PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

Best Beach: Cartagena vs. Santa Marta

I am currently residing in Buenos Aires but have decided to relocate to Columbia. I have have ruled out staying in Bogota because I really don't want to stay in a cold place and want to be near a nice beach. The best case scenario that I could think of would be if I could find a nice short term rental apartment on or near the beach in Cartagena or Santa Marta. I was wondering if you have any advice about relocating to these places. I am a little worried that if I went to Cartagena it would be really expensive and at the same time maybe a lot of
people would be speaking English and I would not get a lot of time to practice Spanish. On the other hand I am a little worried that Santa Marta might be a little too small and far away "from the action" so to speak. "What would you advise?. Also I am a little confused about how I should go about booking my
plane ticket from Bogota. It seems that I would have to use a local Columbian carrier that I have never used before. Are some more reliable than others and are there any special issues when travelling by plane in Colombia that I should know about. You seem to have a lot of useful info about the country and I would appreciate any valuable input that you might have.

Thanks,

Eric

By ericdharma on May 4, 2006, 23:46 in Renting, selling & meetups.

thur says on May 5, 2006, 02:06:

Colombia. Before anyone else chops your head off, it is Colombia, with two o's. Both Avianca/SAM (www.avianca.com) and Aerorepublica (www.areorepublica.com.co) are reliable, no need for worries. Both carriers sell e-tickets through their website and serve both cities. Avianca also flies to Buenos Aires and offers (a 50 minute) connection in Bogota.
Greetings,

~Sights & Sounds~
www.pbase.com/thur

- www.pbase.com/thur

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bartolo_colon says on May 5, 2006, 03:08:

Why do you want to move to Colombia? Do you plan on working? If so CTG. Do you scuba dive, if so Santa Marta. There is a hell of a lot more going on in Cartagena, it is only expensive if you go out all the time. But as a beach town, it really is not the greatest either. I never speak english in either Santa Marta or Cartagena so dont worry about that. If you are looking for an ideal beach town neither really qualifies. Brazil has tons of great beach towns, as does Chile and Mexico and the D.R.
Don't get me wrong, Cartagena and Santa Marta are both great towns, but neither is a world class beach town.

Hey, careful, man, there's a beverage here!

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Miguel says on May 5, 2006, 05:59:

CTG y STA MARTA Cartagena has great historic sites, good nightlife, crappy beaches and is very expensive, while Santa Marta has good beaches and is rather boring.

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Gator says on May 5, 2006, 07:13:

Two Different.... life styles. Miguel just about summed it up. However, goring is in the eyes of the beholder. BTW, most, when they say Santa Marta, are really referring to El Rodadero, a resort area about 5/6 km out of Santa Marta. Of the two El Rodadero has by far the better beach and for really GREAT beaches you can hear for Parque Tayrona on the other side of Santa Marta,

P.S. The wife and I spent several weeks in the SM area late last year. The prices for property are MUCH less than Cartagena.

"SIC FRIATUR CRUSTUM DULCE. OBESA CANTAVIT."

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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bickerss says on May 5, 2006, 11:35:

As above they are very different. The beach in Cartagena is crap, but you can get to nice ones by boat. The old city however is great and there is lots to do.

Santa marta has nicer beaches but is quieter. Depends on what you are after. It is only 2 hrs from Baranquilla and 4 hrs from Cartagena in a bus anyway, so you are close. Santa Marta would be cheaper, and also has the Parke Tayrona nearby which has speccy beaches.

As they are close, why dont you come here and spend a week or so in each place to make u mind up. This would be a good idea if you are considering living in either one.

For learning Spanish. I didnt find to much english spoken in Cartagena, except with the tourists, and its nothing like the amount they have in BA, especially western english speaking ones. The problem (for me) with the coastal area and learning spanish is that i dont find it a ´´pretty´´ spanish there and they leave the end off words etc. I foudn it really hard to understand and people spoke super fast. Personally i dont want to learn this version of spanish.

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bibefito21 says on May 5, 2006, 15:30:

beaches well cartagena has ugly beaches but more hotels and stuff. Santa marta has better beaches and parque tayrona close but after a week theres nothing to do (in my opinion), Cartagena does have some beautiful beaches close by in las islas del rosario so both of them really have nice beaches it just depends if u wanna take the 45 minute boat ride every day?(in cartagena). If not santa marta is better fot the beaches.

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VISTAMAR says on May 15, 2006, 20:44:

APARTMENT FOR RENT IN EL RODADERO SANTA MARTA PLEASE VISIT: WWW.MESAINVERSIONES.COM FOR MOR INFORMATION.

IF INTERESTED IN VISITING CARTAGENA PLEASE GO TO:

http://espanol.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/regaloparamiti/album?.dir=/728bre2&.src=ph&.tok=phhn.3EB189k0fh5

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