota is much cheaper, but will take you much longer. (~20 hours) Who would willingly sign up for that??
➡️ Read: Taxis in Colombia – Complete Guide ✨
Things to Know Before Going to Santa Marta, Colombia
1 – Santa Marta is where most people begin their travels along the Carribbean coast, as the airport is quite accessible from the US and other parts of Colombia.
2 – The airport is about 30 minutes South of the city center. El Rodadero will be a bit closer to the airport.
3 – Tayrona National Park is the main attraction, which is about an hour from the airport.
4 – Santa Marta is HOT. Think Miami in the summer time, but worse. Seriously, prepare for this. The humidity is on another level here.
5 – Santa Marta is not a nice place to explore. It’s not the place to experience authentic Colombian culture, or “explore the city”. If this is what you are looking for, we recommend Medellin.
6 – Bogota gets a bad rap from tourists, and is often viewed as dangerous to visit. We totally agree with this, and in our opinion, Santa Marta is WAY worse. I would much prefer to visit Bogota than Santa Marta. (I got attacked by a street dog in Bogota and had to go to the hospital) There is almost nothing in Santa Marta that makes it worth the visit.
➡️ Read: ✨ Ultimate 2 Week Colombia Itinerary 🇨🇴
Summary – Things to Do in Santa Marta
Thanks for reading this guide on Santa Marta. We recommend avoiding this city if possible, but if you decide not to, make sure to play it safe here, even much more so than other Colombian cities – which can be shady at times as well!
We much prefer the central region of Colombia (Medellin, Jardin, Salento) to the North. The central region is much cooler and much safer in our opinion. The North of Colombia is a whole different animal!
**Checkout out our detailed 2 Week and 3 Week Colombia Itineraries!**
