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Digital Nomad FAQ’s
How is the internet connectivity and speed in Santa Marta?
Okay, disclaimer we were in Santa Marta after a pretty nasty storm that impacted their electricity so I think that had a part of it. See a breakdown of all wifi speeds here.
Is it easy to meet people and make friends in Santa Marta?
We stayed in a hostel majority of our time there, the hostel was really intentional of hosting gatherings and parties. Although, the crowd is a bit younger- I would say yes, it’s easy to make friends. Here’s more about making friends while traveling.
How much should I budget for a month in Santa Marta?
I recommend $1,400-$1,600. Santa Marta has a pretty wide range of expensive restaurants and activities to more affordable.. See a breakdown of prices for common digital nomad stuff here.
Are there lots of places to work from in Santa Marta ?
Yes! They had a bunch of cafes and a couple solid coworks. More details on this below.
Visitor / Working Visas
Colombia offers a 90 day tourist visa for many nationalities which can be extended up to 180 days total. This covers most short-term digital nomad trips.
For longer stays, many digital nomads apply for the 1-year Colombia M visa. This allows you to stay in Colombia without the need to do visa runs.
To get the M visa, you need to provide proof of minimum monthly income of around $700 as well as health insurance and other documents. The process can take 2-4 weeks.
Colombia doesn’t have a specific digital nomad visa, but the M visa is the closest option. Other visas like inversionista or resident visas have higher income requirements.
For remote work, you are allowed to work for foreign companies or clients while on a M visa. But you aren’t allowed to work for Colombian companies or get paid locally.
An important restriction is that you can’t spend more than 180 total days per year in Colombia on a M visa. So it requires planning 1-2 international trips per year.
Extensions for M visa are allowed, but after 3 years you may need to change visa type or leave the country for a few months before reapplying.
Cost Of Living / Traveling Through
- 🧍Avg. Cost Of Living (For Single Adult) -$900-$1,200 per month
- 🏨 Avg. Price Per Night For Hotel Room (near city center) -$30-$60, I pretty much only use Booking for hotel accommodations
- 🏩 Avg. Price Per Night For Hostel Dorm Room (near city center) -$10-$15, I personally recommend Coliving for killer deals!
- 🏡 Avg. Price for apartments (near city center) -$350-$600 for 1 bedroom
- ☕️ Latte -Average cost is $2
- 🍺 – .5 Liter Beer -Average cost is $1.50
- 🏋️♀️ – Monthly Gym Membership -$20
- 🚊 – Local Transport – Avg. One Way Ticket Price -Avg. One Way Ticket Price – $1
- 🍝 Avg. Dinner Price -$5-$10, they do have a wide variety of upscale to affordable options, depending on your mood
- 📱 – Avg. Data Plan Per Month -$35 for 5GB, Airalo is the only ESIM company I use.
- 🏢 – Avg. Cowork Per Month (near city center) -$210-$220
Wifi Speed Tests
Read my guide to getting fast wifi anywhere in the world here
Co-Lives & Where I Stayed
A Map Of The Places I Stayed & Recommend
viajero santa marta
- OVERALL – 4/5
- Affordability – 5/5 – super affordable, at the time of writing this, it’s ~$11 for a shared dorm room & ~$40 for a private room
- Wifi – 4.5/5 – The wifi is plenty fast enough for video calls
- Avg. Download Speed = 91.6 MBPS
- Avg. Upload Speed = 84.9 MBPS
- Avg. Latency = 31 MS
- Sense Of Community – 4/5 – There’s a pretty killer rooftop pool and bar, seems to be the hangout spot, there are events going on daily too
- Location – 3.5/5 – Look at the price man, you can’t get a killer deal like that in the coolest spot of Santa Marta. However, it’s about 10 – 15 minute walk to the coolest spots.
- Amenities (Kitchen, Pool, etc.) – 3/5 – Does not have a shared kitchen, which sucks. But the rooftop pool is pretty bad ass!
- Cleanliness – 4.5/5 – Everything was quite clean during our stay!
Places To Stay – Honorable Mentions
This is a section where I’ll add hotels / places to stay at that I either didn’t stay at, or had a flaw
Comunidad Calle 13 Hotel Boutique
- These guys have some pretty solid reviews on Booking, there are a ton of mentions of how kick ass the amenities are and how friendly the staff is. Add bonus, it looks like it within walking distance to the beach!
BOOK COMMUNIDAD CALLE 13 HOTEL BOUTIQUE HERE
Hotel Boutique Maree
- I think the picture sells it’s self here…. Look at those clouds man! Located in the heart of Santa Marta, this place also has some really solid reviews. None the less, being able to catch a sunset up there would be worth it!
BOOK A NIGHT AT HOTEL BOUTIQUE MAREE
Mantra Hotel Boutique
- This actually ranked really well on Booking, furthermore for couples. So if you are traveling with a partner- this may be your spot. Looks like they have really good amenities and the location is sweet!
BOOK A NIGHT AT mantra HOTEL BOUTIQUE
Co-Works & My Favorite Places To Work From
flamingo coworking
- OVERALL – 4/5 – This cowork reminds me a lot of the Hawaiin shirt I wore that caused me to become a digital nomad in the first place (read more about my story here). It’s vibrant, tacky and absolutely wonderful! I did have some issues with the wifi though.
- Wifi – 3.5/5 – The wifi did have pretty high packet loss, and I had a couple interruptions while working here, if you’re not on super important video calls you’ll be alright though.
- Download Speed = 70.5 MBPS*
- Upload Speed = 68.1 MBPS
- Packet Loss = 15.3%
- Avg. Latency = 39 MS
- *Not sure what these metrics mean? Read my guide to getting fast wifi here.
- Service & Friendliness – 5/5 – The staff was attentive and friendly
- Amount Of Outlets – 5/5– Plenty of outlets
- Amenities (Places to take calls, etc.) – 3.5/5 – There was only one private room available for calls, so lacking a bit in that department
vivolo cafe
- OVERALL – 4/5 – Killer spot, really high quality cafe – and even a coffee tasting! Although I do have to admit – this place could be anywhere in the world – it feels a lot like a high quality coffee spot I could find back in the US.
- Wifi – 4/5 – The packet loss is lower than Flamingo, but still quite high
- Packet Loss = 10.94%
- Download Speed = 85.2 MBPS*
- Upload Speed = 89.9 MBPS
- Avg. Latency = 26 MS
- *Not sure what these metrics mean? Read my guide to getting fast wifi here.
- Service & Friendliness – 5/5 – The staff was super attentive and friendly.
- Amount Of Outlets – 3/5– There are some outlets around, but not a ton.
- Amenities (Places to take calls, etc.) – 2/5 – this cafe has standing areas too, it’s built more for coworking than Ikaro for example.
ikaro cafe
- OVERALL – 4/5 – Super chill vibes, it is a bit busier – so during peak hours, maybe not a good idea to hang out too long on the labtop.
- Wifi – 3/5 – The wifi definitely isn’t fast enough to have any video calls, but I was able to do everything else without any issues.
- Download Speed = 17.3 MBPS*
- Upload Speed = 20.1 MBPS
- Avg. Latency = 38 MS
- *Not sure what these metrics mean? Read my guide to getting fast wifi here.
- Service & Friendliness – 5/5 – The staff was super attentive and friendly, while they do have some tables that are off limits for co-working they were super cool with us coworking from there.
- Amount Of Outlets – 3/5– There are definitely some outlets around, but not a ton.
- Amenities (Places to take calls, etc.) – 1/5 – this is a cafe first, not a cowork style spot. Personally, I prefer it like that, but it’s not a cowork first sort of spot.
Finding Community / Making Friends
Interested In Building Community As A Nomad? I interviewed 9 other digital nomads to come up with a complete digital nomad guide to building community, check it out!
Making friends in Santa Marta could be fairly easy due to the amount of digital nomads that are there. Similar to how a lot of people in Colombia are, they were friendly and charismatic.
From the locals to the people who were visiting, it was easy to talk to them. As mentioned previously as well, where we stayed at had a ton of events!
Transportation
- We booked a flight from Medellin to Santa Marta
- Based on what time of the year you book it, you can find a good deal.
- We got a rental car from the Santa Marta airport
- Compared to when I usually get rental cards in Colombia, this process was actually super smooth from the airport. To see the most of the coast, we opt’ed into getting a rental car but if you wanted to just stay in Santa Marta there are a lot of Uber/taxi’s available
- Plus, because this is a big tourist area- there are a lot of excursions and things to do while in the city so if you don’t want to get a rental car- don’t worry you will have plenty to do in the city
What I Drank / Nightlife
While I was here, I really didn’t go out and drink very much.. I was a bit more interested in the food scene but here are a couple recommendations:
Historic Center
There was a lot to do in their historic center, this is kind of like their downtown
- There was all kind of restaurants, bars, ice cream shops- really you name it you could find it walking around this area. Super lively and fun area to walk around at night.
La Puerta
- Very popular. Mix of locals & tourists.
- Great place for dancing, especially reggaeton, champeta, Latin rhythms.
- Roughly in the center / doesn’t get too upscale, fun atmosphere.
Exercise / Outdoors
Swimming
- We were right next to the ocean, so if you’re into swimming theres a great opportunity to swim in the ocean
- Snorkeling or scuba diving
- My sister went snorkeling and had zero experience. You show up, watch a 30 minute video (in your native language) then you’re out in the water!
Tayrona National Park
- This was most definetly a highlight of the trip! There were wild monkeys that you walked under while they jumped through the trees
- You will have to get a ride to the park, about a 30-45 minute ride
- While we were there, a lot of buses with tourists were also there so it should be easy booking a bus ticket to go
- Speaking transparently, if you do decide to drive yourself be prepared to have to negotiate with the locals. They tried to get us to pay them to drive us into the park rather than taking our car
- Make sure to bring bug spray though, those heckers are brutal
GYMS
- Although I didn’t go to a gym while I was there, according to Google there are 90 different gyms in Santa Marta
- The town is plenty walkable enough as well, so you’ll for sure get your steps in. It’s a neat town to walk around and pretty vibrant
Want to stay fit & eat healthy while traveling? Check out my guide to diet fitness while traveling here!
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