Guidebook for Santa Marta
Drinks & Nightlife
Bar la Puerta
2-29 Cl. 17Best bar downtown
La Azotea
4 - 80 Cl. 14Rooftop at Parque de los Novios. It's supposed to be a hot spot.
Rock bar that used to be set up in Bogotá. The owners moved to Taganga over a decade ago and brought the whole joint with them, billiard pool table and all, even the infamous red bathtub. Sometimes there's live music.
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Crab's Bar
3-69 Calle 18Rock bar that used to be set up in Bogotá. The owners moved to Taganga over a decade ago and brought the whole joint with them, billiard pool table and all, even the infamous red bathtub. Sometimes there's live music.
Food Scene
Restaurante Donde Chucho
Classic Samaria
Highly suggested for breakfasts. Opens at 8AM on weekdays, 9AM on weekends (closes on wednesday).
My favorite is the Corralita.
Coffee is best in town.
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Lulo Cafe Bar
16-34 Cra. 3Highly suggested for breakfasts. Opens at 8AM on weekdays, 9AM on weekends (closes on wednesday).
My favorite is the Corralita.
Coffee is best in town.
Breakfast place. Highly recommended. Specializes in local food (mote de guineo or cayeye). Only serves orange juice to drink, though.
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ALFAIX Su Media Naranja
#10-48 Cl. 9Breakfast place. Highly recommended. Specializes in local food (mote de guineo or cayeye). Only serves orange juice to drink, though.
Overall, best place in town. Great pizzas, but the rest of the menu is also outstanding, as is the service. The chef, Michael McMurdock has also another joint in a new mall and a vegetarian restaurant a few blocks away.
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Ouzo
19-29 Cra. 3Overall, best place in town. Great pizzas, but the rest of the menu is also outstanding, as is the service. The chef, Michael McMurdock has also another joint in a new mall and a vegetarian restaurant a few blocks away.
Essentials
Éxito
1926 Cra. 5Supermarket
Supermercado Olímpica
8-54 Cl. 11Much closer to the house.
Sightseeing
Katedral Basilica í Santa Marta
Carrera 4Oldest cathedral this side of Panama
Absolute must. The trees alone are well worth the trip.
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Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
Avenida El LibertadorAbsolute must. The trees alone are well worth the trip.
Ruta Bananeras
This is a bullet list in case you want to take a dive into the Zona Bananera. It goes to the heart of this region modern history.
This little town on the mountain has attracted a good number of tourists over the last few years. New favorite for backpackers. Visit Pozo Azul and respect it, as it is sacred ground for the locals.
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Minca
This little town on the mountain has attracted a good number of tourists over the last few years. New favorite for backpackers. Visit Pozo Azul and respect it, as it is sacred ground for the locals.
The beautiful Palacio Municipal de Ciénaga, Magdalena’s second largest city. For years, it was known as the progressive town in a very conservative region. Commercially, before the *highway* connecting it to Barranquilla was built, it was a key part of the trade routes in and out of Colombia's largest wetland, la Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, and the Zona Bananera. Ciénaga’s antiquarians used to be famous in the region for having many treasures from the first Republican years. This is where protestors gathered during the historic 1929 strike of the workers of the United Fruit Company. Is also where many of them where shot by the Colombian army, sent here to protect the interests of the New Orleans-based company. The fabulous writer Álvaro Cepeda Samudio claimed Ciénaga as his hometown, but he was actually born in Barranquilla, where he would later on meet Gabito, Gabriel García Márquez, and introduce him to his library, containing “all the books worth reading”, from Virginia Woolf (“la Woolf”, he would call her), Hemingway, Joyce, Faulkner, and many contemporary authors no one had heard from in the rest of Colombia (especially in Bogota) but that were part of the daily lives of the members of La Cueva, the bohemian and literary group where the Nobel-to-be learned and honed the skills that would make him the best known living writer by the time the XXth century was over.
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Ciénaga
The beautiful Palacio Municipal de Ciénaga, Magdalena’s second largest city. For years, it was known as the progressive town in a very conservative region. Commercially, before the *highway* connecting it to Barranquilla was built, it was a key part of the trade routes in and out of Colombia's largest wetland, la Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, and the Zona Bananera. Ciénaga’s antiquarians used to be famous in the region for having many treasures from the first Republican years. This is where protestors gathered during the historic 1929 strike of the workers of the United Fruit Company. Is also where many of them where shot by the Colombian army, sent here to protect the interests of the New Orleans-based company. The fabulous writer Álvaro Cepeda Samudio claimed Ciénaga as his hometown, but he was actually born in Barranquilla, where he would later on meet Gabito, Gabriel García Márquez, and introduce him to his library, containing “all the books worth reading”, from Virginia Woolf (“la Woolf”, he would call her), Hemingway, Joyce, Faulkner, and many contemporary authors no one had heard from in the rest of Colombia (especially in Bogota) but that were part of the daily lives of the members of La Cueva, the bohemian and literary group where the Nobel-to-be learned and honed the skills that would make him the best known living writer by the time the XXth century was over.
This is the place were the original Marquez household was established. It provide the basis for the Buendía household of the Macondo Universe.
Casa del Telegrafista
5 - 30 Calle 9This is the place were the original Marquez household was established. It provide the basis for the Buendía household of the Macondo Universe.
At the beginning of the XXth century, this was established as the heart of the United Fruit company interests in the country. The banana boom shaped local society in many ways and its consequences have had a lasting impact. The remains of Prado Sevilla, an Americana neighborhood built for the US workers of the UFC, attest to the scope and bravado of the northern empire. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, this place was called "el barrio de los gringos". Today this haunted houses stand as a monument to fallen empires and its consequences on the tropics. Real life immersive experience into the what is remembered as a golden age.
Zona Bananera
At the beginning of the XXth century, this was established as the heart of the United Fruit company interests in the country. The banana boom shaped local society in many ways and its consequences have had a lasting impact. The remains of Prado Sevilla, an Americana neighborhood built for the US workers of the UFC, attest to the scope and bravado of the northern empire. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, this place was called "el barrio de los gringos". Today this haunted houses stand as a monument to fallen empires and its consequences on the tropics. Real life immersive experience into the what is remembered as a golden age.
This beachside stop is highly recommended if you´re heading back to Santa Marta or on your way to the Zona Bananera. Good place to have lunch too. Large swath of beach to the South of Santa Marta. Water has lots of sediment, since its very close to the mouth of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta.
Popeye y oliva
This beachside stop is highly recommended if you´re heading back to Santa Marta or on your way to the Zona Bananera. Good place to have lunch too. Large swath of beach to the South of Santa Marta. Water has lots of sediment, since its very close to the mouth of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta.
This is a natural park that has been ravaged by the construction of the highway linking Barranquilla and Ciénaga-Santa Marta. Still, it is the largest wetland in all of Colombia and is a powerful ecosystem that provides for the local fishermen and their communities.
Good spot for birdwatchers.
Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta
This is a natural park that has been ravaged by the construction of the highway linking Barranquilla and Ciénaga-Santa Marta. Still, it is the largest wetland in all of Colombia and is a powerful ecosystem that provides for the local fishermen and their communities.
Good spot for birdwatchers.
Getting Around
Buses to Palomino (serves clients to Tayrona, Buritaca, Don Diego, Guachaca, Mendihuaca) leave since 5.30 am, every 20 minutes or so. Also transports to Minca.
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Almenningsmarkaður Santa Marta
Carrera 9Buses to Palomino (serves clients to Tayrona, Buritaca, Don Diego, Guachaca, Mendihuaca) leave since 5.30 am, every 20 minutes or so. Also transports to Minca.
It seems that everyone that comes to Santa Marta ends up eating here. I think its better for breakfasts, but its solid overall. Good juices, the specialty of the house. Opens at 8 mon to fri, at 9 on weekends.
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Lulo Cafe Bar
16-34 Cra. 3It seems that everyone that comes to Santa Marta ends up eating here. I think its better for breakfasts, but its solid overall. Good juices, the specialty of the house. Opens at 8 mon to fri, at 9 on weekends.
Very popular among local people, not so much among tourists. They increased their prices recently but are still cheaper than most breakfast joints in town. Opens at 6.30. Should order the cayeye, which is a local delicacy made out of green bananas.
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ALFAIX Su Media Naranja
#10-48 Cl. 9Very popular among local people, not so much among tourists. They increased their prices recently but are still cheaper than most breakfast joints in town. Opens at 6.30. Should order the cayeye, which is a local delicacy made out of green bananas.