The Caribbean coastline of Colombia is one of the most popular areas for travelers to flock to in the country—but one town is often overlooked. The adorable town of Minca, tucked high in the lush Sierra Nevada mountains, offers incredible wildlife-watching opportunities, stunning waterfalls, and a very chill atmosphere. So if you’re looking to soak up some of those tranquillo vibes for yourself, here’s 8 incredible things to do in Minca, Colombia.
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How to get to Minca, Colombia
Minca is located a little under an hour south of Santa Marta, Colombia or roughly five hours east of Cartagena.
Most people visiting Minca, including ourselves, first get to Santa Marta, either to the Simón Bolívar International Airport or the Santa Marta Transportation Terminal. From here, you have a few options of reaching the small town.
Collectivo
One of the more affordable options is to take a collectivo or a shared public shuttle to Minca.
To catch one of these, you’ll need to first get a taxi to the Mercado Público de Santa Marta and then find the “Cootrasminca” collectivos at the corner of Carrera 9 and Calle 12. They should have “Minca” on the windshield.
Collectivos cost around COP 12,500 per person and will take about an hour and a half to reach the main drag of Minca. Note that they will not drop you off directly at your hotel, so if you’re staying far away from the main center of Minca, this may not be the best option for you.
Additionally, they typically run from 7 AM to 6 PM. I’d personally recommend skipping this option if you’re going to be departing from Santa Marta or arriving in Minca in the dark. The public market is in a bit of a sketchy area in Santa Marta and you won’t want to be walking around the dark and windy roads of Minca in the dark.
Uber or taxi
You can also use ride share, like Uber or Hey Taxi, to get from Santa Marta to Minca.
This is exactly what my husband, Justin, and I did—it cost around $21 USD for both of us to ride from the airport directly to our hotel in Minca.
Just be aware that Uber is technically illegal in Colombia and drivers can be a bit finicky—we had several drivers accept and then promptly cancel our request to go to Minca. But it eventually went through and we got dropped off right at our hotel just fine!
Private transfer
If you’re short on time or would simply prefer to have something pre-booked (my Type A brain totally understands you!), you can arrange for a private transfer to pick up and drop off your group directly at your hotel, like this option.
Insider tip: The roads to get up to Minca are extremely windy and steep. If you suffer from motion sickness, I’d suggest taking some motion sickness pills before transitting here!
Things to do in Minca, Colombia
1. Marinka Waterfall
In my opinion, one of the very best things to do in Minca is head to the Marinka Waterfalls. This biological reserve is tucked deep in the lush jungle, with two stunning waterfalls with plunge pools at the bottom that you can either swim or wade in.
There’s also a restaurant with decently affordable food and cervezas, with fun nets that you can hang out in and enjoy the views of the lower waterfall.
To get to the Marinka Waterfalls from downtown Minca, you can walk along the dirt road, Cerro Kennedy Oriente, for about two miles one-way.
This is how we got there. We found the path quite gentle, with small rolling hills and just one steep final climb up to the entrance of the waterfalls. And, even though the walk is a bit on the long side, it’s definitely not boring—along the way, you’ll pass tons of small waterfalls, bamboo groves, and vibrant tropical flowers.
Alternatively, if you don’t feel like a two mile walk through the jungle, you can flag down one of the moto-taxis in town, which, depending on how good your Spanish skills are, should cost you somewhere between COP 10,000-25,000.
Entrance to the waterfalls is COP 16,000—it’s cash only, so bring your pesos!
The park is open from 9 AM to 5 PM. I’d highly recommend getting here as early as possible—we got here around 10 AM and had the place to ourselves for a bit, but, by noon, there were TONS of other visitors here!
2. Bird Watching
I’m really not that much of a birder, but I absolutely LOVED watching all of the birds in Minca. And it’s no surprise—there’s actually over 360 species of birds that can be found in this teeny mountain town.
Our accommodations, La Veranda Hotel, had a lovely open air restaurant and surrounding terrace, with several hummingbird feeders and stellar views of the surrounding jungle. We saw HUNDREDS of hummingbirds, as well as other exotic birds, like keel-billed toucans (every day of our stay!) and macaws.
Most of the other hotels in Minca also have similar terraces to hopefully spot some pretty birds, like Masaya Casa Viejas or Selva Minca.
We had fun just bird-watching on our own—however, if you’re looking for a particular kind of feathered friend in Minca, you can alternatively join a tour with a knowledgeable guide who are pros at spotting birds in the lush greenery, like this tour option.
3. Pozo Azul
Pozo Azul is probably the most popular thing to do in Minca, with two waterfalls and swimming holes, tucked away in the jungle.
To reach Pozo Azul, you can either walk east along the main road (Calle 1a) for about 45 minutes from downtown Minca or take a mototaxi to a coffee shop called Cafébar Mis Ojitos.
To the left of this cafe, you’ll see a gate with a dirt path leading past the building. You’ll follow this path for about 20 minutes until you reach the first waterfall, which is popular for swimming.
This pool has refreshingly cool water but it’s usually absolutely PACKED with tour groups from Santa Marta. So if you want to beat the crowds, I’d suggest continuing up the steep trail to the lefthand side, to another upper waterfall with a much deeper plunge pool. This one actually has a spot that’s popular for cliff-jumping to the left of the falls—just remember that hurtling your body off cliffs in remote villages in Colombia comes with its own risks!
Pozo Azul used to be free, but when we visited in January of 2025, you’re required to buy a COP 6,000 (about $1.50 USD) entrance ticket per person. I have read some reviews online indicating that you don’t have to pay if you’re not planning on swimming, but, in any event, I’d recommend having 6,000 pesos per person on hand!
4. Tour a coffee farm
Fun fact—Colombia accounts for a whopping 10% of the world’s coffee production! And a very small chunk of that coffee comes right here from Minca.
There’s a handful of coffee farms around Minca that offer guided tours and, of course, a sampling of their brew.
- Finca La Victoria is the most popular option in Minca, with tours for COP 25,000 per person. There’s some really cool aspects about Finca La Victoria—namely, that they still use their original equipment from 1892. Additionally, the farm is easily accessible from downtown Minca—in fact, it’s just about an hour walk uphill from Pozo Azul, so, if you’re interested in seeing both of them, I’d suggest trying to knock them out on the same day!
- Finca San Rafael is another unique option, which grows both organic coffee AND chocolate. On this tour, you’ll get the opportunity to taste a variety of coffee and chocolate, plus even try a natural exfoliant made from cacao!
5. Explore Minca
Colombia is full of small, unique towns, like Salento and Guatapé—and Minca is no exception. It’s absolutely worth spending a couple of hours, moseying around its boutiques, cafes, and food stalls and finding the colorful murals hidden on its streets.
There’s some really solid restaurants in Minca as well. We loved Taco y Chela, a Mexican restaurant, and Lazy Cat Cafe, which has an international menu and an awesome happy hour!
6. Go hiking
In addition to the previously mentioned trails to waterfalls, there’s a number of other hikes that allow you to explore Minca’s lush jungle and the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains.
- Los Pinos Trail: Calling this a hike is a bit of an overstatement. You’ll generally just be climbing up the main road of Minca for two to three hours to the Los Pinos viewpoint, where you’ll have stellar views over the surrounding green hills and, in the far off distance, Santa Marta.
- Cerro Kennedy Trail: For a bit more of a challenge, consider tackling this 14 mile hike from Mirador La Y to the summit of one of the Sierra Nevada mountains. While you can theoretically do this as a day hike, it’s more popular to stay overnight at Hostel Donde Mucho, near the mountain’s summit, so that you can watch sunset, sunrise, or both over the surrounding landscape.
- Lost City Trek: The Lost City Trek (or Ciudad Perdida) is arguably the most popular hike in all of Columbia, taking you deep into the lush jungle to a forgotten ancient city, built by the Tayrona people in 800 AD (almost 700 years older than Machu Picchu!). The Lost City trek is a multi-day adventure that must be done as part of a guided tour, like this option or this option—it’s SO high on our bucket list to come back and do this trail!
7. Tour a chocolate farm
If you’re not a coffee lover, there’s still some interactive farm experiences that you can enjoy in Minca—namely, chocolate farms! On one of these tours, you’ll get to learn a bit about the history and cultural significance of chocolate, the production process, and, of course, do plenty of sampling.
- Finca La Candelaria: Like Finca San Rafael, this farm produces both chocolate and coffee, so you’ll get to learn about—and try!—both goodies. This tour is super interactive, allowing you to taste cacao during different stages of the chocolate making process—plus, you’ll end your tour with a chocolate face mask!
- Cacao Forest Tour: For something a bit more adventurous, you can join this tour with a local guide, who will lead you through the jungle to a small, family-run cacao farm, where you’ll get to sample plenty of cocoa nibs and hot chocolate. On the way back to Minca, you’ll stop by some beautiful waterfalls to cool off under the Colombian sun and bask in your post-chocolate coma.
8. Watch sunset
Given Minca’s location, perched high in the Sierra Nevada mountains and overlooking the Caribbean coastline, it’s no surprise that it has some epic sunset views. Most hotels have terraces, with views overlooking the mountains, but there’s a few ones that even non-guests trek to enjoy.
For example, Hostel Sierra is a treehouse type lodging, way up in the hills of Minca, with panoramic views of the surrounding jungle and Casa Loma literally has a “Sunset Bar”, where it’s kind of a daily tradition to gather, cocktail in hand, and watch the sun sink into the Caribbean.
When to Visit Minca
Great news—there’s really no bad time to visit Minca!
However, there are better times to come here. For example, April through May and October through November are the rainiest periods, whereas there’s afternoon showers on an almost daily basis during the busy summer months.
Accordingly, I’d generally recommend visiting from December through March, when the humidity is pretty low and the skies are clear. We visited in December and had perfect weather our entire stay!
Where to stay in Minca, Colombia
Minca is a fairly new addition to the backpacker track in Colombia, but there’s still plenty of lodging options to choose from here.
- La Veranda Hotel: This is where we choose to stay, in part, due to its location close to the town of Minca, while still being secluded and its awesome pool with a view. It was perfect for us—a friendly atmosphere without feeling too much like a party hostel and absolutely stellar views of Minca.
- Casa Loma: If you’re looking to lean into the Minca vibes, I can’t imagine a better spot than Casa Loma, which feels like a hippie treehouse, complete with yoga classes and vegetarian food. There’s a wide variety of accommodation options, ranging from a simple hammock to your own private hut, overlooking the Sierra Nevadas. This is also an excellent option if you’re looking for a friendly atmosphere.
- Coffee House Minca: This is the best lodging option that’s close to the town of Minca itself, with friendly staff and plenty of nice amenities, including a terrace, pool, and complimentary breakfast.
Minca was one of our favorite places in Colombia—I hope you love it as much as we did! Do you have any questions about this charming little village? Let us know in the comments below!
