How to Get From Cartagena to Santa Marta | A Complete Guide

Public bus, shared shuttle or private transfer?

These are the best ways to get from Cartagena to Santa Marta.

Updated October 2024

If you’re travelling the Caribbean coast of Colombia, then there’s a good chance that you’ll have to make the journey from Cartagena to Santa Marta.

The city of Santa Marta sees a lot of visitors, but that’s really due to its strategic location as the access point to many of northern Colombia’s best attractions – such as Tayrona National Park, the natural paradise of Minca, or the famous Lost City Trek, or the most northerly point in South America – rather than the city itself. However, most of us end up spending a night or two there anyway.

For travellers, there are three main options to travel from Cartagena to Santa Marta and we’ve detailed the costs, logistics, and benefits of each below to make things clear and simple for your own journey.

It’s important to note however that both Santa Marta Bus Terminal and Cartagena Bus Terminal are located outside the historic city centres and main traveller hubs. This isn’t a big issue, but does mean that a taxi ride is necessary to/from your hostel. We have also shared costs and tips on the taxi rides below, based on our experiences.

Once you’ve worked out the best option for you to get from Cartagena to Santa Marta, then take a look our our Santa Marta guide for travellers next.

Bus From Cartagena to Santa Marta

Cartagena’s bus station (Google Maps) is about 8 miles from Getsemani and the Walled City, and you have two options to reach it.

The easiest is to take a taxi. The standard fare is 23,000 COP and journey time is around 45 minutes, depending on traffic. Before getting in the taxi however, we recommend confirming how much the ride will cost to avoid an expensive surprise at the end. Note that many taxis in Colombia do not have meters (or do and simply refuse to use them).

It is also possible – and cheaper – to take a bus from by the India Catalina monument or Avenida Santander (look for a green and white bus with a “Terminal des Transportes” sign). The trip takes around an hour.

Once at Cartagena’s Bus Terminal, you will have no shortage of gentlemen coming direct to you to try and make sure you go on their bus or to help you buy a ticket, even if it isn’t the cheapest or the next departure. So we always recommend that you go straight to the ticket booths to buy your tickets.

There are a number of companies with services from Cartagena to Santa Marta with a few departures every hour, including Unitransco, Expreso Brasilia, Copetran, Exalpa, Berlinas, Superstar, and Unitransco. There’s no need to buy a ticket in advance (unless you’re unlucky and arrive on the peak Colombian holiday season in December – February when everyone is leaving the city and heading to the beach!) and you’ll never really have to wait more than 30 or 40 minutes for the next service to depart.

The standard price is currently 67,000 – 70,000 COP* per person, but as is quite common with buses across Colombia, it’s always worth trying to get a slight discount on the first price mentioned on any bus company. Indeed, the advertised price often drops to around 60,000 COP a few days in advance of your chosen departure time.

*The exception to this is Exalpa which for some reason often charges just 45,000 COP.

Note that you may be provided with two separate tickets once you’ve paid; one for the Cartagena – Barranquilla section, and one for the Baranquilla – Santa Marta section. Don’t worry though as it will be on the same bus and you (usually) won’t have to change buses in Barranquilla.

Unfortunately Cartagena to Santa Marta bus route is not done by the nippy little minivans more common in the south of Colombia, but in older buses that have seen better days. They always have a stop in Barranquilla bus terminal too to give the driver a break and pick up more passengers – if anyone tells you differently when you’re looking for tickets at the terminal then be very very sceptical!

We’ve now done this route a few times, and it’s relatively hassle-free but the taxi ride to the bus terminal is a pain and will take longer if traffic is bad.

When you arrive at Santa Marta Bus Terminal, it’s a 10-minute taxi ride for 7,000 COP to your hostel in the downtown area or on the city outskirts (many of the best ones like The Dreamer aren’t in the city centre).

Cost | 60,000 COP plus taxis

Time | 5-6 hours

Book | Just turn up at the bus station, but it’s a good idea to check a website like RedBus or Bookaway to get an idea of prices and schedules.

Shuttle Bus Cartagena to Santa Marta

There are two companies – Berlinastur and Marsol – operating minivan shuttle services between Cartagena and Santa Marta.

These are a slightly more expensive option as compared to the public bus, but tend to be the most popular way for backpackers to travel between Cartagena and Santa Marta.

Berlinastur Shuttle

This shuttle is the most popular of the two options, and it operates from its own private bus terminal / station in the Marbella neighbourhood of Cartagena. Taxis to the terminal cost around 10,000 COP and take approximately 15 minutes depending upon traffic. Simply ask for ‘Berlinas Marbella’ or ‘Berlinas para Santa Marta’.

Tickets cost 70,000 COP per person and can only be bought in person on arrival; you simply purchase your ticket at the office and go on the next one. There are departures every 15 minutes between 4.40 am and 7.40 pm.

This journey sometimes involves a stop in Barranquilla (you won’t need to change buses) and you will be dropped off at Santa Marta Bus Terminal or their nearby office from where you should take a taxi to your hostel.

For reasons that will be explained below, we recommend this shuttle company over Marsol.

Cost | 70,000 COP plus taxis

Time | Approximately 5 hours

Where | The Marbella Station in Cartagena is at Cl. 46B #3-80, but can also be found easily on Google Maps.

Book | Not possible to reserve in advance, just turn up and buy your ticket

Marsol Shuttle

Due to its door-to-door service*, Marsol was probably the more popular of the two shuttle companies when we were last in Cartagena, with various hostels using the company for their guests. However, for various reasons, this does seem to have changed somewhat in the last couple of years.

Firstly, we’re not entirely convinced they run an accommodation pick up and drop off service anymore as most people now seem to head straight to their terminal a couple of kilometres outside of Getsemani. If you have any recent info on this, we’d love to hear from you in the comments so we can let people know definitively whether this is something offered.

Secondly, they seem to have more negative than positive reviews in the last couple of years, with the buses being older, in worse shape and not as comfortable as Berlinastur. A number of people also complain that tickets they’ve bought in advance have not been honoured once arriving at the terminal.

Thirdly, they seem to be much more expensive than Berlinastur, with prices on RedBus and Bookaway priced at around 90,000 COP. Whilst it’s possible you can get cheaper tickets if you turn up at their terminal, you absolutely should not be paying this much for a one-way ticket to Santa Marta given the other options on offer!

Their terminal is located here on Google Maps, and a taxi should cost around 8,000 COP and take approximately 10 – 15 minutes depending upon traffic.

They have departures every hour from 6am until 4pm.

Cost | 90,000 COP

Time | 5-6 hours, depatures every hour.

Book | Possible to book on Bookaway or Redbus. Most hostels offering a shuttle service will actually be booking your with Marsol.

Tip | Marsol also stole our pictures for their adverts in Colombia, so they’re shitebags in our view.

*However, the downside of this type of shuttle is that everyone else on the bus also has to get picked up and dropped off at their hostel! So if you’re amongst the first picked up and amongst the last dropped off, you’ll have at least an extra hour added to your journey.

Private Transfer

As the most expensive option in this article, a private transfer from Cartagena to Santa Marta isn’t going to be many people’s first choice. However, if you’re travelling with a group of friends or visiting Colombia on a short holiday rather than a longer backpacking trip, it may be worth considering.

This private transfer takes approximately four hours and has an abundance of excellent reviews.

Know // It’s also theoretically possible to fly between Cartagena and Santa Marta, but given the relatively small geographical distance we don’t recommend anybody does this. Quite apart from the fact that it’s horribly unsustainable, once you factor in journey to and from airports and check-in time you’ll arrive just as quick as those that take the bus.

Where to Next?

So there you have the best options on how to travel by bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta! If you do this journey yourself, please do let us know your experiences and and updates on prices in the comments.

If you’re still in planning mode, than head over to find out the best things to do in Santa Marta in our guide, make a booking at one of our recommended hostels in the city such as The Dreamer, Masaya, or La Guaca Hostel, or find out exactly what a trip to Tayrona involves.

If you’re doing this route in reverse, don’t miss our comprehensive set of Cartagena travel guides:

13 Wonderful Things to Do in Cartagena

The 7 Best Day Trips From Cartagena

21 Things to Know Before You Visit Cartagena

How to Get From Cartagena to Playa Blanca

Best Airbnbs in Cartagena

Best Hostels in Cartagena

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