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Hello All,
Will be planning a trip to Santa Marta in a few months for business. and would like to do some mongering down there. I've been to cali a couple times. so I am not a newbie to SA, so any info on SM is greatly appreciated.
Could somebody help me with the rates of the hotels please?
I hear they are nice.
[QUOTE=VipMedellin]Could somebody help me with the rates of the hotels please?[/QUOTE]I tried to send you a PM but I was unable to.
Send me some contact info via PM.
I've got some questions for you. Maybe you can help me out.
I'm planning to go there next year and I was interested on where to go for fun...
Thanks - MC
Anyone have any info on where to monger in Santa Marta? I'll be there March 15th-31st if anyone wants to meet up and hit the clubs.
[QUOTE=Arasari]Anyone have any info on where to monger in Santa Marta? I'll be there March 15th-31st if anyone wants to meet up and hit the clubs.[/QUOTE]
I have been in Santa Marta. It is a nice town and the people is nice too but I don't like to reach Santa Marta again for mongering, even if it is very easy to meet nice and available girls. ;)
[QUOTE=FoxesHunter]I have been in Santa Marta. It is a nice town and the people is nice too but I don't like to reach Santa Marta again for mongering, even if it is very easy to meet nice and available girls. ;)[/QUOTE]
Can you elaborate on why ?
You all are probably thinking Rodadero area, right? There are places, I've been told, but I've never mongered in there. Always brought my own chica with me, which allowed me not to have to worry about that part of my trip. If you're expecting to walk around or sit around and point and click like Cartagena, wipe Santa Marta completely out of your mind. If you speak very little Spanish, again, forget it.
There are a couple of monger places inside the city of Santa Marta. However, it's dicey there and the talent is only okay. And the best spots are pretty pricey for only decent talent. I've been told this by several who hadn't heeded the warnings of others. Not recommended.
Rodadero is the beach resort area which is 10-15 mins (by bus) outside of Santa Marta proper. Primarily Colombian families and couples go there to vacation. Also great if you got a particular lady friend that you want to kick it with. Most groups of girls seen there are either locals (Sundays), or are visiting from Barranquilla and probably headed back that evening. For normal discos, there's La Escollera and La Puerta. Might see a bunch of other foreign tourists there. However, it's significantly less touristy than Cartagena.
Be prepared to speak Spanish only and observe Colombian customs. When I was there in November, one of my beach vendor buddies came back to tell us of some "gringos" who got fleeced for COP 80.000 for a beach tent and COP200.000 for one of those beach massages. They paid, but everyone on the beach had a true laugh at how stupid people could be. Not even about the money, just the lack of common sense. Yes, they became everyone's target as well.
There is a set price on a menu for everything on the beach. From the massage ladies to the restaurants to the bars, to the beach tents, there is a set price. Ask for a menu upfront.
Best bets-
- As you should start with always, ask your taxi driver coming from the airport.
- Ask the guys working the beach stalls and restaurants in Rodadero. When my lady or my group of Colombian friends weren't with me at the moment, a few made it known that they have "chica friends" available and a discreet meeting could be set-up with a few to choose from.
- If you speak Spanish, and spot someone interesting on the beach, and she's alone (rare, but happens), make a move. If you don't speak Spanish, you won't be able to communicate the subtleties needed to spark further interest. Remember she's on vacation by herself, she doesn't need your money. Another of the major differences between SM and CTG.
- Do a search on this site. Someone had previously posted the names of a few p4p places there.
Hope that helps. Best of luck!!!
Like HH, I ALWAYS brought a chica (or two (: ) along so I never mongered there. I never regretted that as there aint much girl action at all (unlike some places- i.e. the time I brought a Filipina to Thailand and Cambodia LOL!)
La Escollera disco SOUNDS great, and looks very impressive (it was built by a hollywood studio as a movie set), but is quite costly and there was never anybody else in there when we went (and certainly no hookers). There is also the disco above Foto Japon on the beach road but it was always empty too.
Went to the one nightclub I saw once, when my chica's flight home left before mine, which was out on the main highway. It was a VERY dumpy looking place which had maybe 4 mediocre chicas asking 150,000 for ST.
During the week it is TOTALLY DEAD, quite a bit livelier on Friday and Saturday night. But 99% of the girls are with their families and friends on short vacations and not likely to run straight to the sack with a gringo. Not impossible, but exceedingly challenging. Also most aprtment buildings are VERY guest unfriendly as they insist you ALWAYS wear these plastic wristbands they give you when you check in. Also, I never found an apartment with hot water (only Hotel Tamaca had it, where we moved to get a hot shower). The expensive resorts down by the airport like Zuana certainly would have hot water. The standard of apartrments is MUCH lower than CTG (think of El Conquistador in Laguito and you get the idea).
The reasons to go up there are to mingle with Colombians and get away from gringos (although you can do that in BAQ which is LOADED with available girls and only half as far from CTG). Also, for scuba diving Taganga (other side of SM proper from Rodadero) is second only to San Andres in Colombia (better than Islas Rosario or spots near CTG). Finally, the beaches are certainly better than the ones in CTG (not saying much IMHO).
To get to the really good beaches, in Parque Tayrona, requires some serious commitment: 22,000 Pesos PER DAY entry fee for foreigners as of last year so I bet it is 25,000 by now), either hiring a taxi for the full day or taking a bus then hiking from the main road to the park entrance (over 3 miles). Once you get to the park entrance the hike to the first safe beach (without rip currents and sharks) takes about 90 minutes along a muddy trial (wear wetsuit booties instead of shoes if it has rained in recent days and expect your shoes to get VERY muddy). You MUST have a valid yellow fever certificate to enter ($100 shot which takes 10 days to be effective so get it at home before leaving) and douse yourself with mosquito repellent.
Finally, check the security situation (ask locals in SM proper or Rodadero) BEFORE venturing out as conditions change daily. You hear more about robbery by common criminals than FARC incidents. The paramilitaries are very powerful by the beaches (the guerillas control the mountains including the path to Ciudad Perdida where the mass kidnapping of foreign hikers (much discussed in the media) took place a couple years back.
Thanks for the Info guys, I really appreciate it!
I also agree with Hoof Hunter. I have been to Santa Marta with a chica friend. We stayed in the beach area called Rodadero. I didn't see any places for mongering in SM proper. However, I was not looking.
I did see some chicas who may have been WGs on the boardwalk along the beach in Rodaero. This was late at night, after 11 pm. Vendors sell tourist things along the boardwalk until midnight or so. Some chicas were standing around sometimes smiling at some men, so I assumed there were working.
There was not the kind of action and selection that you might see in Cartagena.
Sylvester
I don't like Santa Marta because it is a very hot place. Then I don't like bar, striptease and brothels. I did not see more girls than in other towns in Colombia.
Now I ask some info to Hoof Hunter and George90.
I'd like to reach Colombia again. On the net I have just known a beautifil girl in Medellin. I'd like to bring her with my to the beach and spend one week with her but I am afraid she will steal me. That idea gnaws me as a worm.
I have read many many problems of girlfriends with tourists.
Does anybody can me something?
thanks
Surfer - Got your PM. No worries about that. Got the same info. Tried to PM you back, but your's is full.
Foxes- My views might not be popular, but they come from personal experience.
I don't think it's the best idea to take some chick that you really don't know, esp. just from the internet, on a vacation with you. What's the rush? It's your vacation, not hers. If she's interested in meeting you, go meet her in Medellin, bond with her there. If all's well, great. Next time you're in Colombia, if she's still around, invite her to the beach. If she flips out or says no to meeting you in Medellin, lose her immediately. She's hiding something in Medellin and/or just playing you for the vacation.
A couple of questions for you to think about.
- What NORMAL chica will just leave her security (family and friends) to meet up with someone they've never met before in person? Yes, it happens, but what usually happens are the results that you've been reading about. Those chicks weren't so normal after all.
- What kind of girl with a REAL job in Colombia can get a week off just like that right now? Not common at all in Colombia. Maybe a weekend, maybe a few days during Christmas, New Years, Semana Santa or Carnaval, but a week? Yeah right. And school is back in session.
I'm not sure what you mean by "I am afraid she will steal me." If you have such doubts already, forget it completely for now and revert back to what I asked. What's the rush?
For me, a chick will have to earn a trip to the beach with me. It's not automatic. There are way more available beautiful quality chicas in Colombia than just one. This is one of the reasons many Colombian men don't put up with the BS that foreigners do. Desperation is the worst personal attribute to bring abroad.
I wish you luck with your decision. I'm really not trying to discourage you. Just want you to think things through, and remain on top of the situation. The ladies that I've taken to the beach, I'd known them for quite a while prior to inviting them to the beach with me. I'd also known their families and their normal lives. None of them were "working" girls. Go to Colombia, set your own agenda, and enjoy YOUR vacation. Remember, there are plenty of girls in Colombia. Don't have your vacation beholden to just one girl, esp. one that you barely know nor fully trust.
Suerte
[QUOTE=FoxesHunter]Sylvester
I don't like Santa Marta because it is a very hot place. Then I don't like bar, striptease and brothels. I did not see more girls than in other towns in Colombia.
Now I ask some info to Hoof Hunter and George90.
I'd like to reach Colombia again. On the net I have just known a beautifil girl in Medellin. I'd like to bring her with my to the beach and spend one week with her but I am afraid she will steal me. That idea gnaws me as a worm.
I have read many many problems of girlfriends with tourists.
Does anybody can me something?
thanks[/QUOTE]