Around Santa Marta travel guide: best things to do and see in the area

Between the sea and the mountains, there’s an enormous amount to do around Santa Marta.

Beaches just waiting for you, short hikes through magical mountain forests, incredible encounters with the true protectors of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the indigenous Kogis, Arhuacos, Wiwa and Kankuamo.

And, of course, the great classics: the Ciudad Perdida trek and the Tayrona National Park.

Visiting the city of Santa Marta itself is something few foreign travellers do, yet it too has its charms. That’s why we invite you to start here.

Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.

Content

1. Santa Marta

2. Cultural experience with an indigenous Arhuaca family

3. Scuba diving in Santa Marta

4. Cienaga

5. Nueva Venecia and Buenavista

6. Tayrona National Park

7. Taganga

8. Minca

9. Cerro Kennedy

10. The Lost City

11. Bunkuany

12. Buritaca, Guachaca, Mendihuaca

13. Visit a Cacao Farm in Buritaca

14. Palomino

15. Dibulla and Punta de los remedios

16. Alta Guajira Desert

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Santa Marta

THE PEARL OF THE AMERICAS

Although few tourists take the time to stay and visit Santa Marta, the city has a lot to offer. With its 500.000 inhabitants, it is one of Colombia’s larger cities, but offers a pleasant living environment, definitely turned towards the sea.

Far from the splendor of Cartagena, Santa Marta is nonetheless worth a stroll. Its downtown area, currently undergoing renovation, retains a significant trace of Colombia’s colonial past. From its pretty, colorful houses to its magnificent white cathedral and central square, Santa Marta’s historic center definitely has something to offer.

The cerro Zirumala trail, which leads from the historic center to Rodadero beach, is a fun semi-urban stroll where you’ll come across many species of wildlife.

Cultural experience with an indigenous Arhuaca family

SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARTA

Did you know that the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is sacred territory for the local indigenous communities? These magical mountains are the heart of the world for the four peoples who have inhabited them since the dawn of time: the Kogis, the Wiwas, the Kankuamos and the Arhuacos.

We were fortunate enough to enjoy a unique experience during the Seydukwa Experience with indigenous Arhuaca family. So, if you want to know a little more about this ancestral culture of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, this experience is a good alternative.

With an Arhuaco guide, you’ll learn a little more about the traditions, ancestral knowledge and unique way of living in simplicity and deep communion with nature.

Scuba diving in Santa Marta

BEst things to do around Santa Marta

While the Pacific coast of Choco is certainly the most fantastic place for scuba diving in Colombia, Santa Marta remains the best-known spot for foreign tourists. This is a lucrative area for local service providers, who wage a merciless battle to offer the most attractive prices on the market .

But watch out! We don’t advise you to give in to the siren song of the cheapest prices, because when it comes to diving, low prices often mean poor quality services , and God knows that in Santa Marta (and Taganga) there are plenty of bad dive centers!

In any case, if you choose to go diving in Santa Marta, you’ll discover the underwater world off the coast of Tayrona National Park. These waters are rich in marine flora and fauna, thanks in particular to the inflow of cold water from the Sierra Nevada mountains and the currents flowing down from the Guajira.

Diving in Santa Marta means enjoying the classic scenery of the Caribbean Sea, with coral and multicolored fish on the menu. More impressive encounters may occur, such as turtles, but you’ll need to be very lucky that day!

Cienaga

BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE VILLAGE

Cienaga is said to have inspired the famous Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez for his book One Hundred Years of Solitude. For those familiar with this literary masterpiece, the village of Macondo, one of the book’s central “characters”, is an imaginary mirror image of the village of Cienaga… so a visit to Cienaga is well worth the detour!

Today, Cienaga is part of Colombia’s network of heritage villages, and the legend linked to the book Cent ans de solitude has made it the capital of “magic realism”, the literary movement spearheaded by Gabo.

Cienaga is a beautiful colonial village, calm and tranquil, where it’s a pleasure to stroll and look for the beautiful houses that make up the village’s historical heritage. Cienaga is also the gateway to Cienaga Grande and Nueva Venecia : a small fishing village on stilts, a place to discover in the hope that the arrival of tourists will one day help improve their quality of life.

Cienaga is definitely an off-the-beaten-track plan to put on your travel itinerary!

Nueva Venecia and Buenavista

What to visit around Santa Marta

Nueva Venecia and Buenavista are two “palafittic” villages in Santa Marta’s Cienaga Grande. In other words, two villages built on stilts in the middle of the lagoon. The colorful houses and unique water and fishing culture of the people living in these two villages make them an unusual destination to discover with your eyes wide open!

A full-day guided tour will enable you to discover the unique ecosystem of the Cienaga Grande, directly linked to the Caribbean Sea and supplied with fresh water by the Rio Magdalena and the Sierra Nevada. This day will also be an opportunity to meet the local populations of the floating villages of Nueva Venecia and Buenavista and learn more about their way of life and culture, known here as “amphibious culture”.

To take this tour, we strongly advise you to contact our local partner below, a community tourism association that works hand-in-hand with the locals to develop an economic alternative and work to protect the Cienaga Grande.

Tayrona National Park

BEst things to do around Santa Marta

Tayrona Park is probably Colombia’s best-known natural park and the main reason why travellers come to the Santa Marta region. When we talk about “things to do in Santa Marta”, for many it often boils down to spending two days inside Tayrona Park.

The beaches of Tayrona Park are sublime. Surely among the most beautiful beaches in Colombia. What you don’t necessarily know is that to get to these beaches, you’ll have to walk. And to get to Cabo San Juan, considered the most beautiful beach in Tayrona Park, you’ll have to walk for several hours.

That’s why we always recommend spending at least one night inside the park, or treating it as a jungle trek with swimming stops!

Taganga

THE BADLY LOVED

Taganga has two faces: that of a simple fishing village on a superb bay surrounded by lush vegetation, and that of a crazy party center where drugs and prostitution are the order of the day. In fact, we’ve devoted an post to these two facets of Taganga, complete with attractive photos.

Let’s face it, Taganga has a pretty bad reputation in Colombia. But here we’ll focus on the other side of Taganga, the one we’ve come to know and the one we hope will remain for years to come.

It’s entirely possible to stay in Taganga and spend some sweet, memorable moments completely away from this shoddy Taganga. My two stays there prove it: scuba diving, an excursion to Playa Cristal, a stormy evening on the terrace of Casa de Felipe, a match on the municipal field, a cold beer in one of the waterside bars, the exceptional colors of a sunset over the Caribbean Sea… this is the Taganga that really exists and that we’d prefer to remember!

Minca

BEst things to do around Santa Marta

Looking for something other than heavenly beaches, 30° turquoise water and sand in your shoes? If you’re looking for something a little cooler than Tayrona Park, head for Minca, high above Santa Marta: here, you’ll find a rendezvous with nature, welcome to the eco-capital of the Sierra Nevada!

Minca, at an altitude of 650 m, offers travellers a breath of fresh air and the opportunity to enjoy some beautiful walks in the surrounding area. Swimming in waterfalls, lush forest, animal and especially bird watching, the area is a great place for birdwatching in Colombia.

Minca is also home to a special atmosphere that has seen the development of many alternative and eco-responsible initiatives over the years. As a result, Minca is now one of the leading centres for “ecotourism” initiatives around the Tayrona Park, and has even proclaimed itself the “capital of ecotourism”! (Even if, in reality, it’s clear that there’s still a lot of work to be done to raise awareness of pollution, particularly plastic pollution, as is the case throughout Colombia).

Cerro Kennedy

TO LOOK FOR A BIT OF COOL AIR

Cerro Kennedy is a summit with a military base and one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the Minca region. It was something we really wanted to do if we had had more time.

It’s a two-day hike, with the idea of spending the night at the foot of the summit to enjoy the view at sunrise! At this early hour, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada can be seen before the mist rolls in and covers everything with an invisible veil.

Up there, you can enjoy views of the snow-covered peaks of Pico Simón Bolívar and Pico Colón. At over 5,700 meters above sea level, they’re the two highest peaks in Colombia. But you’ll also get panoramic views reaching all the way to the Caribbean Sea, the city of Santa Marta, Tayrona Park, and more.

The hike also leads to the most interesting area for birdwatching. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a sanctuary for many endemic species.

The Lost City

THE MYTHICAL TREK

This is one of the activities that many travelers mark with a white cross in their travel diaries. The trek to the Lost City is a trek apart, an unforgettable experience for most of those who have embarked on it. So if you’re looking for adventure around Tayrona Park, this is the place to be..

It’s a plunge into the heart of a natural curiosity, the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range on the edge of the Caribbean Sea culminating at an altitude of over 5700 m!

But the Ciudad Perdida trek is also a plunge into the sacred lands of the Tayrona people, to this ancient city built in 800 AD..

Last but not least, the Lost City Trek is a physical ordeal, requiring you to hike for 4 to 6 days in a torrid, hot and humid atmosphere, a true initiatory journey that makes the destination all the more exceptional. But going up to the Ciudad Perdida is also a human experience, as you’ll be in contact with the natives, the guardians of the land, our “Big Brothers” as they call themselves, to understand a little more about their way of seeing the world.

Bunkuany

The alternative to the Lost City

If you’re looking for a less physical, more economical and less crowded alternative to the Ciudad Perdida trek, we suggest you contact Adrian to ask him about the 3-day Bunkuani Trek.

Program:

• 3-day trek in the Sierra Nevada near Calabazo
• Meeting with local farming communities
• Discover the archaeological remains of the Bunkuani terraces
• Observation of petroglyphs
• Swimming in the rivers
• Cultural exchange with an indigenous Kogui family

Buritaca, Guachaca, Mendihuaca

Best things to do around Santa Marta

Buritaca, Mendihuaca and Guachaca are small, pleasant beaches located near Santa Marta and just a few kilometers from Tayrona Park. You can easily get there by bus along the main road. All three are small “villages” with little to see, but they offer beaches somewhat similar to Palomino, in the sense that a river flows into the sea.

From our point of view, the main appeal of this area is that it combines, on one side, the beaches of the Caribbean Sea and, on the other, the cristal clear rivers in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

Far from Palomino’s tourist fame, these are more local spots that, while very quiet a few years ago, have grown a bit over time. And of course, on weekends and during Colombian holidays, the beaches can be a little crowded and noisy, like everywhere.

Even though these are “public” beaches, you’ll need to pay an entrance fee (around 12.000 COP), which also includes insurance. Don’t be surprised—this system has been implemented in recent years to access most natural attractions in the area (including the waterfalls and rivers on the Sierra side).

Another option is to choose one of the many hotels along the road, so you can enjoy the beach with the comfort of hotel facilities. Many of them offer a “pasadía” service (just spending the day and enjoying the place and its amenities).

Here, just like in Palomino, the river meets the Caribbean Sea, creating a special atmosphere. As we mentioned, the area has some beautiful waterfalls worth discovering. We recommend Quebrada Valencia in Buritaca and Poza Encantada in Mendihuaca. We loved them!

You can also do a bit of surfing, especially in Mendihuaca. It’s a great spot to get started or practice as a beginner. For the best surf conditions on the Caribbean coast, try your luck between November and March, when an eastern wind creates bigger waves.

Visit a Cacao Farm in Buritaca

Things to do around Santa Marta

A former coca grower, Jaider decided in 2003 to abandon illicit crops and replace them with cacao cultivation.

This experience is both a discovery of high-quality cacao and its transformation process, as well as a chance to learn about the story of a Colombian farming family—one of thousands in the country—facing issues related to drug trafficking and illicit crops in Colombia.

During the tour, a family member will share their story while also talking about the local ecosystem, medicinal plants, and how coca cultivation contributed to the deforestation of the Sierra.

Once at the farm, you’ll get into the heart of the experience: learning more about cacao cultivation, discovering and tasting different cacao varieties, getting introduced to the process of turning cacao beans into chocolate, and ending with a tasting of various chocolates.

A beautiful and enriching full-day experience that we highly recommend!

Palomino

Best to do around Santa Marta

Around Tayrona Park, Palomino is one of the Santa Marta region’s booming destinations. As the gateway to the Guajira desert, Palomino is currently experiencing somewhat anarchic development, which the authorities are trying to contain. For some time now, problems have also been reported in certain hostales, where theft from foreign tourists has been reported.

On our visit, there were no problems to report, but we weren’t convinced by the atmosphere and stayed just one night to be able to meet an indigenous Arhuaca family the next day.

The fact remains that Palomino is a beautiful beach on the coast, a little like Buritaca, between sea and river. In fact, the main activity is to float down the river to the sea. Nothing too adventurous, we assure you, it’s quiet and everyone will suggest this activity.

Dibulla and Punta de los remedios

Things to do around Santa Marta

Dibulla and Punta de los Remedios are among those still little-visited places that truly deserve the attention of travelers seeking authenticity.
We stumbled upon Punta de los Remedios almost by chance, while trying to escape Palomino. And it was love at first sight.

Imagine a peaceful village, almost frozen in time, with its fishermen, fruit sellers, and that rare feeling of being far, very far from the noise of the world. Dibulla and Punta de los Remedios are the perfect places to slow down and experience a different Colombia—raw and quiet.

In this article, we share how we arrived with no plans, our rustic lodging facing the sea, our walks along the beach, and our encounter with the local fishermen.
It’s not a place to check off a list—it’s a place to stay and let time drift by.

Alta Guajira Desert

Things to do around Santa Marta

At the end of the road that starts in Santa Marta and passes through all the places we mentioned in this article, you’ll find Riohacha—the capital of the La Guajira department and the gateway to the desert!

From here, you can organize a multi-day excursion into the Alta Guajira Desert. Be careful to choose the right agency—experiences can vary widely, and a bad choice can quickly turn into a nightmare. We also recommend reading our article to help you prepare for the Guajira Desert.

If you’re looking to discover Wayuu culture, be aware that standard desert tours don’t offer much cultural insight. We suggest joining a cultural experience with a Wayuu family from Riohacha. Having done it ourselves, we can say it’s the best way to truly connect with the indigenous culture.