12/8/2023 0 Comments Scuba diving santa marta colombiaI had three of these in Santa Marta, ranging from COP $9,000 to $15,000 ($3.05 USD to $5.08 USD). You can see why I bought one though…Īnother thing that Santa Marta has a ton of? Menús del día. For a set price at lunchtime, you can get fresh juice, soup, and an entree that’s usually served with rice and a salad. Tamarind balls – the one thing here I absolutely did not like. And occasionally I did. Of course, for good measure I frequently threw in some arepas, and a few doughnuts or croissants filled with arequipe, this area’s version of dulce de leche. Oh my god, SO good! (Yes, I really love chorizo.) All for 68 cents! And in this way, I could eat for less than $5 a day. To my surprise, the young guy manning the stall threw it on the grill for me, sliced it up, asked if I wanted it served with papitas (little potatoes) or yuca, and then piled it all in a styrofoam container, squeezed fresh lime juice over it, and topped it with ketchup and salsa rosada. After I’d tried a few chuzos with chicken, beef, sausage, and hotdogs with no adverse repercussions, I manned up and got the chorizo for dinner. I was able to keep my daily costs down by buying these delicious treats for about $2,000 COP a piece ($0.68 USD). You’ll find a few food options along Santa Marta’s waterfront as well. Diarrhea be damned! These greasy sausages are everywhere, not to mention a huge variety of chuzos, which are like the Colombian version of kabobs: a multitude of street meat, potatoes, and vegetables on sticks.Ī huge concentration of street food right outside the Éxito Santa Marta has a ton of cheap food options! I thought there was a lot of street food in Cartagena, but this city gives it some definite competition. From the moment I rolled into the city, I saw chorizo being grilled all over the town and knew I had to try it. Taganga does have some great nature surrounding it though From a friend and even recent TripAdvisor forums, there appear to be gangs of men who rob tourists should they stumble down the wrong path. After visiting Taganga for a few dives, I can honestly say it is no nicer than Santa Marta (and um, it smells worse). While lots of travelers stay in nearby Taganga for the backpacker scene, I’m really glad I chose to stay in the historic center of Santa Marta in spite of all this. Sometimes I just carried a few pesos on me, because really truly, I don’t want to lose my debit card or cell phone. It gets dark early in Colombia, like around 6:00 PM, so if I was headed out for dinner I’d usually stick to the area around my hostel if I was alone. And one of these robberies happened at 6:00 in the evening. However, what makes it a bit scarier was that neither of them was alone they just got singled out by the guy with the knife. (Yes mom, I purposefully avoided telling you this until I’d left the city.) Neither of them was hurt and neither of them lost much in the way of material possessions. Two travelers I met told me that they’d been robbed at knifepoint in the street. It’s just not the most beautiful city, okay?Īnd yes, there is some crime here that you need to be aware of. Visitors come to Santa Marta to scuba dive, see Tayrona, or as a jumping off point for the nearby fishing village turned backpacker hotspot, Taganga. I also arrived in low season, so there were fewer tourists and less infrastructure catering to tourists. And the streets basically flood every afternoon when the short but heavy rains roll in this time of year. A lot more of the buildings are crumbling or in disrepair. Santa Marta is NOT the nicest city in the world, especially when you’ve just arrived from the pristine and incredibly colorful Cartagena. Almost defiantly, I wanted to see Colombia’s oldest city and I wanted to be located within walking distance to the local food as well as the dive shop I planned to use to get my PADI Open Water certification.īoth of these things turned out to be Santa Marta’s redeeming qualities.Īnd let’s not forget that it’s a port city with a not so bad looking waterfront and harbor. And while most of my newfound friends booked a hostel outside of Santa Marta’s historic city center and closer to nature, I was in town for more than just the amazing Tayrona National Park. I heard this statement or a variation of it no less than three times in Cartagena before I booked my hostel and transportation to the city of Santa Marta.īut yeah, of course I still went. You’ll just have to imagine that sentence spoken in an Australian accent.
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