Santa Marta Tours and La Guajira Tours

Day trips from Santa Marta cost COP 215,000 per person to Minca, COP 223,000 to Cabo San Juan, COP 280,000 to Playa Gairaca and COP 200,000 to Playa Cristal; for Cabo San Juan and Playa Cristal, that is the foreign-visitor rate. The Ciudad Perdida trek costs COP 2,200,000 in 3 days, COP 1,860,000 in 4 and COP 2,150,000 in 5, with meals, camp lodging and the archaeological park entrance included.

From Santa Marta you can do the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) trek in 3, 4 or 5 days, the Minca day tour, with waterfalls and a coffee farm, and three day tours to Tayrona National Park: Cabo San Juan, on foot from Cañaveral; Playa Gairaca, with snorkeling and lunch; and Playa Cristal, by boat from Neguanje. Expotur Eco operates all seven, and Punta Gallinas Tours sells them.

With one day, choose Minca for waterfalls and coffee in the mountains, or Tayrona National Park: Cabo San Juan if you want to hike about 4 hours in total, and Playa Gairaca or Playa Cristal if you would rather spend the day on the beach. With 3 to 5 days, the Ciudad Perdida trek. If you are continuing to La Guajira, those tours leave Riohacha at 8:30 a.m.

The seven tours operated by Expotur Eco leave from Santa Marta: Ciudad Perdida in 3, 4 and 5 days, Minca, Cabo San Juan, Playa Gairaca and Playa Cristal, picking you up at your lodging or leaving from its office, depending on the tour. The three La Guajira tours leave Riohacha at 8:30 a.m.: Cabo de la Vela 2 days and Punta Gallinas 3 and 4 days.

The three La Guajira tours are private: only your group rides in the 4×4, and the price per person depends on how many travelers are in the booking, from 1 to 6 or more. The seven tours from Santa Marta are group tours, with other travelers and a fixed price per person. The 3-day Ciudad Perdida trek and Playa Gairaca are booked for 2 or more travelers; the rest, from 1.

7% of the total, on any of the 10 tours. The balance is paid before or at the start of the tour in La Guajira, on the day of the tour for Ciudad Perdida, by the day before at the latest for Minca, Cabo San Juan and Playa Cristal, and before the tour starts for Playa Gairaca. If you cancel before 5:00 p.m. on the business day before departure, there is no penalty.

Expotur Eco operates them, and Punta Gallinas Tours sells them. Expotur Eco is an agency with its main office in Santa Marta's historic center (Carrera 3 #17-27, Edificio Rex, Local 3), and it arranges the transport and guides for each tour and, on the Ciudad Perdida trek, the camp lodging and meals as well. The La Guajira tours leave from Riohacha with driver-guides from the region.

For groups of 6 or more, a La Guajira tour with Punta Gallinas Tours costs from COP 409,500 per person for Cabo de la Vela in 2 days, COP 900,000 for Punta Gallinas in 3 days and COP 955,500 for the 4-day tour. Smaller groups pay more per person: for 2 travelers, it is COP 803,250 to COP 1,874,250 per person, depending on the tour.

Private. On a Punta Gallinas Tours trip to La Guajira, the price per person depends on how many travelers are in the booking, from 1 to 6 or more, and only your group rides in the 4×4 with the driver-guide. That is why the price per person drops as the group grows; each tour page shows the total for your group once you pick a date.

Not to La Guajira: our La Guajira tours leave from Riohacha at 8:30 a.m.; only our Ciudad Perdida, Minca and Tayrona National Park tours leave from Santa Marta. From Santa Marta or Palomino you first travel to Riohacha by road, ideally the day before the tour. Our Santa Marta to La Guajira guide explains how to make that trip and how many days to plan for the whole route.

The 2-day tour goes only as far as Cabo de la Vela and returns to Riohacha on day 2. The 3- and 4-day tours reach Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of mainland South America. The 4-day tour adds a second night in Punta Gallinas and the sunset at Punta Agujas, and returns on day 4 after breakfast.

Yes, if you want desert and sea on one trip and can live with basic logistics. On a tour you climb the Pilón de Azúcar, watch the sunset from the Cabo de la Vela lighthouse and, in 3 or 4 days, reach the Taroa dunes and the Punta Gallinas lighthouse. Beyond Uribia the route runs on desert tracks, you sleep in hammocks and you pay in cash.

A day tour to Tayrona National Park costs COP 200,000 per person to Playa Cristal, COP 223,000 to Cabo San Juan and COP 280,000 to Playa Gairaca, with the park entrance fee included. For Playa Cristal and Cabo San Juan these are foreign-visitor rates: Expotur Eco publishes COP 160,000 and COP 163,000 for Colombians. The Playa Gairaca tour also includes lunch, a beach tent and snorkeling.

January to March, the months with the least rain in Santa Marta, according to IDEAM; the wettest are September, October and November. Keep the park closures in mind (February 1 to 15, June 1 to 15 and October 19 to November 2), and remember that in high season, which includes December, January, June and July, the entrance fee costs more.

Choose Cabo San Juan if you want to hike: about 4 hours in total through the forest and along the beach, with a natural pool for swimming when you arrive. Choose Playa Gairaca for a beach day with lunch, a tent and snorkeling included, on a beach with a capacity of 115 people a day. Choose Playa Cristal to arrive by boat and swim.

Bring your passport or ID, because your rate depends on it, and your yellow fever vaccination card. Pets, speakers, single-use plastics, liquor and drones without a permit are not allowed, and there is an induction talk and registration before you enter. Beaches flying a red flag are closed to swimming. On the tours, the entrance fee is already paid.

It depends on the beach. To Cabo San Juan del Guía it is about 2 hours each way from Cañaveral, past Arrecifes, Arenilla and La Piscina, and back on the same trail. Playa Cristal is reached on a boat ride of about 15 minutes from Playa Neguanje. On the Playa Gairaca tour, it is about 40 minutes from the Palangana checkpoint to the beach.

A Lost City trek costs COP 1,860,000 per person for 4 days, COP 2,150,000 for 5 days and COP 2,200,000 for 3 days. All three include 4×4 transport from Santa Marta, every meal on the trek, the camps, the guide, insurance and entry to the Teyuna Archaeological Park, which costs COP 75,000 in 2026. The price is the same whatever the size of your group.

The Lost City trek takes 3 to 5 days: there is no road to Ciudad Perdida, and the trail from El Mamey is hiked in and out. According to ICANH, the way in usually takes two or three days of 5 to 10 km. On the 3-day trek you arrive on day 2, hiking 7 to 9 hours a day; on the 4- and 5-day treks you arrive on day 3, with more time to rest.

It depends on your time and your fitness. The 4-day trek spreads the trail over days of 6 to 8 hours and is the least expensive. The 3-day trek covers the same route with days of 7 to 9 hours and a 4:30 a.m. start, for experienced hikers. The 5-day trek has the most relaxed pace and adds the waterfall route on day 4.

The best time to do the Lost City trek is the dry season, from January to late March; July and August are usually dry too, according to ICANH. The rains run from April to late June and, more heavily, from mid-September to late December. On top of that, the Lost City trek is temporarily closed from September 28 to October 15, 2026.

Yes: the Minca tour takes one day, leaving Santa Marta at 8:30 a.m. and returning around 5:30 p.m., with a hike to the Cascadas Perdidas, a traditional lunch and a coffee farm, for COP 215,000 per person. Ciudad Perdida, on the other hand, can't be done in a day: you only get there by hiking through the jungle for several days.

On the Lost City treks, the fee you pay is entry to the Teyuna Archaeological Park: COP 75,000 per person in 2026, a single rate. ICANH only sells it to operators with a valid National Tourism Registry, so the operator buys it, and on the three Expotur Eco treks sold by Punta Gallinas Tours it is already included in the price.

UNESCO declared the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta a Biosphere Reserve in 1979, and in 2022 it inscribed the knowledge system of its four Indigenous peoples on the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On its northern face lies Teyuna, the Lost City, with more than 200 Tairona structures spread over about 33 hectares, which can only be reached on foot.

It depends on which part of the Sierra you visit: Minca is 20 km from Santa Marta, about 45 minutes by car. The start of the Lost City trek, in El Mamey, is about two and a half hours away by 4×4 along the Troncal del Caribe highway and a dirt road; on the 3-day trek it is about 3 hours by 4×4 plus 1 more hour by motorcycle to the trail.