minca, co
Minca surprised me, a lot. I loved Minca and I wished that I had more than a few days to spend there. Its Colombia’s hippy jungle paradise village. Most countries have one and Minca is Colombias'. I imagine in the coming years people are going to start visiting Minca a whole hell of a lot more than they already are. It has that ‘writing on the wall’ vibe to it right now. It’s a lush jungle town located up in the mountains outside of Santa Marta. About 600 meters, or 2,000 feet above sea level. You reach the small town by going up windy jungle roads until arriving at a quaint and tiny town 100% walkable and welcoming. Here in town, you have great restaurants, cafes, there’s a few bars, lovely hostels with some of the best sunset views you can find in the country, really nice and friendly locals, and enough nature related activities to keep you busy for a few days. Most people when coming up to Minca stay for a few days. See the waterfalls and fill their days that way. I think that is an important thing to do here, the waterfalls are cool and the nature is fun to go see. But I felt that Minca had this very relaxing vibe to it. So my favorite thing to do in Minca was actually to sit there and just do nothing. Enjoy some time in the jungle and disconnect from it all. Especially if you are coming from crowded and busy Cartagena, some chill time in Minca might be exactly what you want. All said and done this is a place that should be on every backpackers list for Colombia, and especially the northern coastline.
Minca is located up in the jungle about a 45 minute drive up hill from Santa Marta. For being a small town thats tucked up in the jungle its actually not that difficult to get to and once you get here its super easy to get around.
The first thing you need to do if you plan on traveling by bus is to get to Santa Marta. From there you can catch a bus up to Minca from the Public Market which is where the majority of the public transport from Santa Marta is going to originate. There is a bus from there that will go up to Minca and it will cost you less than 15k COP (~$4). The ride will take about 45 minutes and drop you right in town.
Additionally if your budget is larger and you prefer more comfort, taxi or private car from Santa Marta is going to be about 50k COP or more.
If you are driving yourself it's pretty straightforward, follow the maps they are correct. Its windy and steep up and the reverse on the way down. Road gets narrow at times and the busses go fast. If you have been driving around here for a while thats nothing new, but if you rented a car or something then keep your head on a swivel.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
It's a really quickly growing town and that means that there are hotels and hostels popping up. For now though there are some really good ones that exist. Some are more popular than others and there are even some ultra luxury spots up here that will run you north of hundreds of USD's per night. To me, up here, thats not worth it. You can get come pretty damn cool accomodation and get nowhere near that.
One thing though is that some of the hostels are amazing and up in the jungle, but way out of town. Be careful to book something near town if you want to be walkable to town.
Theres a lot of really cool jungle hut vibe stuff going on here so especially if you are traveling with a partner thats a cool romantic thing to do.
This is probably the best option to stay from a hostel perspective in Minca. Its also going to be the most social place in town. Its where everyone and their mother gathers for sunset and the view is stunning. The accomodation is super cheap, only $10 a night but its going to be basic.
This property is about a 10 minute walk up up the hill and by the time you get up there, at least by the time i got up there, I was sweating and very unmotivated to walk down to town. Social, beautiful and cheap though.
This place isn't really in Minca. It's quite a trek to get there but the property is really really beautiful. Its super hard to get to but all the directions are on their website or on hostelworld. I have heard it is 100% worth it, but this really isn't Minca.
Basic and cheap spot nestled in the jungle a short walk from town. Really popular one with backpackers.
Also kind of outside of town but a friend of mine stayed here and said it was the best hostel he has ever stayed at. Its not as out of the way as Carpe Diem but you are still about 25 minutes from Minca town. Theres a lot of places like this. A good option for remote and beautiful.
If you want to be right in town then this is probably the coolest option. Its an extremely nice hostel with a pool and new clean dorms. The shortest walk to town of anything listed here. Not that expensive at $15 a night but not cheap like some of the others.
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I stayed here for a few nights. They have these awesome little bungalows that are built up into the jungle. You have your own massive trampoline hammock in your two story little cabin for $20 a night. It was perfect for me and really chill. Not far from Casa Loma to go and socialize either.
EATS
The food up here is pretty good. Its started to internationalize as there are a lot of expats spending more time here so you will be able to find a lot of different types of food all over the place.
It all feels authentic, home made and pretty natural so I would say that the options to eat here are pretty damn good.
Restaurants
Healthy food spot with an absolutely bomb veggie sandwich for like $4 and its huge. Really recommend this spot. You'll walk out full and feeling healthy.
Little shawarma and falafel spot with a sweet spot in my heart. Good food, good price.
Good italian spot.
Some of the best and certainly most popular local food in the whole town.
A trendy and well designed Mexican spot in the heart of town. Its got good vibes and the food is pretty good.
Awesome French bakery thats usually packed with folks in the morning grabbing breakfast and coffee.
Sushi spot in town if you are feeling asian.
Cute little local spot. Good and cheap breakfasts. Thats what I came for.
Restaurant, cafe, and cozy little spot that has pretty good food.
NIGHTLIFE
Minca isn't really much of a nightlife town. None of these mountain-hippy towns really are. Theres a few little bars in town that you can pop into for some beers but its going to be very local.
You don't come up here for the nightlife scene, although the sunset scene is really nice. I am sure they have had jungle raves up here before but there was none of that going on when I as around.
Bars and Clubs
Even if you arent staying up here come up here for the sunset and have drinks. The rooftop turns into a party some nights as well. But this is the most social place in town every night with good and most of the time live music as the sun sets.
Little restaurant and cafe that will also double as a bar. Nothing to write home about but a place worth checking out if you are looking for some beers.
Mexican Restaurant that can double as a bar.
SIGHTS
Minca is a really beautiful place. Theres lots of stunning nature to look at and all that but the list of things to do isn't necessarily endless. Theres a handful of waterfalls, a few hikes and thats really all you need to do in Minca to make your inner bucket list tourist happy.
For me, one of the best things up here was to just chill. Listen to the sounds of the jungle and relax.
This was my favorite thing that I did in Minca. Its a beautiful waterfall thats really easily accessible. You can either walk for about an hour down a dirt path or take one of the motorcycle taxis for a few $'s to the entrance to the waterfall facility and walk up for a few minutes. Theres two waterfalls to check out and a nice pool to swim in.
I though this place was just alright, if I would have to choose one it would be Marinka but if you want to do it all this is the other waterfall in Minca. Its either a pretty long walk up a paved road to then go down a dirt road or a moto taxi all the way there. This place is a lagoon which is good for swimming and just hanging out. Will usually be pretty full of people. Especially in the afternoon.
COFFEE FARM TOUR
Theres coffee farm tours realistically all throughout Colombia. They have them here. If you are looking for something to do then going on a coffee tour up here could be a good idea.
BIRD WATCHING TOUR
The nature is stunning and with that comes the animalistic biodiversity. One of the biggest things that they push up here is the birdwatching tours. If that's something that interests you I hear that there are some great birds up here. I elected to just lay in a hammock.
Theres a lot of different places to come for sunset. I would say getting up in the jungle for a sunset is a must up here its pretty wild. The closest to town and most convenient being Casa Loma. But other standouts include Sierra Minca and Vista Verda.
CHECK OUT NIGHTLY FUTBOL
Every night the kids in the town come down to the dirt pitch and play a game of futbol. It was my favorite evening activity that I did there outside of the sunsets.
SURFING
There is practically no surfing in the entire country of Colombia. For the most part this section will be blank.