Taganga
Taganga, Colombia
After taking care of some business in Santa Marta like finding a working ATM and admiring the first Santa Clause I have ever seen on a beach…..we grabbed a 20 minute taxi across a sea cliff to the tourist village of Taganga, Colombia.
I gave the driver his $3 and paused for a minute to let my eyes drink in the scenery. Water the color of jewels, white albeit somewhat dirty sand, and lots of travelers…this was the coastal paradise that had me burning up kilometers across Ecuador for the past week.
We checked into the Casa Blanca, a Swiss owned hotel directly on the beach with incredible views but perhaps the most murderous, unfriendly bastards they could hire to staff the front desk (yes, I will tell you how I really feel).
There were cheaper and friendlier hostels such as the Dutch-owned Hollandia or the French-owned Casa Filipe where you can immediately smell the owner-chef’s latest creation when you walk in, but they were quite a ways up the hill away from the beach. If there is ever a time to splurge while traveling, your last week on the road in 2009 is the time to do it!
barbed wire around the beach
Even after 8 solid days in Taganga, it is still an enigma to me. I want to love it, but there are just too many reasons to hate the place. I want to hate it, but there are just as many reasons why I like the place.
After closer examination, Taganga seems to be a foul parody of paradise. One of those places that look picturesque from the top of a cliff, when you are still too far away to see the ashtray they call a beach or the condoms floating in the water.
Rusted bottle caps and gravel make up the beach rather than sand and shells. POW camp concertina wire and broken glass decorate walls rather than colorful murals. There is no reef so you spend your swim time looking at interesting rubbish artifacts on the bottom and avoiding the plastic bags that drift around like white jellyfish.
At night, even on weekends, there isn’t an abundance of nightlife. Strung-out travelers and locals mix uneasily in front of the shops in a sullen murmur, sitting on steps and drinking rum or eating hamburgers and hotdogs. There are cheap offers of cocaine hissed from every shadow while you walk.
If you have been to Taganga, go take another look before sending me my usual dose of flaming hate-mail when I write something the way I see it. The place has apparently changed radically in the last year from what my 2005 Lonely Planet calls “a quiet fishing village” into what will probably one day be the drug raped Gili Trawangan of South America.
There is rampant construction going on all along the waterfront and even the extra bricks of the new walkway and other construction waste still lay around in plain site – it doesn’t take forensics to realize that things have changed here very recently. Trash is already piling up because apparently the bins are stolen as fast as the government puts them out!
Beach in Taganga
Tourism is new here. The fishermen are apparently long gone because a simple fried fish with rice bought right on the beach within eyesight of the boats can cost you $8! Needless to say, prices here for eating, partying, and anything in between are brutal. The food will sadly make you watch the clock in dread of lunch and dinner, unless you pay the price in one of the hostels listed above for something more edible.
My last and worst complaint are the locals. In 23 countries of travel I don’t think I have ever encountered a more hateful, unfriendly, miserable bunch of people in my life. Whether they be shopkeepers, hostel workers, waiters….I can honestly say that these people would rather stab you in the face than attempt to smile. I can’t put a finger on it, maybe it has something to do with the recent construction, or maybe there is a local mafia shaking things up – but with someone getting very rich and within eyesight of the Caribbean, it really is surprising behavior.
Pretty much every day you will be ignored in queues to pay, even with money in hand, ignored by your waiter who will bring you the wrong order then run like hell, given disgusted looks, shouted at, all but spit on when you try to conduct transactions as simple as buying a bottle of water. So many times I busted someone giving me the wrong price or incorrect change. Expect to fight for the smallest amount of respect.
Even though I am ranting, it wasn’t all negative.
On the flip side, Taganga has a rugged charm that kind of grows on you like a fungus. I enjoyed it because it was one of the first places I have been able to interact with lots of other travelers in Colombia. The weather was a perfect 90+ degrees every day and the sunsets are impressive.
After a week here you either learn to start liking the place with all its rough edges, or run like hell from all the red-eyed backpackers that moved here for the cheap blow.
I spent an incredible and extremely lazy 8 days here in Taganga, which after all the hurry up and wait lifestyle of exchanging night buses for day buses, feels totally unnatural. It was a great place to sit on the beach, get lost inside my own head, and absorb some of the things I saw in 8 different countries this year.
This beach gave me time to get centered, prepare myself for hitting home during a busy Christmas season, and to enjoy the end of my third year of vagabonding. For this reason, Taganga will always get a special place in my heart.
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Kentucky, USA
Such a pity. When we were planning our Colombia trip, I was really looking forward to getting our dive licenses in Taganga.
Hope you’re doing well dude! Happy New Year!
Hey Greg!
Wow you had it rough! Although I notice this negative tone in all your writings on Colombia.
Some people like some cultures better than other and I think, and please don’t take this bad, you expect everything to be the way it is in Thailand.
I believe every continent/culture has its own vibe and rhythm, and South America is way stronger/aggressive/inyourface than South East Asia where everyone is under the Buddhist influence.
Also the amount of time a country has been exposed to tourism makes a huge difference, and people learn that
tourists are precious.
Personally I don’t like Taganga, too many Israelies and gringos getting wasted in every way they can.
I only go to Taganga for the diving, which is good if you know where to go to, and I don’t stay over night.
Just personal thought coming from a traveler friend
Simon
Greg,
I was doing some research for a project and stumbled across your blog. I have been in Taganga now a little more than a week and I can not wrap my brain around your negative experience with the locals. I think that they are lovely people, and are dealing with the invasion of foreign tourists with as much grace as one can. I am sure that they can feel that their home is changing as the bus loads of tourists pour into the youth hostels. God know what will happen to the town in the next 10 years. Seems like in no time the Hilton will be trying to buy up the one little piece of public beach and make people pay to use it.
There are probably just too many foreign jackasses coming to Taganga to exploit its people by buying drugs and sex and not to simply watch the sunset and swim.
Try to understand where people are coming from and not just label them as a “hateful, unfriendly, miserable”
That is just not fair.
I’m glad you had a better experience in Taganga than I did…maybe it was the time of year (Christmas) or some other variable that I don’t know about, but I can assure you that when I was there (and other friends met there will confirm) that the people were anything but lovely.
I don’t like writing negative reviews, but in a 5 year tradition of keeping this blog completely personal and honest, I have to stand by what I wrote. I went to Taganga with an open heart and mind and really was not received well. It wasn’t at all an “in your face” problem, I appreciate that attitude after traveling China, Egypt, and even places in the US. It was plain and simple rudeness.
Keep in mind that someone speaking good Spanish, or in Simon’s case being from Colombia, probably makes a huge difference in the treatment. I did meet a lot of jackass gringo travelers there for the drugs, and no doubt they have jaded the locals.
Greg,
I am from Colombia, and i never comment on blogs or this internet things , but i’m shocked about your experience.
I study Hospitality and i’ve been traveling all around the world, and it surprises me that you didn’t feel that you were treated good.
Remember, Taganga is a fishermen’s village, they don’t have the same education or privileges as you do .
Also , they are used that tourists usually go there to use their home as their drug and party playground.
Give it a second chance, and there are MORE places to go in Colombia.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for commenting, I’m very interested in other opinions. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Colombia, but Taganga was certainly my least favorite place. When were you there last? It was apparent – with new construction everywhere – that this is no longer a fishermen’s village, it has become a place where even budget travelers are begging other travelers for money to buy drugs. A small, simple fish to eat costs $8 – unusual for a “fishing village”.
My treatment there as a visitor was terrible, perhaps the local people are not accustomed to the tourists yet, or perhaps they pool all of us together with the rude backpackers who only come for cheap drugs. Unlike the rest of Colombia, I don’t think a single local in the hostel, restaurants, or shops ever even smiled at me once.
I have heard the same thing from many people in response to what my feeling was in Taganga, it leads me to think that maybe the place has changed a lot – sadly, not for the better.
If the people treated you unfriendly, you probably deserved it. Taganga has its own spirit and the locals are the most friendly people in the world. But you have to adapt (as travelers do..) or else don’t come here! Maybe you should learn spanish…
Btw: I have been to Taganga in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2012.
@Tom Based on my experience, I can’t even fathom returning there five times as you have; however, we are both entitled to our opinions. I have been to quite a few places in the world – and can appreciate “spirit” – but they sure don’t fit my paradigm of friendly. I went there very open minded, and if you were familiar with the rest of my blog, you would realize that.
I agree, I should learn Spanish…as soon as I am finished with Bahasa Indonesian, Malay, Mandarin, and all the other languages I practice which apply more to my locale. How’s your Mandarin?
Hi Greg
I’m sorry, but how can you be so wrong about paradise? I have travelled all over the world since 1987, china and tibet included, and i spent more than two years in most countries of south america. I am married to a colombian women now and I have just bought some land in taganga.
had a wonderful time in taganga. people were friendly, offered us free boat rides, even free drink and food. beach was clean. water not. but remember its a fishing village. took us to playa cristal and it was one of the best i have ever seen. didnt pay that much for our meal. one lady even made my favorite drink and brought it to me on the neach, panela…. remember these people feel invaded. they are making the best they can of it and are probably worried some foreigner will come and change it or take it all away…
At first Taganga seems friendly and like great fun. I have been 5 times now and every time I go things get worse. Maybe its because I am married to a Tagangan now and locals dont like to see happy couples. People dont respect couples and when you are happy both women and men try to pick you or your partner up and seperate or destroy your relationship by spreading rumours. It is very rare to see older couples still married and happily living together and there is alot of domestic violence towards women. I also found it hard being there as a mother and in general a free thinking and free spirited women. People expect you to be at home all day serving your husband, without any opinions about how you should be treated even if your husband lives on the streets drinking and women in general should not have any opinion whether it is political, sexual, human rights or whatever. If you are outgoing with your child or even go out for a dance they think you are a slut and automatically start talking about you even to your partner. It happened to me and my husband and we fought the whole time we were there because he was worried about what people thought even though he knows me and trusts me. There is a lot of jelousy there and even my friends there tell me not to trust anyone. As for the beach, I have seen childern swimming and playing with condoms and menstruation pads while swimming. People throw rubbish everywhere and dont care about their land. Drugs have taken over the town and so has prostitution and people now get robbed all the time. Even locals who struggle get broken into and robbed.
Overall Taganga is not a good example of Colombia or its people and there are so many beautiful people and places in this country. Taganga is shit but every country in the world has the good and bad areas. Don’t judge Colombia because of this trashy village and do remember that it was once a different place and tourism has actually destoyed the place and so has the governments lack of support to educate and give oportunity to locals and women in particular.