Traveler Looking For Info on Santa Marta

bufalo says on Apr 20, 2005, 10:39:

HI and by the way it is "Colombia", not Columbia.
Santa Marta is one of my favorite placesin Colombia. The city itself isn´t anything major, but El Rodadero has pretty good night life. Candela and La Escollera are the best and practically only clubs there. The beach is ok. Lots of people during vacacion time. You can walk along the coast to several smaller beaches, Puerto Luz, Playa Blanca, a nude beach, and also go to the aquarium. My friends and I used to go to the Aquarium after it closed and the guard would let us swim with the dolphins, I doubt this still happens. For a more laid back place, Taganga. It is a small fishing village, the beach is kind of dirty, but you can walk to Playa Grande and several other beaches as well. Tayrona Park is really nice, although not like it used to be. Walk there after taking the bus to... I forget the exact name Calabozo? Shit, I can´t remember, just tell them on the bus. The walk is awesome, check out the marching ants crisscrossing the paths (don´t step on them). When you get to the rocky part, look down through the crevices and you´ll see some really big drops. Supposedly this trail was made before Columbus, it must have been hard work. You´ll pass through Pueblito, part of the Aruaco culture that still lives in the Sierra Nevada. If I think of anything else, I´ll write. Oh, also Bahia Concha is nice too.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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justino says on Apr 20, 2005, 12:14:

Santa Marta I was in Santa Marta a few weeks ago and was not impressed. The beaches in the Rodadero are ugly - gritty grayish brown sand and brown water. They're also crowded (of course I went during semana santa) by unattractive family types with 4 kids per couple. There were like 3 attractive women (paisas) among the 5000 people on this small beach. This refers to El Rodadero´s beach. Santa Marta has a beach too, but it´s more like a slum than a beach. The nightlife in El Rodadero is average. Taganga is a piece of caca - the only thing good about it is that there are boats that take you to somewhat decent snorkeling or scuba diving. I took one of these boats to Playa Grande, which was equally caca. But I did have some of the best fish (trucha) there that I've ever eaten.

Here's the only reason to go to Santa Marta - Parque Tayrona is near by. Get your yellow fever vaccination before you go if you don't want to take risks. I didn't though, and I´m still alive and healthy.

Go to Cartagena instead of Santa Marta. It´s a beautiful city, much more to do, prettier beaches.

Un saludo,

Justino

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Doomedyouth says on Apr 20, 2005, 13:09:

Santa Marta isn´t famous for the city itself but for the surroundings...the highlight of the city for me is La Quinta De Bolivar which is the home where Bolivar died...it is worth spending a day in Santa Marta to visit but outside of that there isn´t much worth seeing in Santa Marta itself, though Taganga (about 15 minutes away) is good for a nice quiet relaxing day or two...

for me the highlights of the coast are as follows

El Cabo De La Vela (La Guajira)
Parque Tayrona
La Ciudad Vieja en Cartagena

There is plenty to do and plenty of nice beaches to visit, but for me these are the three most enjoyable parts of the coast...

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b bruce says on Apr 20, 2005, 14:10:

Viva Santa Marta! I just returned from my first trip to Colombia. I flew Miami to Barranquilla. I enjoyed the El Prado district of Barranquilla. Then I headed off to Cartagena. It certainly is a fasinating city. But after three days I had to get out of there. The tout's in the city and the beaches are worse then mesquito's. A real pain in the ass. I live in Key West, Florida so perhaps I do not enjoy being in a tourist trap which Cartagena certainly is. A beautiful city it is. Now I really fell in love with Santa Marta. The beaches are fine. I was there after Samana Santa when all the crazies went home. Tananga is a nice place to visit. But I recommend staying at the Sol Hotel Inn across from the beach in Santa Marta. It's a blue collar town without all those nose in the air royalty types from Bogota. Try it you will like it!

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bufalo says on Apr 21, 2005, 13:35:

I don´t agree with the second poster. For me, Cartagena has good clubs, but the beach sucks. The beaches in Santa Marta (not in, actually, but around) are way better. The reason I liked it also was that I went a lot and made close friends with the locals. this made it real easy to go out-of-the-way places. Cartagena is too touristy, I like to go to Colombia to hang out with colombians.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

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blusky4u says on Apr 21, 2005, 15:51:

93 more days until I fly to Bogota Well, I have now got 93 more days until Im in Colombia.
Im sad to hear this about Santa Marta but this is the way it is all over the Carribiean.Paradise surrounded by extreem poverty...
Anyways, I think since I have 14 days to spend with my friend I think its now a wise choice to break this trip into 3 or 4 different resorts or locations.
So far whats on the coast is attractive. As for La Guajira,Parque Tayrona and LaCiudad Vieja en Cartagena all sound nice.
What we are interested in doing is seeing and exploring as much as we can of each area while our time allows.
Next on the list is of course is resturants and places to get good food and last on the list is night life and bars.Then again its always nice to be able to go out for a drink and yes,sometimes party!
So I guess now what I'm looking for is three or four nice resorts or hotels in different locations that will allow us to see and do what I just described with out being contained to the particular resort.
I'm now hearing from a friend that Cali is a really nice place to be but I have'nt looked into it yet.
- So if people can keep shooting me names this would be a great help.
- As for the hotels I'm still learning and open for suggestions as well as opinions and personal experiences.
Please keep the posts comming and I'm still open for suggestions.

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blusky4u says on Apr 21, 2005, 16:05:

Place to stay for 2 days in Bogota Hi people,
Thanks for all the replies, What I need now is a place to stay while I'm in Bogota. I'll be in the area for the beginning of my trip and the last day or two.This will be the place where I'll be making most of all my final plans before I head out to experience beautiful Colombia.
So what I need now is a name of a nice Hotel thats resonably close to good resturants a lil night life and thats going to be comfortable as well as safe.
I'm open for suggestions and thanks!

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