Santa Marta

[MGrover]

Does anyone have the address for Bananas in Santa Marta?

[Member #4398]

Any recommended places to stay in Santa Marta, chica friendly hotels or apartments near the beach and under $60?

[Tomasb]

I left Santa Marta a few days ago and now in CTG. Wow! What a difference in the cost of living there compared to CTG. Santa Marta may not have the historical charm of CTG but it does have a certain level of authenticity and it is cheaper for virtually everything, especially the chicas.

I stayed at a very nice boutique hotel located, as it turned out, across from the Bananas night club and also the apartment where many of the girls reside when not working at the club. My hotel room would have cost at least two times the amount in CTG. The front desk was very helpful and one of the staff told me that locals pay $50 COP for 45 minutes though not clear if he was referring to Bananas in particular or just the club / casa scene in general.

When I went to the club, most girls quoted somewhere between $100 COP to as low as $50 COP. One older black girl with a fantastic body quoted me a top price of $130 COP. All prices were for a 1/2 hour and room price was included. Most girls lowered their price upon negotiation. Even the $130 COP girl came over to me later in the evening and dropped the price to $110 COP. On my first go around with a little black spinner, she first said $100 COP then immediately accepted my counter offer of $80 COP. The second time I saw her (on a slow night), she offered me $50 COP and strongly suggested her culito was on the menu. Since I was already enthralled with someone else, I declined, which annoyed her to no end.

I had the very good fortune to meet an absolutely stunning 22 year old girl there from Medellin. By far the most pretty girl I have been with anywhere including pros and non-pros. Just a fantastic face, body, attitude, and service. She also had a great deal of class for a club like this and was trying to fund her tuition charges for a university. I was pleased to make a contribution three days running. She came over to my hotel either in the late afternoon before work or once in the late morning on my final day. She explained that she generally charges $120 COP in the club for a 1/2 hour session and the club keeps $10 COP plus $20 COP for the room so basically she nets $90 COP ($45 USD). Not sure how that business plan works from the club perspective but overall a good deal for the girls. It is $50 COP for takeout and the price the girl negotiates with the client for either short or long term. Her apartment, which looks pretty decrepit from the outside, is free as the club pays for her rent. I paid her $100 COP for one hour and one shot and all of that amount went to her. Not sure about her business plan either as the price is virtually no different from a session in their grundgy rooms though she was living 30 seconds from my hotel.

Anyway, Santa Marta appears to have some nightlife on a pedestrian mall and near the Parque de LOS Novios. The town is a bit run down but one had to feel improvements in their infrastructure are gradually taking shape.

[Mr Enternational]

One other thing: I signed up for What's Up a few days ago as this app is used widely in South America. It's a free internet based texting service though you can communicate with regular cell phone service. I discovered that you can find out the girls real name as it flashes on your phone from the What's Up connection. I called my new friend by her real name today, which blew her away until she figured out how I knew.

Whatsapp is widely used all over the world. I have been using it for 3 years to communicate with friends. It is free the first year, then $1 each year after. I think your girl must have typed her name into her status bar, because the only information I see of other people is what I have input into my own phone for them or what they have written as their status.

[Tomasb]

My bad. I meant What's App.

Did you mean WhatsApp and not What's Up? Facebook recently bought WhatsApp as they could not develop a messaging (texting) system themselves.

[LifeIsABeach]

I signed up for What's Up a few days ago as this app is used widely in South America. It's a free internet based texting service though you can communicate with regular cell phone service. I discovered that you can find out the girls real name as it flashes on your phone from the What's Up connection. I called my new friend by her real name today, which blew her away until she figured out how I knew.

Did you mean WhatsApp and not What's Up? Facebook recently bought WhatsApp as they could not develop a messaging (texting) system themselves.

[Tomasb]

I filed a report last night but wanted to provide additional info between innings of World Series baseball game.

As I mentioned in the prior report, Bananas, as luck would have it, is located directly across from my boutique hotel. Additionally, most of the girls stay at what appears to be a real dump of an apartment on the same side of street as Banana and virtually in front of my hotel. Occasionally, I can see the girls hanging out on front steps of apartment during the day.

I finally cut through the confusion with hottie I met last night who is from Medellin. She came over in the late afternoon for an hour and she was amazingly hot and also fun to spend time with. While in the shower afterward, she mentioned she was 'mojada' or wet so that was a nice comment to hear. I inquired whether she might be interested in accompanying me to Cartagena on Friday for the weekend. She expressed an interest, however, it appears she is under some sort of contract with Banana's, which may make even a short term disappearance problematic.

A few of the girls I spoke to last night also said they were 'committed' until the end of November. Given how little they are asking and figuring they have to split a considerable part of their earnings, it amazes me how little they actually make, yet they are under some sort of contract that they feel obligated to finish. There are only a few gringos in this bar so they have to depend on vacationing Colombians or cheap locals as their client base so don't really get the economics of this situation.

However, this girl though did pull the 'how much time did I say'. I actually had her write the amount of $100 kCOP in my IPhone last night but neglected to include the time duration. Last night she said two hours for that amount, but today professed ignorance and said this price was only for one hour. No matter as I had a good time with her and invited her over after her shift tonight. It's got to be better than the dive where she is staying.

One other thing: I signed up for What's Up a few days ago as this app is used widely in South America. It's a free internet based texting service though you can communicate with regular cell phone service. I discovered that you can find out the girls real name as it flashes on your phone from the What's Up connection. I called my new friend by her real name today, which blew her away until she figured out how I knew.

[Tomasb]

Arrived today from MDE and checked into a nice hotel that does not allow guests after 9 pm.

However, after reading the forum, I made a mental note of a few places mentioned in prior reports. One mentioned a place called Bananas, which turns out to be in front of my hotel about twenty paces away. When I walked by on my return to my hotel from dinner, it was jammed with about 30 girls at 8:30 pm. Basically, anything to your taste -- paisas, costenas, gorditas, negras, and morenas. I even met one girl from isla de San Andreas. Various ages, sizes, and shapes. They have free rooms upstairs, no cover, and inexpensive beer. I paid 5000 COP for an Aguila beer. (For US dollars, basically divide in half and drop the zeros (I. E. $2. 50 USD). According to a prior poster, there are several similar clubs in Santa Marta, but given how close and plentiful this club is, I decided not to bother going elsewhere.

The girls charge what the market will bear. My first one, a cute little black girl, asked for $100 kCOP for a 1/2 hour. I countered with $80 COP, which I discovered later was still too much to pay. Anyway, I went with her to the room for the latter price. The room was kind of shoddy but to be expected. Service was basic. There is no time for GFE, and they don't really offer it, and it's an in and out experience.

When I returned, and after a few drinks, a black girl with a nice body from San Andrea came over and quoted me $60 COP for the same amount of time. I declined as I was still recuperating from first session though it was nice to have her grab me constantly.

Later, I met an unbelievable beauty from MDE. A black girl with the most incredible body. I talked to her about TLN for the next evening and she quoted me $400 COP or $200 USD. I agreed to this price though figured I could ask around about the price and found out later that I should only offer $70 kCOP for two hours. The guy I talked to said asking a girl like that for TLN is a total waste of time. She also wanted $130 COP for a 1/2 HR at the club but had a few rules too (no kissing, DATY, etc). When I declined, she knocked her price down to $110 COP and I still said no given what I paid the first girl and the price quoted to me by the girl from San Andrea. She was kind of pissed when she walked off. In fact, some of these girls do get pissed and jealous here. Kind funny given the situation and place. It does not appear the girls have 'unionized' here.

Finally, I spotted a real beauty who I asked to come over. Just gorgeous with very white skin, black hair, and a perfect body. Probably about 24. She was from somewhere in Antioquia and really sweet. She agreed to come over to my hotel tomorrow before 9 pm -- which is their witching hour -- for two hours. The price? 100 KCOP. I exchanged numbers and called her after the club closed and it appears to be on for tomorrow. Banana's does close relatively early. At least tonight it closed at 1 am. If she does, it is the deal of a lifetime. As you can see, the prices they ask are all over the map.

Hopefully, I can file a positive report in next few days but one thing is for sure, there is a lot of action here.

One other thing. Earlier in the evening, I was in the market area of town and stopped into a store to look at sunglasses. I thought the girl was a lousy salesperson and decided to wait. When I was walking up the stairs of the club for the first session, who do I see but this same girl walking down the stairs. Kind of funny. Not sure where she is moonlighting. Either the club or as a sales person?

I am there in two days. Anything new? Seems to me everything pretty dead.

[Eltio01]

I am there in two days. Anything new? Seems to me everything pretty dead.

[Cm6363]

Santa Marta is a good town. A lot of nice restaurants. It is a port city, so people tend to like El Rodadero, the section just south of town along the beach (if you look at the map, you will see it on the southern side of a rounded cove.) I think this beach is nicer than Cartagena's, especially the farther south you get from the center of El Rodadero.

There is cheap diving in Taganga. COP120,000 for two dives, all equipment included. Taganga, 10 minutes by cab to the north and east of Santa Marta also has good restaurants, but the beaches are way too crowded for my tastes. Further east of Taganga is Tayrona Park with its really beautiful, unspoiled beaches. It takes about an hour by car or bus and then a 45 minute - 1:15 minute walk to get to the beaches were you can swim. Lot's of people die in the high riptide area, so don't opt for a shorter walk and taking your chances.

Also, I heard the 30 minute boat ride from Taganga direct to the swimmable Tayrona Beach that will save you a lot of time, but it can be quite wet and rough. One person who took the ride said it was miserable.

There are some casas in Santa Marta, but I can't speak to El Rodadero or Taganga. Was with a GF in those places. The scene is much better in Cartagena for that.

All in all, I like the Santa Marta area.

[RichardMichael]

Heading to Santa Marta in July. Staying in El Rodadero. Anybody have any recommendations for clubs, casas, etc? Anything new is much appreciated.

[Member #4366]

Stay away from Taganga unless you need a break from too much mongering. I spent a few days over there last December. There is a lot of action going on but it is mainly European and US women hooking up with younger Colombian guys. A kind of reverse mongering, one could say. No local female talent available, as far as I could see. Apart from that, Taganga is a very nice seaside village, just a few km north of Santa Marta. The setting is really beautiful and the Tayrona Parque is nearby. However, to meet working girls, it is better to stay in El Rodadero, just south of Santa Marta.

[Hioctane]

Does anyone know about the current situation in Santa Marta, is there still everything closed? No action going on?

Cheers

What do you mean still closed? As of when?

[Shizzle78]

Does anyone know about the current situation in Santa Marta, is there still everything closed? No action going on?

Cheers

[Hioctane]

There are three American guys who own a number of businesses in the Centro of Santa Marta. They will 1000% be having a Super Bowl party, they have one every year. This will likely be a younger crowd as it's at a hostel, lots of 20 something and 30 something backpackers. The owners themselves are in their mid 30s. There is a small pool, a bar with loads of booze, an adjacent Mexican restaurant, a beach just a few meters away, etc. The name of the place is La Brisa Loca. It is in Plaza San Francisco over by the big church, calle 14 av 3 if I remember correctly but you had better make sure. Right by the church, near Parque de los Novios. Just ask for the gringo brothers, two are brothers, then the other guy is the chef.

Thanks! We are in our mid 30s too so we'll be fine. Are there chicas there hanging around looking for gringos?