Things to Do in Santa Marta, Colombia: Top Highlights & Travel Tips

Is Santa Marta Worth Visiting?

Yes, a trip to Santa Marta is absolutely worth it – but not because of the city itself, but because of the breathtaking landscape surrounding it. Santa Marta itself is, honestly, pretty ugly.

That said, the highlights around the city are a must on your Colombia vacation.

Santa Marta is located in the far north on the Atlantic coast. Here, Caribbean beaches meet wild jungle and mountains – how could that not be beautiful!

Orientation: Our Map of Santa Marta

To give you a first overview of where the top spots around Santa Marta are located, we’ve marked them on a map for you.

The Perfect Itinerary for Santa Marta

We’ll now walk you through all the best things to do in Santa Marta and the surrounding area. But first, here are two itinerary suggestions for your vacation or stopover on your Colombia road trip.

You should stay in Santa Marta for at least three full days – and that’s really the absolute minimum. If you want to fully enjoy all the highlights in the region, we recommend staying for ten days.

3-Day Itinerary

If you’re staying for three full days, your best bet is to base yourself in Santa Marta and take day trips from there.

• Day 1: Tayrona National Park
• Day 2: Minca
• Day 3: Palomino

10-Day Itinerary

Three days aren’t enough to see all the sights around Santa Marta. It’s better to plan for ten days.

• Day 1: Arrival in Santa Marta, walking tour of the city, and beach time in Taganga
• Day 2 & 3: Tayrona National Park
• Day 4: Minca
• Day 5 – 8: Hike to Ciudad Perdida
• Day 9 – 10: Palomino and return journey

If you’re not a fan of hiking, you can swap the Ciudad Perdida trek for a desert adventure at Cabo de la Vela.

The Top Highlight: Tayrona National Park

Tayrona National Park is, in our opinion, the top attraction near Santa Marta — and one of the best things to do in Santa Marta for nature lovers. It offers some of the most beautiful beaches in Colombia, exotic wildlife, and jungle hiking trails.

You can easily make it a day trip from Santa Marta, or spend one or two nights inside the national park. You can either head to Tayrona Park on your own or book a guided tour:

Guided one-day hike through Tayrona National Park

We’ve written a dedicated article on Tayrona National Park with all the important tips for your visit.

Into the Jungle: Minca

Minca is located inland, about a good hour’s drive from Santa Marta. The small town sits in the rainforest at an elevation of around 2,100 feet. That means Minca is a bit cooler than Santa Marta — a welcome change.

Minca is known for its beautiful waterfalls, delicious coffee and chocolate, and some seriously cool nature lodges.

Top Highlights in Minca

• Marinka Waterfall
• Pozo Azul
• Cacao Museum

Day Trip to Minca

For a day trip to Minca, you can either book a transfer through your hotel or take the public bus. Buses to Minca depart from the Mercado Público roughly every half hour and cost 10,000 COP (about $2).

Once you arrive in Minca, we recommend hiking to the Marinka Waterfall. The trail is 8 kilometers in total and easy to manage.

You can also get a ride by car or motorcycle from Minca. The entrance fee to the waterfall is 22,000 COP (about $5) — swimming included.

In the afternoon, you’ll still have plenty of time to visit the Museo del Cacao. It’s really interesting, and you can buy delicious hot chocolate and coffee there. Admission to the museum is free. In the late afternoon, head back to Santa Marta.

If you’d rather not organize the trip yourself, book a guided full-day tour to Minca:
Day trip to Minca from Santa Marta

Staying Overnight in Minca

If you want to spend more time in Minca, it’s worth staying one or two nights. That way you can also visit the Pozo Azul waterfalls and a coffee farm, and go birdwatching. Minca has some really cool ecolodges with stunning views.

Our hotel recommendation for Minca: Mundo Nuevo Eco Lodge

Beach Vacation: Palomino

Palomino is the complete opposite of Minca and a classic beach town. The streets are made of sand, everyone walks around in flip-flops and swimwear, and the main activity is lying on the beach — well, almost!

Tubing might just top sunbathing. In Palomino, a river flows into the sea, and numerous agencies in town offer tubing tours. You get driven a little way inland, hop into an inner tube in the river, and it carries you all the way down almost to the sea.

Tubing costs about 65,000 COP — if it’s much more expensive than that, you’re being overcharged.

Highlights in Palomino

• Tubing
• Lying on the beach
• Surfing

Day Trip to Palomino

From Santa Marta, the drive to Palomino takes about 2.5 hours. Buses depart from the Mercado Público roughly every 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can book a transfer through your hotel. In Palomino, you can do the popular tubing and then relax on the beach before heading back in the evening.

Staying Overnight in Palomino

There isn’t a whole lot more to do in Palomino than tubing and lying on the beach. But if you just need to slow down and love palm-lined beaches, it’s totally worth staying longer.

Note: The water in Palomino is choppy and the current is strong. It’s not ideal for swimming. However, you can surf here and try bodyboarding.

Our hotel recommendation for Palomino: Palomino Sunrise

Multi-Day Hike: Ciudad Perdida

Ciudad Perdida is Colombia’s most important archaeological site and sits deep in the jungle. You reach it via a guided, multi-day hike — the classic route takes 4 days.

The Lost City was once home to the Teyona people, and it’s even older than Machu Picchu in Peru.

If you love hiking and want to spend four days completely off the grid, don’t miss Ciudad Perdida. It’s one of the most rewarding things to do in Santa Marta’s wider region.

Four-day hiking tour to Ciudad Perdida

We’ve written a dedicated guide to the Lost City Trek, since we did the hike ourselves.

Desert Adventure: Cabo de la Vela

Arguably the most under-the-radar pick in the region around Santa Marta is Cabo de la Vela. The town sits at the very top of Colombia’s northeastern tip, in the La Guajira region — which is largely made up of desert.

Cabo de la Vela is right in the middle of the desert, right on the ocean. You’ll find stunning desert beaches here, and several of them are great spots for kitesurfing.

The only way to get to Cabo de la Vela is by desert jeep — which makes the journey itself quite an adventure. Your best bet is to book a transfer or guided tour from Palomino and stay one or two nights in Cabo de la Vela.

Staying Overnight in Cabo de la Vela

There are hardly any accommodations listed in Cabo de la Vela on Booking.com. You can either book a tour from Santa Marta or Palomino (with accommodations included) or search on Google Maps.

Google Maps will show you lots of places to stay that have listed a WhatsApp number on their profile. You can use that to reserve a room directly.

Note: All accommodations here are very basic.

Santa Marta and Taganga

If you decide to make Santa Marta your base, you’ll most likely have a little time to look around the city itself.

There isn’t a ton to see, but a short walk around town is still worthwhile. Santa Marta’s historic center is the oldest in all of South America. It’s not large — just a few alleyways — so your best bet is to start at the cathedral and wander from there.

A short stroll along the waterfront promenade is also worth your time — it’s really lovely. We weren’t as fond of the beach itself, though, since it’s right next to the harbor.

For a proper beach, head to the neighboring town of Taganga. It’s about 6 kilometers from Santa Marta and just a quick taxi or bus ride away. You won’t find a dream beach there either, but Taganga’s beach is noticeably nicer than Santa Marta’s.

Our tip: Ask to be dropped off halfway at the lookout point. From there you’ll have a great view over Taganga.

Where to Stay in Santa Marta?

If you’re staying in Santa Marta, your best bet is to book a hotel in the center. Here are our three hotel recommendations across all price ranges:

Practical Tips for Santa Marta

To wrap things up, here are a few practical tips and pointers for Santa Marta, Colombia.

Also check out our travel tips for Colombia

How Safe Is Santa Marta?

During the day, the center of Santa Marta is safe. You can walk through the streets on foot. We found the surrounding neighborhoods to be on the rougher side — some areas feel quite deserted, there’s a lot of trash around, and the smell isn’t great. So it’s best not to wander too far from the center.

At night, Santa Marta can be dangerous. You shouldn’t be out on foot after dark.

Tourist spots like Palomino or Minca, on the other hand, are safe — even at night! That said, keep a close eye on your belongings everywhere you go and at all hours. Petty theft is something to watch out for all across Colombia.

What’s the Best Time to Visit Santa Marta?

The best time to visit Santa Marta is during the dry season from December to April. The sun shines almost every day and it hardly ever rains. This is perfect for a beach vacation — though it’s also peak season, so the beaches and attractions get very busy.

There’s also a second, shorter dry season in June and July. It rains a bit more often, but most days you’ll still have great weather.

In May and August, there are noticeably more rainy days. However, rain usually only falls in the afternoon, so you can still have a fantastic trip during these months.

We don’t recommend the period from September to November — it rains quite frequently, and the hike to Ciudad Perdida is also closed in September.

For more advice on when to go, check out our article on the best time to visit Colombia.

Getting There and Getting Around

Santa Marta has its own airport, served only by domestic flights. There are regular connections from major cities like Medellín and Bogotá, and you’ll usually pay less than $100.

Getting There from Cartagena

If you’re traveling from Cartagena, we recommend booking a shared shuttle. These run from city center to city center. We traveled with MarSol and the ride took about five hours. The fare is around 85,000 COP (about $20).

The large buses that stop at the terminals are usually a bit cheaper. However, since the bus terminals are located a bit outside the city and the buses take longer, we don’t think they’re worth it.

Book your bus connections for Colombia via Bookaway

Getting Around Santa Marta

In Santa Marta, you can get almost everywhere on foot. After dark, however, stick to taxis or Didi (an app similar to Uber). For day trips to the surrounding area, take public buses, taxis, or arranged transfers.

Note: Motorcycles are more popular than cars in Santa Marta. As a result, there are plenty of mototaxis — motorcycle riders who’ll give you a ride. We personally found their driving style too risky to feel comfortable with.