On a bay facing the frothy, turquoise Caribbean Sea sits Colombia’s oldest city, Santa Marta. First established in 1525, it will celebrate the major milestone of its 500th anniversary in 2025. Events will span over three weeks, with food and music festivals and Indigenous cultural exhibitions celebrating the region’s diverse, and even rebellious, heritage: Santa Marta is the site of La Ramada, the residential community where a revolt by enslaved Africans against the Spanish led to a free town, called a palenque, in 1529—over 300 years before slavery was abolished in the country. Today elements of Santa Marta’s culture have been built upon these African roots, from the musical sounds of cumbia to dishes like cayeye, made with mashed green plantain.
Nicknamed the Pearl of the Caribbean, Santa Marta teems with natural wonders too. An intricate thread of marshy lakes and inlets at the foothills of the highest coastal mountain range in the world, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, serves as a gateway to some of the country’s most impressive naturescapes. Tayrona National Natural Park, accessible in under an hour by boat or car, also has a human history dating back 500 years: It is the ancestral home of four Indigenous communities—the Kogi, the Arhuaco, the Wiwa, and the Kankuamo—who continue to be active stewards of the land by managing the park in collaboration with the local government. Here land and sea collide, with suspended cloud forests in the highlands perfect for hiking, and mangrove and coral formations along the coastline ripe for exploration by boat. Learn more about the harmony between humans and nature in the foothills, through experiences with Indigenous-owned tour companies like Wiwa Tour, which offers respectful interactions with ancestral groups. If you’re staying close to the city center, though, Bello Horizonte and Playa Blanca are two of Colombia’s blue flag beaches, noted as such for their pristine conditions and commitment to conservation. With all this on offer, it’s no wonder that Seabourn will call on Santa Marta twice in 2025: the Ovation will pass through in February 2025 as part of a 14-day Caribbean itinerary, and the Sojourn will make its stop in December 2025, on a 22-day Panama Canal passage cruise. —Kristin Braswell
Southern Belize
Go for: off-the-grid jungle experiences, now easier to reach with improved flight connectivity
