Best Ways to Get from Santa Marta to Cartagena

Are you exploring Colombia’s Caribbean coast?

If so, there’s a good chance you’ll be traveling from Santa Marta to Cartagena and/or vice versa. They are the two largest cities on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Cartagena offers the most international flight options, while Santa Marta offers a great hub to lots of neat destinations, especially for nature lovers, nearby.

So, if you are trekking Colombia’s Caribbean, there’s a good chance you’ve asked yourself, “What’s the best way to travel from Santa Marta to Cartagena?”

If so, you’re in luck, because here I’m going to go over several ways you can get from Santa Marta to Cartagena. For what it’s worth I do have a similar post on the 5 ways to get from Cartagena to Santa Marta, which basically goes over the same information in more detail, just in the reverse direction.

However, I’ve also covered absolutely everything you need to know to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta here too. Whether you’re looking for a Santa Marta to Cartagena flight, a bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena or other ways to travel, you’ll learn all you need to know in this guide.

So read on if you are wondering what’s the best way to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta.

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How to Get from Santa Marta to Cartagena – Contents

• Introduction and Quick Tips
• How Far is Cartagena from Santa Marta?
• Are There Flights from Santa Marta to Cartagena?
• Private Transportation from Santa Marta to Cartagena
• Charter Van Service vs Taking a Regular Bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena
• Renting a Car to Drive to Cartagena from Santa Marta

How to Get to Cartagena From Santa Marta Overview

I’ll go into more detail on each of these options below, but if you’re in a hurry, here I’ll quickly touch on the best ways to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta.

This is a trip I did many a time living in Cartagena from 2011 to 2022. Santa Marta was the nearest destination city, and it offers a great gateway to lots of other neat places to visit on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast.

The gorgeous mountain town of Minca, the unspoiled beaches of Tayrona Park, and hipster vibes of Palomino, and the chill vibes of Costeño Beach, are all within easy access from Santa Marta.

There’s also some neat things to do in Santa Marta itself, plus it’s a great jumping off point to even more adventurous destinations like the Lost City, the desert outpost of Cabo de la Vela, or the most northern point of South American at Punta Gallinas.

Any and all of these places make great additions to an itinerary exploring Colombia’s Caribbean, and getting from Santa Marta to Cartagena will most likely be a crucial part of that itinerary. By the way, you might want to check out the top tours in Santa Marta on GetYourGuide and Viator as well as those in Cartagena on GetYourGuide and Viator.

First, to get it out of the way, there are unfortunately, as of this writing, no direct flights from Santa Marta to Cartagena. Of course, you can fly with a connection, which in some cases might be a little bit quicker than overland transportation, but probably isn’t worth it in most cases. If you want to do this, I’d compare options on a site like CheapOair.

In most cases traveling over land will be quicker, easier, and cheaper.

The most convenient way to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta over land is with a private driver. That will give you the most flexibility on departure time as well as be the safest and most comfortable, but also most expensive option.

However, you can also take one of the two charter van services of Marsol or Berlinas that are in my opinion the best combination of cost, comfort, and convenience, or you could also take a bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena from the bus terminal.

Finally, you can also rent a car.

If you want some more details, pros and cons, and tips on each of these options for how to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta, I’ll cover each in a lot more detail in the sections that follow.

How Far is Cartagena from Santa Marta?

Cartagena is approximately 140 miles, or 225 km, away from Santa Marta by road.

It might be a bit quicker as the crow flies or as the fish swims, but it should take 4-6 hours to travel from Santa Marta to Cartagena depending on the method of transportation you choose.

By the way if you are traveling from Santa Marta to Cartagena and don’t have a place to stay yet, please do check out my guides to the best boutique hotels, the best luxury hotels, and the best hostels in Cartagena to help you choose the best place to stay. I also have a guide to the best areas to stay with recommendations for all budgets.

Can You Take a Santa Marta to Cartagena Flight?

Yes and no.

While it’s possible to fly from Santa Marta to Cartagena, there are no direct flights from Santa Marta to Cartagena as of this writing in August 2023. Most flights from Santa Marta to Cartagena will route through Bogotá or Medellín.

For this reason, I don’t think it’s worth trying to buy a Santa Marta to Cartagena flight.

If your layover is short, you might still get to Cartagena from Santa Marta in a tad bit quicker time than if you choose one of the options below (all of which will take 4-6 hours for reference). However, it’s also possible that you have delays or cancellations that make it take longer.

Plus, you have to deal with all the other normal hassles of flying.

So, I don’t recommend most people choose to try to get a Santa Marta to Cartagena flight. If you do really want or need to fly, you should compare prices at a site like CheapOair, or Expedia.

Private Transportation from Santa Marta to Cartagena

If you are short of time and budget isn’t an issue, I’d say arranging private overland transportation to Cartagena from Santa Marta is the best option.

It can of course be pricey, but you’ll be comfortable, you’ll be alone or with your travel group only, and you’ll have good A/C. You also have a lot more flexibility on departure time and you’ll get picked up and dropped off where you’re staying rather than having to figure out transportation from a bus station or van office.

In all honestly, if you’re a group or family of 4, you might not end up paying all that much more than you would on my preferred choice for Santa Marta to Cartagena travel below, especially once you factor in those things mentioned above.

If you do want to do private transportation, please consider booking with our partners BnB Colombia Tours. If you use the code ExploreColombia10, you’ll get a discount if you book via that link.

They also offer the same discount on private transport from Santa Marta to Tayrona, to Palomino, to Minca, and to many more places.

You might want to check out their Santa Marta area tours or their Cartagena tours too.

Finally, if you prefer to put together a package and have some help planning your trip from one of their expert travel agents, fill out the form here to have them work with you to create your dream trip to Colombia from Santa Marta to Cartagena and beyond! Almost all their tours and transfers are private and of top notch quality with well vetted, English speaking guides.

You can also book private transportation from Santa Marta to Cartagena on Viator as well as on Bookaway. You may also be able to arrange for a driver on ride share app InDriver.

Expect to spend 4-5 hours, depending on traffic, in private transportation to Cartagena from Santa Marta.

Charter Van to Cartagena from Santa Marta (my favorite option)

This is by far my preferred method to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta, and the one I have done the most.

In my opinion, it’s the best value of convenience, comfort, and cost.

There are two charter van services that both offer a pretty similar experience at a similar cost for getting to Cartagena from Santa Marta.

They are Berlinas and Marsol.

I slightly prefer Berlinas, as I’ve just found them to be a bit better in terms of service and running on time.

However, I’ve used Marsol lots of times, and also find them to be perfectly fine, so I’d probably just choose whichever has the best departure time for you and/or has the easiest office to get to from where you’re staying in Santa Marta (their offices in Cartagena are just a couple blocks from each other).

You can book on Marsol via BookAway, or you can book either directly through either of their websites. They are generally good in my experience responding to WhatsApp or Facebook messages too about route times and prices for buses from Santa Marta to Cartagena.

There are a couple quick caveats I’d give here though.

The first is that there have been some reports, few and far between, of these buses being robbed. I’ve heard of it more often on Marsol buses, which sometimes stop to pick up people along the route if they are not full.

I’d discourage traveling from Santa Marta to Cartagena at night for this reason, but I’d also say the chance of this happening are extremely low, even at night. If you are traveling with expensive equipment or valuables like computers, cameras, or jewelry, you might want to consider one of the private transportation options above to be extra safe though.

By the way, if you want some extra safety tips, do check out my guide to safety in Cartagena too.

The second is that if you have flexibility on your departure time, try to get a van that goes directly from Santa Marta to Cartagena and does not stop in Barranquilla.

Stopping in Barranquilla, especially if they go through Soledad, can add an hour plus onto the trip if traffic is bad. You won’t always be able to avoid that, but if you can, it’s worth it.

Expect to spend 5-6 hours taking one of these charter busses from Santa Marta to Cartagena.

Both of these services arrive to stations in the area known as Marbella, not far from Cartagena’s Walled City, which is the best area to stay and is so much closer to the tourist part of the city than the main bus terminal,

That is why I think this is a much better option than the next one for the overwhelming majority of travelers.

Take a Bus from Santa Marta to Cartagena

You can also take larger buses from Santa Marta to Cartagena.

They are the equivalence of a few US dollars cheaper than taking the charter van services, so they will save you a not insignificant number of pesos, like enough to buy a moderately priced lunch or a fancy cocktail.

However, there’s a few reasons I don’t generally recommend them.

The main one is that the main bus terminal in Cartagena is very far from the tourist areas of the city, and transportation from there to the area of the city where you’ll want to actually be is a tad tricky and/or costly.

You’ll end up spending a lot of time trying to bus from the terminal into town, or you’ll end up spending as much if not more than the difference in cost on a taxi. If you happen to hit bad traffic, you can still spend up to an hour from the terminal to the tourist area even in a taxi.

So, for most travelers, I just think it’s worth paying a bit more for the charter service that drops you off a short, and much cheaper, taxi ride from the main tourist areas of Cartagena. Not to mention, there are less people, and you’ll generally be more comfortable and will spend less time stopped in Barranquilla if you stop at all.

Now, there is a newer terminal north of Cartagena, but I have not had any experience using it yet.

My understanding is there are still a limited number of routes operating, and transportation from where it’s located into town is not all that much easier to be honest. However, it might become a more attractive option down the road.

If you do want to take a bus, you’ll generally get a lot more options at the terminal. However, you can book some options online at BusBud or BookAway.

Expect to spend 6 or so hours going to Cartagena from Santa Marta by bus.

Renting a Car to Drive from Santa Marta to Cartagena

This is the final option for getting from Santa Marta to Cartagena.

Honestly, I don’t recommend it though.

This route has a lot of trucks on it plus lots of buses on long stretches of two lane highway.

Many of them drive quite aggressively. Seriously, I’ve been on those charter vans in the front seat and watched them pass two trucks and just barely get over in time before an oncoming one rams into us.

If you’re used to and/or comfortable with that kind of driving, I say go for it then, but I’d personally just prefer to avoid it.

I would say it might be advantageous to have a car to visit some of the places around Santa Marta, and there are some day trips from Cartagena you could do with it as well as some stops along the way like the Pink Sea or the Mud Volcano. I’d still probably just rent the car in Cartagena or do organized tours for those though.

You can check out the price of rental cars at RentalCars.com.

Ready to travel to Cartagena from Santa Marta?

Now you’ve got a number of options for transportation between Santa Marta and Cartagena.

I hope you found this post useful, and whichever of the above methods you choose for how to get to Cartagena from Santa Marta, I hope you get there safely and you enjoy your time in Cartagena!

Please do check out all the other content on the site about Cartagena to help get the most out of your trip!

Cheers and Happy Exploring!