Santa Marta - The Beaches
(Santa Marta Photos)

I have already mentioned that the beach in the city of Santa Marta is not ideal unless one was really desperate to build castles on the narrow strip of sand or go for a dip. But, I guess I do have high standards when it comes to sand and water quality, at least in how near I will let them get to touching my skin. This, however, does not stop the hoards of visitors and locals from having a bathe. Hotels in the city promote themselves by saying how close they are to this 'beach'.

There are some slightly better beach options that are relatively close to Santa Marta, and I spent my last day experiencing them for myself. Most holiday goers will he to Rodadero Beach, just 4km south of downtown Santa Marta. Remember all those honking buses that trawl the waterfront for customers? Just stand on the curb of the Carrera 1 (the waterfront avenue) and within seconds one will stop, instinctively knowing that you want to go to Rodadero. That is unless a taxi gets to you first and tries to persuade you of the advantages of his transport verses the bus. There are nothing wrong with most of these taxis, other than their advanced age, but the bus will cost you a quarter of a taxi fare.

Rodadero looks like it has only been developed over the past 25 years or so. All of the buildings are high-rise apartment blocks. Santa Marta has much more character than Rodadero, and that is saying something. Nevertheless there are several expensive hotels and resorts here and the beach is definite bigger than Santa Marta's. And being a Sunday there were not many patches of sand visible.

I made my way along the beach, across a canal using a foot bridge that really should be condemned to the north end where a collection of small motor launches were moored. I had read in my guide about a very nice sounding beach called Playa Blanca, which is only accessible by boat. There is also a small aquarium on the way. Of the dozens of launches I chose a sea worthy one (but what do I know) with some sun protection called the "Rastaferia". The fare was CO$15,000 (US$6.75) for the round-trip. Shop around as the fares vary between boats. And since you are buying a round-trip it is important that you remember your boat. You cannot hop on just any old boat for the return leg. I impressed to see that all the boats appeared to have plenty of life jackets.

The Rastaferia dropped us all off at the aquarium, which on further inspection did not seem worth the CO$12,000 (US$5.50). So I found the improvised path that takes you around the rocks to Playa Blanca. I had to take off my shoes and roll up my shorts to cross various pools. If this was low tide, I could see that the path would be a little more treacherous during a high tide!

Playa Blanca was nice beach and I had fortunately arrived before the crowds. The beach itself is quite narrow and sloped away slightly into the water. The beach is lined with tents which can be hired for the day and there are several restaurants. I walked to the far end with the idea that I was not going to stay. But I gave into to one of the tent guys and hired myself one. It came with four wooden beach chairs, three of which remained vacant for the duration of my lease. But then I did have the Sunday paper, El Tiempo, and the Caribbean Sea for company. And of course, there was the never ending stream of food and drink vendors.

After a couple of hours I had exhausted the newspaper and it was getting uncomfortably hot. So I looked out for the Rastaferia and headed back to Rodadero.

That afternoon I decided to head to Taganga, a small fishing village on the other side of Santa Marta, northeast. After dismissing a couple more taxis I found the Taganga bus (in reality it was more of a van). The trip is probably about 15 minutes, about the same as going to Rodadero. And like the road to Rodadero you have to climb of the headland to reach Taganga. But, once over you get a great view of the little village and its bay. I did not think that the driver would have stopped for a photo, so I did not ask.

The first thing I noticed about Taganga was the number of dive shops. This humble village is probably Colombia's premier scuba diving centre. Taganga is a rough grid of dirt streets, hemmed in by the surrounding hills and the bay. The various craft of the fishing fleet covers much of the beach or sits just off of it (don't get tripped by all of the mooring ropes as you walk the beach!). On this Sunday afternoon the beach was busy and the beach-side, open air restaurants were doing a good business. There were a few people in the water, though I would not have gone in. But, the southwestern end of the beach was full of bodies trying to absorb that last few rays of the day.





Taganga has one hostel that I have heard good things about and has been recommended, La Casa de Felipe. If I ever return I would try to get a bed there if I could.

After my reconnoitering of the beaches in and around Santa Marta I would by far and away recommend Tayrona. I saw just some of its many wonderful beaches. Next I would bring a tent and some mates along or hire a hammock and stay a couple of nights (I have first hand information that the hammocks can get a little chilly at night).
I got back to Santa Marta just in time to catch my last Santa Marta sunset.