i literally melted into a puddle in santa marta and honestly? loved it
okay so i need to tell you about this trip because my bank account is screaming but my soul feels weirdly restored and i don't know how to process that. i went to santa marta. the heat tried to kill me. i survived. here's what happened.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: yeah actually. if you like beaches that aren't overrun by resorts and don't mind sweating profusely every second of your existence, this hits different. way more authentic than cartagena.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: super cheap if you eat where locals eat. street food is like 10k cop ($2.50) for a whole meal. hostel was $12/night. tourist restaurants will rob you though.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: people who need ac 24/7, anyone who complains about humidity, germaphobes who can't handle street food, and folks who need everything organized for them.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: december through april is dry season but hotter. i went in what i think was late spring and the rain was random but brief. avoid august-september.
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so the weather data said it was like 31 degrees but felt like 36 and honestly i think the thermometer was lying to me. my phone said 66% humidity and i believed it because i had never been that sticky in my entire life. i literally bought a handheld fan from a street vendor and i am not ashamed.
*the beach situation
i stayed in a hostel in the centro histórico area and every morning i'd walk to the beach and just. sit there. the water is that weird green-blue color that looks fake in photos but is real in person. not as pretty as taylor's bay area but also not crowded with influencers so there's that.
food thoughts
okay here's the thing - i ate so much ceviche. like an embarrassing amount. the best place was this tiny spot near the mercado where a woman with the most efficient hands i've ever seen just slammed out ceviche after ceviche. cost me like $3. i dream about it sometimes.
> "she didn't speak english, i don't speak great spanish, we communicated through eye contact and trust. the ceviche was worth it."
also discovered arepas con todo which is like if a sandwich and a pizza had a baby and that baby was filled with cheese and ham and egg and basically heaven. 8/10 would become obese here.
the heat is a personality trait
let me be real - the temperature was 30.77 degrees celsius and it felt like 35.88 degrees celsius and i genuinely think the air was thicker than normal air. i don't know the science but i felt it. i took cold showers like 4 times a day. the hostel had a pool and i spent more time in it than is probably socially acceptable.
safety talk
i'm not gonna lie i was nervous before coming because internet told me to be. here's what actually happened: i got scammed once at a taxi (paid 20k instead of 5k, my fault for not agreeing on price first), saw a few guys selling stuff on the beach who were persistent but not threatening, and the hostel owner told me not to walk alone at night in certain areas. common sense stuff.
the sea level pressure was 1006 which some guy at the hostel said meant good weather and honestly it was sunny every day with like one random 20-minute rain shower that everyone ignored. i think the locals have a deal with the weather or something.
places i went that were free or cheap
- quinta de san pedro alejandrino - this museum/monument thing where simón bolívar died. pretty interesting if you're into history. free entry when i went.
- playa blanca - took a bus (like $2) to this beach that was less crowded. the water was insane.
- cerro de la loma - hiked up this hill for sunset. free. my legs hated me but the view was worth it.
people i met
there's this specific type of traveler that ends up in santa marta - either backpackers going to ciudad perdida, or people who are "between things" (that's me). i met a german guy who'd been here for 3 weeks, two french girls who were obsessed with finding the best arepa, and a retired australian who told me about all the places i should actually visit instead (thanks mate).
the tourist vs local thing
tourist santa marta is fine but boring. the cruise ships come in and everyone goes to the same restaurants and buys the same souvenirs. local santa marta is the mercado at 7am when it's getting set up, the beach at 6am when it's still cool, the random street parties that happen on fridays, the old men playing dominoes in the park.
things that annoyed me
- the heat. obviously.
- guys on the beach constantly trying to sell me stuff
- my spanish is mediocre and everyone's spanish was fast
- the hostel wifi died for a whole day and i had to talk to humans instead
- couldn't find good coffee anywhere (this is a me problem)
things that didn't annoy me
everything else honestly. there's something about being that hot and sweaty that makes you just. stop caring about things. i went with the flow so hard. i haven't been that relaxed in months.
some actual useful info
if you're gonna go:
- download maps.me for offline maps because google maps got confused a lot
- bring pesos, card doesn't work everywhere
- learn "cuánto cuesta" (how much) and "es muy caro" (too expensive)
- hostel prices range from $8-25 depending on season
- the bus to taganga is like $1.50 and takes 20 minutes
i looked at reviews on tripadvisor before coming and honestly they were mid. yelp doesn't really exist here. the hostel had good ratings on booking.com so that's where i went. reddit threads were more helpful than expected - r/solotravel and r/colombia had some good threads about santa marta specifically.
would i go back
yeah actually. i want to do the ciudad perdida trek (it's like 4 days in the mountains), i want to explore more of the surrounding area, and i want to find that ceviche place again. also i feel like i barely scratched the surface.
the humidity was 66% and i weighed approximately 5 pounds more from water retention the whole time. worth it.
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final chaotic thoughts: santa marta isn't pretty in a manicured way. it's pretty in a "this city has been here for 500 years and will be here for 500 more" way. the heat is a fact of life. the beaches are free. the food is cheap and good. the people are mostly just living their lives and don't care that you're there. sometimes that's all you need.
go. sweat a lot. eat ceviche. it's fine.
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links i found useful:*
- tripadvisor has decent threads about safe areas
- hostelworld for accommodation
- wikivoyage gave me the basic rundown
- lonely planet was okay but outdated
- r/colombia on reddit had current advice
- skycanner for getting there
that's it. i'm exhausted. my clothes still smell like the ocean. 10/10 would sweat again.