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New Year in Santa Marta: Fireworks and Parties on the Caribbean Sea
Practical guide to celebrate New Year's Eve in Santa Marta, with beach fireworks, parties at El Rodadero, and updated tips to enjoy the magical night.


Festivals in El Rodadero
Your local guide to discovering the best of the area.
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History & HeritageReal Budget for Traveling to Santa Marta: How Much Do Parque Tayrona, Minca and Taganga Cost in 2026
Santa Marta is the oldest city in Colombia: founded in 1525, it has spent five centuries watching travelers pass through its bay. That status as a historic port
History & HeritageSanta Marta during Fiestas del Mar and Festival de Teatro del Caribe: How Much Does It Cost to Travel During Event
Santa Marta has two dates that split the calendar in two: the Fiestas del Mar, traditionally celebrated at the end of July, and the Festival de Teatro del Carib
MusicFiesta del Mar in Santa Marta: Complete Guide to Dates, Concerts and Events to Celebrate 501 Years
Santa Marta turns 501 years old in 2026 and the city celebrates it with the Fiesta del Mar, the date that samarios wait for all year long. It is not just any fe
Art & CultureThe trades that sustain the Centro Histórico: tailors, shoemakers and locksmiths who have spent decades on the same
Before the Centro Histórico of Santa Marta became a corridor of boutique hotels and cafés for photos, its streets already smelled of shoe polish, cotton thread
Art & CultureThe cemetery as archive: what the headstones of Cementerio San Miguel tell us about the Santa Marta that was
There is a headstone in Cementerio San Miguel that reads, simply, "Here lies a samario". No name, no dates, no trade. Every time I pass by it I think that this
History & HeritageStreets of Gaira: A Tour Through Its Vibrant Urban Art
Gaira is not just a pass-through on the way to the airport or an appendage of el Rodadero. This township has a vibrant identity, with its long beach and bahareq
Art & CultureThe sound you can't see: how a tambora is tuned in the patios of Mamatoco before the Parranda
A tambora isn't bought tuned. It's tuned. And that verb, which sounds technical, in Mamatoco is almost a household ritual: someone tightens the skin, another li
History & HeritageThe water map in Santa Marta's neighborhoods: tanks, cisterns and water trucks that organize daily life
In Santa Marta the sea is there, omnipresent, but the water that truly organizes a neighborhood's life is the water that comes —or doesn't come— out of the tap.
History & HeritageSanta Marta by bus: the real guide to the urban routes samarios use to get to work (no apps, no taxis)
In Santa Marta the urban bus doesn't run on an app, a card, or schedules published online. It runs on memory, on a raised hand, and on the driver shouting the d
Art & CultureFront-Porch Culture: How Public Space Is Lived in the Neighborhoods of Santa Marta (and What a Visitor Learns)
Santa Marta has two speeds. One is that of the Centro Histórico and El Rodadero, where the tourist walks with a camera around their neck. The other is that of n
Art & CultureThe library that smells of salt: what is read and who writes in Santa Marta beyond the beach
There is a scene that repeats itself every afternoon in the historic center of Santa Marta: someone sits on the steps of the Plaza de la Catedral with a book in
NightlifeThe Port's Night Shift: How Dawn Is Lived in the Market and the Port Area of Santa Marta
There is an hour in Santa Marta when the heat finally lets up. It is not the midnight of Zona T or the one in the morning of Parque de los Novios. It is later,