After a couple of nights “roughing” it in a hostel, I’d booked us 4 nights at Hotel Boutique Don Pepe in downtown Santa Marta.  (pro tip: the week night rates were significantly cheaper than the weekend rates)  The hotel was incredibly romantic and featured only 12 rooms, each named after a family member of Don Pepe.  There were also not many other guests staying there, so it kind of felt like we were staying in a mansion all by ourselves, complete with an attentive staff, courtyard swimming pool, rooftop cocktails in the hot tub, and multi-course breakfast each morning.  Although Calle 11 was dope, Don Pepe was the height of luxury in comparison.

We dropped our bags in the room and hopped back in the car to head for the mountainous village of Minca.  More on that later. This post is for Santa Marta!

After enjoying the chillier temps in the mountains, we returned for a sunset walk along the waterfront in Santa Marta.  The water is lined with a number of touristy restaurants and shops, and though there are street vendors who may hassle you, the sunset was beautiful.

Just a few blocks inland is a stretch of cobblestone roads that are pedestrian only and filled with hip restaurants, street performers and bustling locals. String lights zig zagged over the corridors and full grown trees sprouted up in the most unlikely places. Narrow alleys turned into giant plazas filled with fountains, statues, and bistro tables.  It almost felt like we were back in the pintxo bar district of San Sebastian, Spain!

Restaurant Ouzo had come highly recommended and was split into two restaurants in one building – the upstairs had a slightly more high-end romantic vibe with small plates and refined entrees, while the downstairs was more casual and served pizza and a Greek inspired menu . I’d reserved a table upstairs and it did not disappoint.  Halfway through a delicious meal, we spotted our friends from the hostel, who’d come into downtown Santa Marta for the night.  We also ended up chatting with the couple at the table behind us, who turned out to be honeymooners also staying at Don Pepe.  Our meal at Ouzo was so fantastic that we ended up coming back 2 nights later for dinner downstairs, where we feasted on a prosciutto arugula pizza and a “Greek paella” brimming with juicy shrimp and creamy feta.  After dinner one night, we ventured into Crabs Bar, a rock’n’roll themed dive bar that had strong drinks, a rad soundtrack paired with music videos, and vintage rock n roll paraphernalia covering the walls.  There was also an assortment of sunglasses left on the bar, which afforded us many a selfie.

On our third night, we wound up having dinner at surf themed restaurant Soul Food with the honeymooning couple staying in our hotel.  They were great company (always nice to speak English with someone other than ourselves!) and the food was delicious, hugely portioned, and affordable. On our last morning in town, we also had breakfast with them at the delicious and healthy Lulo Cafe (as well as several breakfast run-ins at the hotel!)  Santa Marta itself is not a city I would want to spend a ton of time in, but it was the perfect segue into two other areas we were excited to visit – Minca and Tayrona National Park.  And I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food and nightlife, not to mention our gorgeous hotel.

Must Dos:  Restaurante Ouzo, Hotel Boutique Don Pepe, Crabs Bar, Soul Food, Lulo Cafe

Pros:  Santa Marta is walkable and also drivable!  All street signs are labeled with arrows to indicate if they are one way or two way and the street lights ingeniously count down the seconds to let you know when they’re going to change

Cons:  Traffic can be intense, and the city itself is not especially beautiful outside a few blocks near the water.  There is some good street art, and the areas close to the waterfront are nice.