Post: #1

anyone have any info on this place?

im looking into running a bar at a hostel down there and was wondering if anyone has been....

Post: #2

(05-07-2010 06:25 PM)dlmelvin86 Wrote:  anyone have any info on this place?

im looking into running a bar at a hostel down there and was wondering if anyone has been....

I only spend one night there since the Taganga village is just 5min taxi drive away. The places complement each other pretty well. Taganga is nicer to stay in having the beach and relaxed atmosphere where as St Marta as a bigger city has more options for nightlife. It's pretty nice area and attracts a lot of tourists, both Colombian and gringos.

Taganga: easy weed, lots of "hippie" gringos, hostel and a dive school in every block, restaurants and bars catering for the visitors.

Coastal girls seem pretty nice but their spanish is horribly hard to understand.

Ps. Colombia, not Columbia, right?

Post: #3

been in the Santa Marta area on November 2014.

the city of santa marta itself is not that of a cool place to do anything but go to the local clubs which are where the usual population goes out on the weekends.

like mentioned above - Taganga is like a hippie beach which from there you usually can take the boat if you go to the Tyrona national park
(quick tip, do not do it, take the bus system because this boat isn't worth the money you pay)

the best place in the area can be Rodadero beach (10 minutes ride from Santa marta by taxi). it's like a resort place but mainly for local columbians. it's not fancy at all but it's very popular. during the week its best to hang around the beach but on the weekend Colombians from across the country come over to bash their heads full of liqueur.
there are a few joints in town which are perfect for pulling girls, because you can dance the raga-ton and salsa there till early morning. me and my traveling partner did that and had quite a decent amount of success (I banged 2 Colombians there in 1 week)

the best thing to do is rent some apartment there overlooking the beach. it's not expensive since it's no where near the popularity of Cartagena. (you can rent a 2 bedroom place for the ranks of 35-50$ a night).

also food is very cheap because you can have a "menu del dia" for 5-7$ a meal.

if somebody would want more info post a reply here and I'll add up the info

hope this helps

Post: #4

Great Info, thanks a bunch, I'm headed down to Colombia and the trip will include Cartagena Mon- Weds. Barranquilla, for Thur-Sun. Then on to Santa Marta for Mon -Thurs. I'm thinking Santa Marta/Taganga would be a decent place to spend beginning of the week- mid-week for nightlife as it appears to be a vacation spot for foreigners and Colombians(everyone out/in party -mode etc). Is SM and Taganga totally dead/not worth going to during the beginning /to mid week? I've been to Cartagena mid-week and I thought is was great will SM be similar.

Post: #5

Like most Colombian cities, Santa Marta is quiet until the weekends, there are still opportunities to meet local girls in the city, whether its online or day game but your night game options will be limited. Of course there will be tourists who are hanging out and drinking, but I would suggest doing some outdoor activities to pass the time, Taganga is a great spot to do your scuba diving certificate, you could hang out in parque Tayrona and enjoy the beaches there (which are much better than in SM) and the small town of Minca in the close by Sierra Nevada mountains is a nice place for hiking and bird watching.

Post: #6

(03-11-2015 11:13 PM)scotian pride tourists'977709 Wrote:Like most Colombian cities, Santa Marta is quiet until the weekends, there are still opportunities to meet local girls in the city, whether its online or day game but your night game options will be limited. Of course there will be tourists who are hanging out and drinking, but I would suggest doing some outdoor activities to pass the time, Taganga is a great spot to do your scuba diving certificate, you could hang out in parque Tayrona and enjoy the beaches there (which are much better than in SM) and the small town of Minca in the close by Sierra Nevada mountains is a nice place for hiking and bird watching.

Where are most of the tourists in Santa Marta from? It's too bad Lee never opened his bar or hostel there.

Post: #7

(03-11-2015 11:16 PM)Merenguero Wrote:  

(03-11-2015 11:13 PM)scotian pride tourists'977709 Wrote:Like most Colombian cities, Santa Marta is quiet until the weekends, there are still opportunities to meet local girls in the city, whether its online or day game but your night game options will be limited. Of course there will be tourists who are hanging out and drinking, but I would suggest doing some outdoor activities to pass the time, Taganga is a great spot to do your scuba diving certificate, you could hang out in parque Tayrona and enjoy the beaches there (which are much better than in SM) and the small town of Minca in the close by Sierra Nevada mountains is a nice place for hiking and bird watching.

Where are most of the tourists in Santa Marta from? It's too bad Lee never opened his bar or hostel there.

Taganga has lots of Israelis and other budget travelers, its a nice place but over run with coked out grubby backpackers and lots of divers, was the only place I've seen an obviously foreign white dude strung out digging through the trash for something to eat, until I saw these old Euro bums in Cali last week smoking crack on the sidewalk. Santa Marta has lots of Colombians from the interior, especially during Christmas holidays and Semana Santa, other than that its mostly backpackers from what I saw, a few foreign couples and the last time I was there, about a month ago, there were quite a few hookers hanging out near Parque de Novios. Santa Marta is a cool place to hang out for a couple of days while exploring Tayrona and surrounding areas, but the city itself isn't anything special.