Is Rodadero Beach A Beautiful Paradise Or Just Over-Crowded?
Playa El Rodadero, or Rodadero beach, is by far the most popular beach near Santa Marta. It’s in town of Rodadero and, nestled beside endless hotels and resorts, it’s easy to see why it’s a tourist hot spot. From smooth white sand to endless views over the azure Caribbean sea, what’s not to like?
We spent a day exploring Rodadero and it might not be all what it’s cracked up to be. We want to provide you with all the information you’ll need before visiting and we’ll also chime in with our own thoughts and feelings on Playa El Rodadero. By the end of this guide, you’ll know whether you should bother planning a trip here too!
Table of Contents
- About Playa El Rodadero?
- How to get to Playa El Rodadero
- What we liked about Playa El Rodadero
- What we didn’t like about Playa El Rodadero
- Better beach alternatives nearby Playa El Rodadero
- Is Rodadero Beach worth visiting?
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About Playa El Rodadero?
Playa El Rodadero is located in the mid-sized town of Rodadero, just east of Santa Marta in northern Colombia. It’s situated on the coast of the Caribbean Sea and as a result, the weather here is crazy tropical. It’s hot and humid almost every day and it can rain a lot during rainy seasons – so plan ahead!
The beach itself is a long stretch of beautiful white sand, roughly about 500m long. The Caribbean Sea is a stunning turquoise-emerald colour, with a tepid temperature which is great for swimming and cooling off.
Rodadero’s main road runs parallel to the beach. Along it you’ll find a plethora of restaurants, cafes and shops all selling local gastronomy and products. It’s covered by lines of tall palm trees – really lending to that tropical feel.
How to get to Playa El Rodadero
If you decide against booking a resort in Rodadero, we’re going to assume that you’re currently in one of two places; Santa Marta or Cartagena. Personally, we lived in Santa Marta for a month, so we always had to make the journey down to Rodadero.
From Santa Marta
Getting from Santa Marta to Playa El Rodadero is super simple and affordable. The easiest way is by taxi and this is what we decided to do. There isn’t Uber in Santa Marta like their is in Medellin, but there is an app called InDrive which works in a similar manner. It’s basically the same as Uber, but you can actually haggle the taxi fare with the driver before booking. The drive from Santa Marta was roughly 15-minutes and cost us less than $3.
Alternatively, there’s a public bus system that runs between the two towns. We didn’t catch the bus while in Santa Marta but if you do, you need to head to Carrera 5 – the main road in the historic centre. All the blue public bus routes run down the road, just look out for the one that’s signed for Rodadero. The bus fare should only be about $0.50.
From Cartagena
If you’re in Cartagena then it’s likely you’re planning a trip to Santa Marta after. The easiest way to get from Cartagena to Santa Marta is to book a public bus. Head to BusBud and book a time that suits you and your plans.
The bus journey from Cartagena to Santa Marta takes about 4h30m and will run mainly along the coast, through Barranquilla, all the way to Santa Marta. After, you can either take the bus or the taxi mentioned above to get to Playa El Rodadero.
What we liked about Playa El Rodadero
Overall, Playa El Rodadero isn’t a bad beach by any stretch of the imagination, especially when compared to the nearby Playa Taganga. The fact that it’s so big really plays to its advantage. There’s so much room that you’ll never have to worry about not finding space to settle in for the day.
In addition, the food options in this area are exceptional. Being such a tourist zone, you’ll have zero issues finding somewhere to chow down on some local Colombian food at incredibly reasonable prices.
We found a great little place called Restaurante Cucharita de Palo de Paisa, where I hastily ordered a bandeja paisa – a typical Colombian dish. The entire meal here for two of us only came to around $10, which we thought was great considering the volume of food!
We also found it really relaxing just walking up and down the promenade next to the beach. Thanks to the rows of palm trees, you can use the shadow to your advantage and hide away from the sun. Even on the hottest days, it’s bearable in the shade.
Also, the day we visited there was a Latin American cheerleading competition happening. So we were treated to multiple squads practising on the promenade for their big day – it was pretty cool to watch!
What we didn’t like about Playa El Rodadero
There wasn’t a whole lot we disliked about Playa El Rodadero, but there were a few things that diminished our experience. Every reasoning behind our negative options can be traced back to heavy tourism.
The first thing we didn’t like were the vendors and peddlers. Every ten seconds, there’s someone trying to sell you some odd trinket or souvenir that you don’t need. Luckily most vendors take no for an answer and won’t bother you again once you reject them.
The second thing, or things, are tents covering the beach. These beach tents seem to be a running theme across all Colombian beaches we visited. The vendors that own them are constantly trying to make you rent one for about $8 for the day.
Not only do they take up space on the beach, but they’re just an eyesore. Although, we do see their benefits if you’re not a lover of laying in the sun all day – like Ryan! Luckily Playa El Rodadero is big enough that the tents don’t take up all the space like we experienced at Playa Grande nearby.
Finally, the area around the beach just felt a tad dangerous. Again, being a tourist hot spot, this sort of makes sense. However there weren’t many places in and around Santa Marta that we felt unsafe, but the backstreets of Rodadero gave us the heebie-jeebies.
If we left the main part of the beach or ventured into town away from the promenade, it felt a bit rough around the edges. Like everyone is watching you waiting for the opportunity to pickpocket your phone…
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Better beach alternatives nearby
Don’t feel too disheartened though, because we also found some absolutely stunning beaches that blow Rodadero Beach out of the water, and really close by! If you have the extra time to get there, we’d recommend one of the following locations instead.
Playa Inca Inca
Playa Inca Inca was by far the best beach we found around Santa Marta. The reason for that: it’s also the least accessible beach in the area. It’s a small strip of white sand surrounded by cliffs with beautiful clear turquoise waters to swim in.
We came here at midday on a Saturday and there were only a few people around. Unlike the other beaches on this list, it genuinely felt like a hidden spot. There’s only one small restaurant on this beach and instead of the ugly tents, you can rent a natural-looking umbrella to escape the sun.
To get here, you need to do undertake a 45-minute hike over the mountains from Playa El Rodadero. We published a full guide on Playa Inca Inca and how to get there, so check it out!
Playa Blanca
Playa Blanca is the second most popular beach in the area besides Playa El Rodadero. It’s a long stretch of sand with a multitude of restaurants, water activities and even a zip-line available to enjoy.
Bare in mind, we came here on a Saturday afternoon and when we say it was packed, IT WAS PACKED. It seems like, at least on a weekend, the local tourism booms at Playa Blanca and everyone is coming here with a cool-box full of beers for a day out.
Playa Blanca is only accessible by boat. There’s a yellow taxi-boat that runs about every 15-minutes between Playa El Rodadero, Rodadero Aquarium (we don’t recommend coming here – captive dolphins) and Playa Blanca. We’re not sure what the cost of the taxi-boat is because nobody actually asked us for money when we boarded…
We tried to hike over to Playa Blanca because on the maps it looked like there was a trail from Playa Inca Inca, but there’s not. We ended up getting stuck at the aquarium and having to take a boat anyway.
We published a full guide to Playa Blanca with everything you need to know – check it out!
Playa Grande
Playa Grande is almost like a smaller version of Playa Blanca, and yes, it’s just as busy. It’s actually not in Rodadero and can instead be found about a 15-minute drive north of Santa Marta near the small fishing village of Taganga. We’re including it in this guide as it’s pretty much the only other nice beach around Santa Marta that’s not inside Tayrona National Park.
Once again there are a bunch of water activities at Playa Grande and even some snorkelling. The tents (or chairs in this case) on Playa Grande are rife though, they literally cover every corner of the beach, especially the shaded areas. So we found it hard to find a spot to lay down our towels for the day.
To get to Playa Grande, you need to hike from Playa Taganga. We actually published a full guide to Playa Grande, so check it out!
Is Rodadero Beach worth visiting?
If you’re looking for an easily accessible beach with plenty of space for your beach towel, then head to Rodadero beach. Despite our negativity above, it’s still a pretty good beach and much better than Santa Marta’s beach. You’ll get that tropical vibe that you’d expect from a Caribbean ocean-front town.
We’d just advise that you exercise a level of caution and common sense on the back roads of Rodadero if you walk around there. Other than that, we really hope you enjoy your day in the sun!
If you’re looking for even more beach options in the area, check out our Best Beaches in Santa Marta guide!
