Why Expats Choose Santa Marta
Santa Marta is Colombia’s oldest city — founded in 1525, predating even Cartagena — and in many ways its most quietly spectacular. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, rising from sea level to 19,000 feet, creates a visual backdrop unlike anything else in South America. From a single vantage point you can see the Caribbean glittering at your feet and permanent snow on the peaks above. The biodiversity in this range is extraordinary: isolated for millions of years, it houses thousands of species found nowhere else on Earth.
The expat and traveler scene here is different from Medellín’s polished nomad infrastructure. Santa Marta attracts the outdoor-first crowd: divers who base out of Taganga for Caribbean reef dives, trekkers staging for the four-day Ciudad Perdida hike, surfers chasing Pacific swells, and ecotourists heading into Tayrona National Park for the most beautiful beaches in Colombia.
The cost of living is among the lowest of any coastal city in Latin America. For the right type of expat — someone who can live without a WeWork coworking scene and wants nature as the primary backdrop — Santa Marta is a revelation.
Tayrona coast & Sierra Nevada foothills, Santa Marta — Photos via Unsplash
