It is certain that in the world, there are many incredible places with dreamlike landscapes where you can get lost for hours enjoying the views and taking enough pictures to fill the memory of your camera or cell phone. The region where the city of Santa Marta is located is one of those fantastic places where you will find so many different and incredible landscapes that you will not know where to start taking pictures.
At Visit Santa Marta, we are experts in our region, and we want you to remember your trip to this land all your life, that's why we are going to tell you the best places to take unforgettable pictures in Santa Marta.
Located inside the exuberant Tayrona Park, Cabo San Juan del Guía is one of the most astonishing places to take pictures in the region. It is a rocky headland between two small "W" shaped beaches with a barrier of rocks and corals in front of it that acts as a barrier between the open sea and the beach.
To get to the cape, you will have to take a 90-minute walk between the rainforest and the beaches of the park, perfect for taking incredible pictures of different ecosystems and people. At the top of Cabo San Juan, you will find a cabin with a 360° view of the colorful beaches and the green hills of the Sierra Nevada foothills.
On a clear day, you can even take one of the most difficult photos to capture: the view of the sea against a backdrop of snow-capped peaks and tropical weather.
At 2,600 meters above sea level, you will find the incredible Cerro Kennedy along with the San Lorenzo hill, marvelous mountains just 40 kilometers from the urban center of the departmental capital. Due to its height and proximity to the highest peaks of the Sierra, the place offers stunning views of the highest coastal snow-capped peaks in the world.
Due to its privileged location, from Cerro Kennedy you will be able to see the Caribbean Sea, the Tayrona National Park, Santa Marta city, Ciénaga city, Zona Bananera, the ‘Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta’ and Barranquilla.
All of the above, added to the different ecosystems that you can see during the journey to the top and the possibility of doing birdwatching, make Cerro Kennedy a paradise for taking pictures.
If you'd rather have a privileged panoramic view of the city of Santa Marta, the surrounding hills, and the Caribbean Sea, you must visit the viewpoint of Los Pinos in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Unlike the imposing Cerro Kennedy, Los Pino's viewpoint is a place of very easy access since it is located just 11 kilometers from the picturesque town of Minca.
To reach the place, you will have two options more or less the same: by paved road or non-paved road. But don't worry, there are different ways of transportation to get to the viewpoint, and you can choose according to your level of fitness and willingness for adventure:
Walking - Running.
Bicycle tour.
Motorcycle tour.
Car or 4x4 vehicle.
You don't have to go far from the city to find spectacular places to take unforgettable pictures. Right here in the city, you can find great places very close to where you are staying, and the perfect example is the Ziruma Pedestrian Trail.
With a total distance of 3.8 kilometers, the trail runs parallel to the road between Santa Marta and El Rodadero, offering spectacular views of the entire city, the hills of Taganga, and Cerro Kennedy. In addition, being in the middle of the Ziruma and San Fernando hills, it offers the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful landscape and vegetation of semi-desert climate, characterized by shrubs and cacti of different sizes.
The trail is a metal structure with bridges and stations to enjoy the view and outdoor gyms that can be accessed completely free of charge. To get to the place, you only have to get to the Cordova Military Headquarter from Santa Marta or to the Playa Brava restaurant from El Rodadero.
Another unforgettable place to take incredible photos is the road that leads from El Rodadero to the paradisiacal Inca Inca beach. All along the way, you can enjoy fantastic views of El Rodadero, Ziruma Hill, Kennedy Hill, and Inca Inca Inca Bay with its Inca Inca Inca and Calderon beaches.
The road as such is not a trail but an unpaved road, little-traveled by 4x4 vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles. Its approximate distance is 3 kilometers between the beginning of the road and the Inca Inca beach, although you can also take other routes to walk among the hills and reach Calderon Beach, the less visited of the two.
Palomino is a district of Dibulla, a municipality of La Guajira, so it is not officially part of the jurisdiction of Santa Marta. However, due to the short distance from the city and the high connectivity between the two places, Palomino can be considered part of the same region. There are two main rivers in the town: the Palomino and the San Salvador, which we want to recommend as a must-see place to take unforgettable pictures. About 20 minutes from the town, walking along the beach, you will find the mouth of the river that flows down from the snow-capped mountains directly to the Caribbean Sea, and you will have the opportunity to take pictures of the jungle, the sea, and the peaks of the Sierra.
Finally, another great option is to use street art as a backdrop for your photos, and the Historic Center of Santa Marta has amazing murals that you can include in your itinerary. These expressions of local art, are pieces full of color and authenticity, most of them depict local customs, biodiversity, and folklore. They are excellent places for you to take with you on your photography registry.
The easiest one to find is located in Calle 22 and Carrera 1c, a mural that covers the ‘Casa Marina’ a tourist spot near the International Marina on Santa Marta Bay. In addition to the mural that covers the whole facade, there is a colorful address post that has transformed this corner into one of the most instagrammable in Santa Marta. So, there is no excuse to leave the city without taking your picture here before.
As you have seen, Santa Marta can amaze you with its great places shareable on social media. Save this list, or even better, share it with those who you are planning to visit the city.
We can only tell you that we hope you have the best experience in Santa Marta and why not, that you can remember it with spectacular photos.