Top Things to do in Minca
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10 Things to Do in Minca That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Minca, Colombia including Jungle Joe Minca Adventures, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Lost City, Pozo Azul, Museo del Cacao de Minca, Cascada de Marinka, Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, Museo del Oro Tairona - Casa de la Aduana, El Dorado Bird Reserve, Fototrails.
Restaurants in Minca
1. Jungle Joe Minca Adventures
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 406 reviews
full day Minca tour tube rafting hiking tours birdwatching coffee tours chocolate tours
Reviewed By NordAtHeart - Sarasota, Florida
First let me say that my friend and I are not the types to ever take tours, but taking a day trip to Minca was basically our only option and we'd heard good things about this tour. So glad we did! It was organized just enough to keep things moving along but not so much that you felt that you were in a theme park. Got to swim in the natural pools and go down granite water slides, learn about coffee, cacao, and bamboo.
Probably the most impressive thing is the owner's house. Jungle Joe takes you to his own (large) home which is almost entirely built out of bamboo for the superstructure. Very tasty lunch as well!
2. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 177 reviews
Reviewed By 387indy - Coral Springs, Florida
You need to take a guided tour, or you will get lost. The Mountains are lush with vegetation you are going through a jungle. There is a large coffee plantation you can visit. You can see Santa Marta from the Mountains, a historic port city, one of South America's oldest. But to experience Santa Marta you need to walk the town squares, visit the museum, the impressive Cathedral, dine in a restaurant, and see the people.
3. Lost City
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By melissa o - Liverpool, United Kingdom
Super tough but one of the best things I've ever done. The trek is hard! def train before you go! and take energy bars, and any injury supports as its hard on your joints. Def go with Wiwa tours - the only indigenous owned and run tour company and by far the best from talking to people in other groups. An amazing experience you won't regret and will remember forever.
4. Pozo Azul
Overall Ratings
4 based on 212 reviews
Reviewed By Maria C
There were a lot of disappointing things about this experience. Ranging from the water being incredibly murky and anything but pristine to the countless motorcycles driving by us on our hike to the falls. The motorcycles are everywhere and there is no peace!
We climbed to the top of the falls and it was really fun but the hike is difficult and not for the faint of heart. I would skip this altogether. It’s super crowded, even on a random weekday.
The redeeming quality was the stop at EL ARCA MINCA. Organic baked goodies and delicious lattes for such a great price. I would hike up to there, eat something sweet and then head back down to find a motorcycle to take you to the giant swing.
5. Museo del Cacao de Minca
Overall Ratings
5 based on 33 reviews
Reviewed By claudiast - Rockville, Maryland
Minca is an amazing place with lots of new things going on with an ecotourism and sustainability flavor. In this museum you get to know the traditional and new uses for coffee and cocoa among others, with a recognition and respect of the traditional practices of the native India’s. They sell all sort of cool products. Overall instructive and fun
6. Cascada de Marinka
Overall Ratings
4 based on 86 reviews
Reviewed By rapha_y_nici - Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
It's located about 70 to 90 minutes slightly uphill walk from Minca. Once you need to cross a little river where you might need to take of your shoes to cross unless you wear waterproof hiking boots, but no big deal.
The entry to the Marinka is 4'000cop pp. The two Waterfalls are very nice and you can take a refreshing shower. The lower one has a pool where you can take a bath. For us the upper one was nice and not that crowded. Be careful with your camera because there is water in the air which is blown around the waterfall.
It was an easy excursion and it's easy accessible, can recommend it. But do not expect a 100m high waterfall :-) it's nice with it's surroundings. We were there on a weekday at about 1040am and there were only a few people around. They sell also some drinks.
Btw: approx on the half way between the waterfall and Minca there is another secret waterfall which is located a bit downhill from the walking path, check it on maps.me :-)
7. Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1 reviews
This final home of Simon Bolivar contains a museum housing works of art from countries he helped liberate.
Reviewed By JuanRamirezC - Bogota, Colombia
This is the place where Simón Bolívar (the one who fought for Colombia's independence) died. It used to be an extensive farm, but now there's only the main buildings. The colonial style makes you feel like going back in time.
The place also has a modern area, where they even throw some Concerts and events.
8. Museo del Oro Tairona - Casa de la Aduana
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 221 reviews
The building which functioned in the Spanish colonial era as the Customs House (Casa de la Aduana) for the port of Santa Marta is today a museum that lets you explore stories of the past and present from this corner of Colombia's magic Caribbean region.
Reviewed By L1m5 - Denver, Colorado
This museum is really well-kept and admission is free. The main attraction is typically seeing the gold exhibit, but the rest of the museum describes the (pre-)colonial Santa Marta. There are also some excellent exhibits on the indigenous tribes of the region.
9. El Dorado Bird Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 47 reviews
Reviewed By HayKay1 - Montreal, Canada
We had room #4 in the Jelenn? Cabins - wonderful and cozy and unbelievably clean. The room had: a balcony with incredible view of landscape with clouds rolling in and out, crested Oropendolas flying back and forth to their nests and if you're lucky, a Band-tailed Guan or Red-tailed squirrel on the ground below. the room had 1 double bed with hard mattress and a twin bed somewhat softer, both with views through the picture window. The double bed also had a Reading light, the other bed's light was disabled. Two bottles of water were provided and replaced each morning or could be refilled in dining room if need be. There were shelves in the room with blankets ( for the chilly nights) and a small closet space with hangers. The bathroom was small but had a decent sized shower. Hot water came out either boiling hot or cold but we used the least amount of water we could in keeping with the lodge's Eco concerns.
Hummingbird feeders lined the steps from the cabins to the main lodge and there was always lots of activity. In the dining room, the Colombian-type meals were quite good - the chef seemed quite talented. You could help yourself to drinks on an honour basis from the refrigerator in the lounge upstairs. Off this lounge, you might spot night monkeys coming through between 6 pm and 7 pm.
The places around the lodge to spot birds are:
Clearing out front where we saw tanagers and a Masked Trogon, a feeder in the small gully below the bench at the back of the lodge where I saw Santa Marta Brush-Finches and Black-fronted Wood-Quail, the orange flower bushes where there were always Flowerpircers, the banana feeder where a Guan usually showed up in the evening, the Terrace where good binoculars helped spot Red-billed Parrots flying overhead in the morning and the trail along the back of the other cabins wher I saw wood creepers. Roger, the lodge's birding guide, was excellent and showed me a white-tipped Quetzal which was on my Wish List.
In my experience, luck also plays a role when birding. Sometimes, there's no activity and then other times, loads.
Elizabeth, the lodge manager, and her husband, Steve, do a great job. I should mention, however, that the experience also depends on the clients. When we left, two families arrived with very excited small children. I suspect it would be more difficult to find birds near the lodge.
10. Fototrails
Overall Ratings
5 based on 29 reviews
Capture the imagination of Colombia through your lens! Fototrails offer a bespoke tours and a unique way to experience Minca and The Sierra Nevada. Our days out are more of an adventure with close friends rather than a large commercial tour. - Uncover the real Colombia. - Access to private farms and personal family contacts. - Groups no bigger than six people. We like to keep them personal. - Unique range of activities, depending on personal interests. - Swim in secret Waterfalls - Outback coffee and chocolate experience - family run - Watch and learn about endemic species - Birdwatching breakfast - Jungle trekking on hidden paths - Mountain hikes - Photography workshops are included in our unique photography tour
Reviewed By RebeccaJaneE - London, United Kingdom
We booked a bespoke tour 5 months in advance and were very much looking forward to it. I emailed Natasha the day before we were due to go on the tour, however received a response to say that she was going on holiday and therefore unable to host the tour for us.
As our visit to Minca was purely for the purpose of this tour, it was extremely disappointing to have this cancelled only 1 day before, putting a dampener on our trip and giving us no chance to change our plans.
We are now in the position where we are having to pay for a hotel in Minca that we are not going to use as we are unable to get a refund at such short notice. We are now also having to scramble around to find a hotel in Santa Marta (an unexpected expense) as the hotel we are staying in is now fully booked.
Presumably if we hadn't emailed to confirm, she wouldn't have bothered to contact us or show up on the day. I expect she must have known that she had booked a holiday over this period and therefore could have given plenty of notice.
This is rude, very unprofessional and a totally unacceptable way to run a business.
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