Minca Tour: Waterfalls, Coffee Farm and Lunch
The Minca tour leaves the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta at 8:30 a.m. and returns around 5:30 p.m. It includes a hike of about 2 hours round trip to the Cascadas Perdidas waterfalls, a traditional lunch in a bamboo house and a coffee farm visit with a tasting. It costs COP 215,000 per person.
- Duration
- 1 day
- Departure
- 8:30 a.m., Santa Marta
- Return
- Around 5:30 p.m. on day 1
- Effort
- Easy (1 of 3)No special fitness needed.
Tour code: MN1. Itinerary from https://puntagallinastours.com/en/tour/minca-tour. Printed on October 9, 2026. Check prices and dates on the tour page before booking.
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What you will see
- A hike of about 2 hours round trip to the Cascadas Perdidas, with time for a swim
- Traditional lunch in a bamboo house
- Coffee farm: growing, harvest, artisanal roasting and a tasting
- About 45 minutes by car from Santa Marta
- A full day, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1
Cascadas Perdidas, lunch and a coffee farm in Minca
- 8:30 a.m.Departure from the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta a.m.
- About 45 minutes by car to Minca
- 10:00 a.m.a.m., round-trip hike (about 2 hours) to the Cascadas Perdidas, with a swim
- 1:00 a.m.p.m., traditional lunch in a bamboo house
- 2:30 a.m.p.m., coffee farm: growing, harvest, roasting and tasting
- 4:30 a.m.p.m., departure from Minca
- 5:30 a.m.Back in Santa Marta p.m.
The group meets the guide at Expotur Eco's main office in Santa Marta and leaves at 8:30 a.m. for Minca, a mountain village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, about 45 minutes away by car. At 10:00 a.m. the hike starts along forest trails to the Cascadas Perdidas, where there is time for a swim; the round trip takes about 2 hours.
At 1:00 p.m. lunch is traditional food in a bamboo house. At 2:30 p.m. you walk to a coffee farm, where they explain how the coffee is grown, harvested and roasted by hand, and you finish with a tasting. The return leaves Minca at 4:30 p.m., and you are back in Santa Marta around 5:30 p.m.
Upcoming departures
- Monday, October 12Back the same dayChoose
- Tuesday, October 13Back the same dayChoose
- Wednesday, October 14Back the same dayChoose
- Thursday, October 15Back the same dayChoose
- Friday, October 16Back the same dayChoose
- Saturday, October 17Back the same dayChoose
Dates updated on October 9 at 3:30 PM. The calendar confirms availability and the price for each day.
Another date, a larger group or a custom trip?
What the price includes
Included
- Transport: round-trip transfer between the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta and Minca
- Food: traditional lunch
- Guide: local guide
- Coffee farm: visit with a tasting
- Insurance: travel insurance for accidents or illness during the tour (transfer to a medical center, care and medication)
Not included
- Hotel pickup (the meeting point is the Expotur Eco office)
- Drinks and personal purchases
Trip details
- Tour code
- MN1Quote it on WhatsApp or by phone.
- Group
- Group tour (not private)From 1 to 50 people per booking.
- Effort
- Easy (1 of 3)No special fitness needed.
- Insurance
- Included in the price
Is this tour right for you?
The Minca tour is for travelers with a free day in Santa Marta who want to leave the coastal heat for the mountains, with a short hike, a swim at a waterfall and Sierra Nevada coffee, without arranging transport or lunch themselves.
The hike to the Cascadas Perdidas takes about 2 hours round trip on forest trails: it calls for closed-toe shoes and some fitness, but no mountain experience. Bring at least 2 liters of water.
The guides are from the region. It is a group tour that leaves from the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta's historic center.
What to bring
- Comfortable clothes and closed-toe walking shoes
- Swimsuit, ideally worn under your clothes
- Insect repellent and sunscreen
- At least 2 liters of water
- ID or a copy
- Cash
Meeting point
Departure
Expotur Eco's main office: Carrera 3 #17-27, Edificio Rex, Local 3, Centro Histórico, Santa Marta. Departure at 8:30 a.m.
Where you sleep and eat
- Meals included
- 1 lunch
More about the tour
What the Minca tour is like
The Minca tour takes you to one of the four rural townships (corregimientos) of the District of Santa Marta, 20 km from the city, according to the Santa Marta mayor's office. Minca sits in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and the weather station that IDEAM, Colombia's institute of hydrology and meteorology, keeps in the village is at 640 meters (2,100 feet). On the tour, the drive from the Expotur Eco office takes about 45 minutes. The day covers what people come to Minca for: mountain water, regional food and Sierra Nevada coffee.
The hike to the Cascadas Perdidas
At 10:00 a.m. the hike starts along forest trails to the Cascadas Perdidas, where the water runs between rocks and there is time for a swim. The round trip takes about 2 hours. It isn't a technical hike, but the trail can be muddy and have loose stones: wear closed-toe shoes with good grip.
Lunch and the coffee farm visit
Lunch is traditional food in a bamboo house. In the afternoon comes the Minca coffee tour: you visit a coffee farm, where they explain how the coffee is grown, harvested and roasted by hand, and you finish with a tasting. The group leaves Minca at 4:30 p.m.
Getting to the meeting point in Santa Marta
The meeting point is Expotur Eco's main office, at Carrera 3 #17-27 in Santa Marta's historic center, at 8:30 a.m. The tour doesn't pick you up at your hotel: make your own way to the office, and the car heads up to Minca from there. You are back in Santa Marta around 5:30 p.m.
If you are heading on to La Guajira afterward, the Santa Marta to La Guajira guide explains the road trip to Riohacha.
What to bring and how to prepare
- For the hike: comfortable clothes and closed-toe shoes.
- For the waterfall: your swimsuit, worn under your clothes.
- Water: at least 2 liters for the day, as Expotur Eco recommends.
- Protection: insect repellent and sunscreen.
- Documents and money: your ID or a copy, and cash for your purchases.
Expotur Eco recommends getting the yellow fever vaccine as a precaution: Santa Marta, whose district includes Minca, is listed as a high-risk municipality for yellow fever in the Ministry of Health classification of March 31, 2026. The vaccine is free in Colombia, and the Ministry of Health asks travelers to get it at least 10 days before the trip.
Weather and the best time to visit Minca
Minca gets much more rain than Santa Marta: about 2,132 mm a year, compared with 562 mm in the city, according to the IDEAM 1991–2020 climate normals. The driest months are January to March, and the wettest, September and October. In the rainy season the trail to the waterfall is muddier: wear shoes with good grip and bring a bag to keep your phone dry.
More tours from Santa Marta
If you have more days in the Sierra Nevada, the 4-day Lost City trek leaves from Santa Marta and reaches Teyuna on day 3; it is listed with Minca on our Sierra Nevada tours page. For a beach day in Tayrona National Park, the Playa Cristal tour includes a boat ride from Playa Neguanje.
To plan more days in the village, read our Minca guide. And if your trip continues north, the Punta Gallinas tour 3 days leaves Riohacha at 8:30 a.m.
Places on the route
Region: Santa Marta
Policies
Booking and deposit
Book with 7% of the total.
You book with 7% of the total and pay the rest by the day before the tour at the latest.
Cancellations and changes
No penalty if you cancel or change until 5:00 p.m. (Colombia time) on the business day before departure; after that, a 20% penalty on the total. No refund once the tour has started.
Confirmation
After the deposit is paid the booking is 'pending confirmation' and an advisor confirms it within 12 hours at most.
Not quite what you need?
More people than the tour allows, a closed date, a custom itinerary or a company or school group: write to us and we will reply by email.
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Traveler reviews
Reviews from travelers who booked on this site. We publish them as written, low ratings included.
The Tripadvisor ones are reviews of Expotur Eco, the operator of this tour, posted on its profile.
5 out of 5
Thank you for an amazing Experience. Before booking the communication via WhatsApp was very easy and super fast. Also I just booked the tour one day in advance and they picked me up in Minca free of charge. Going back to Minca, they dropped me of at the bus station. During the hike, the staff was helpful and friendly all the time and they were creating a really good vibe. Thank you Ida, Isi and Joshua for making this experience so…
lea vJul 27, 2024
4.9 out of 5 on Tripadvisor6,458 reviews
Rating of Expotur Eco, the operator, on Tripadvisor. Figures as of October 7, 2026.
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Verified reviews
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Questions about the 1-day tour
How much is the Minca tour from Santa Marta?
The Minca tour costs COP 215,000 per person, taxes included. The price covers the round-trip transfer from the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta, the guide, the hike to the Cascadas Perdidas, the traditional lunch, the coffee farm visit with a tasting and travel insurance. You book with 7% of the total and pay the rest by the day before.
What can you do in Minca in a day?
On a one-day Minca tour you can hike about 2 hours round trip to the Cascadas Perdidas, with time for a swim, have a traditional lunch in a bamboo house and visit a coffee farm, where they explain how the coffee is grown, harvested and roasted by hand and finish with a tasting. The tour leaves at 8:30 a.m. and returns around 5:30 p.m.
What time does the Minca tour leave and return?
The Minca tour leaves at 8:30 a.m. from Expotur Eco's main office in Santa Marta's historic center. The group leaves Minca at 4:30 p.m. and is back in Santa Marta around 5:30 p.m. Arrive a few minutes before departure to meet your guide, because the tour doesn't pick you up at your hotel.
How long is the drive from Santa Marta to Minca?
On the tour, the drive from Santa Marta to Minca takes about 45 minutes by car from the Expotur Eco office in the historic center. Minca is a township (corregimiento) of the District of Santa Marta, 20 km from the city according to the Santa Marta mayor's office, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, so the last stretch climbs a mountain road.
How hard is the hike to the Cascadas Perdidas?
The hike to the Cascadas Perdidas on the Minca tour is short: about 2 hours round trip on forest trails. You don't need mountain experience, but you do need closed-toe shoes with good grip, some fitness and water: Expotur Eco recommends bringing at least 2 liters for the day. After rain, the trail can be muddy.
What does the Minca tour include?
The Minca tour includes the round-trip transfer between the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta and Minca, a local guide, the hike to the Cascadas Perdidas, the traditional lunch, a coffee farm visit with a tasting and travel insurance for accidents or illness during the tour. It doesn't include hotel pickup, drinks or personal purchases.
Does the Minca tour include a coffee farm tour?
Yes. At 2:30 p.m., after lunch, the Minca tour walks to a coffee farm where you learn how the coffee is grown, harvested and roasted by hand, and the visit ends with a tasting. The coffee farm visit and the tasting are included in the price of COP 215,000 per person; drinks and personal purchases are not.
What should I bring on the Minca tour?
For the Minca tour, bring comfortable clothes, closed-toe walking shoes, your swimsuit worn under your clothes, insect repellent, sunscreen, at least 2 liters of water, your ID or a copy and cash for your own purchases, since drinks are not included. In the rainy season, shoes with good grip matter more on the trail to the waterfalls.
Can children join the Minca tour?
Yes. Expotur Eco doesn't publish a minimum age for the Minca tour and says families, couples and solo travelers take it. Keep in mind that the hike to the Cascadas Perdidas takes about 2 hours round trip on forest trails, and that each child pays the per-person rate of COP 215,000.
When is the best time to visit Minca?
The best time to visit Minca is January to March, the driest months according to IDEAM: it hardly rains in Minca then. The wettest months are September and October. Minca gets about 2,132 mm of rain a year, almost four times as much as Santa Marta, so at any time of year wear shoes with good grip for the trail to the Cascadas Perdidas.
How much is the deposit for the Minca tour?
It is 7% of the total. That deposit books the Minca tour, and the rest is paid by the day before departure at the latest, as Expotur Eco requires for its day tours. Your booking is confirmed once an advisor reviews it, and on the day of the tour you meet at the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta.
What is the cancellation policy for the Minca tour?
No penalty if you cancel or change the Minca tour until 5:00 p.m. (Colombia time) on the business day before departure. After that, the penalty is 20% of the total, and there is no refund once the tour has started. If you are booking from another time zone, work out that deadline in Colombia time.
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