Santa Marta plans six fixed piers for small boats at Aeropuerto, Pozos Colorados, El Rodadero, Playa Blanca, Taganga, and Playa Grande. COP 21,624 million is committed, but the construction tender fell through in July 2026; the project restarted in September, targeting a December start. Official plans do not yet address concessions, ticket costs or boatmen's shoreline access.
- COP 21,624 million to build six tourist piers Fontur
On 13 May 2025, Fontur and the Santa Marta district signed an agreement committing COP 21,624 million to build six tourist piers along the shoreline. The stated objective sounds tidy: stronger tourism infrastructure and better access by sea for visitors. Getting a contractor on site proved harder than signing the agreement: in July 2026, Fontur declared the construction tender void after none of the three bidding consortiums met the required conditions. Two months later, in September 2026, the trade ministry and Fontur took the project up again, and by 12 September the government was announcing that construction would start in December 2026.
The contradiction sits right below the headline. Capital infrastructure promises safety, order, and predictable logistics. My read is that concrete does not, by itself, resolve coastal transit. It shifts control. When boarding moves from an open beach to a managed pier, someone decides who docks, what passengers pay, and which boats are turned away.
Where are the six piers going, and what will they cost?
The public budget allocates COP 21,624 million across the project. National tourism fund Fontur covers COP 17,698 million, while Santa Marta’s district administration covers COP 3,925 million.
The project designates six specific locations:
- Aeropuerto
- Pozos Colorados
- El Rodadero
- Playa Blanca
- Taganga
- Playa Grande
Public filings list these sites purely by their geographic names. None carry distinct individual facility titles. Fontur describes them as fixed piers for small boats, meant to give national and international visitors better conditions for reaching these beaches by sea.
Who runs coastal boat departures right now?
Today, passenger transport along these bays runs directly off the sand. Picture boarding an outboard lancha along this coast: you walk down to the water in Taganga or El Rodadero, negotiate a fare, wade through the wash, and climb over the gunwale.
I looked for the exact number of registered boat operators currently operating out of Taganga and El Rodadero in official project documents; the number is not published. I also looked for the typical current price range for boat trips running from Taganga out to destinations like Playa Cristal or Cabo San Juan; there is no verifiable official pricing record in the sources.
Will the new docks make boat trips easier or more expensive?
Stepping onto a level deck is unquestionably safer than jumping onto a wet fiberglass hull in rolling shorebreak. For older travellers, families, or anyone carrying luggage, a fixed dock removes a genuine barrier.
What remains unsettled is the financial model. I searched the available project disclosures for whether pier access requires commercial concessions, municipal operating licenses, or departure taxes, and what those would cost. That information is not in the public record. If the district or an operating contractor charges berthing fees, the published agreement does not say who absorbs them. That is the question to ask before assuming a trip from a pier will cost the same as one from the sand.
What happens to operators who do not get pier access?
Consolidation creates gatekeepers. If city maritime authorities mandate that all commercial passenger departures leave from designated pier structures, informal launch drivers face an immediate dilemma: secure an authorized slot or stop operating.
I looked for published dates or administrative decrees specifying when existing beach launch points will be restricted or closed. No such dates appear in the available documents. If concession fees are high, small-scale boat owners in Taganga risk getting cut out in favor of better-capitalised fleet operators. Until the district publishes the regulatory operating framework, we do not know whether local captains will receive protected docking rights or be forced off the water.
Should you change your travel plans right now?
No. Do not alter your upcoming itinerary expecting newly opened docks.
The agreement was signed in May 2025, but the construction tender fell through in July 2026 when no bidder qualified. The mayor says the money sat untouched for two years before the project was restarted in September with a new target of breaking ground in December 2026. For the immediate future, coastal transit in Santa Marta will continue exactly as it operates today: off the beach, priced on the sand, and dependent on the weather. If I were planning a trip to Tayrona or the bays around Taganga this season, I would plan for wet boarding, confirm pricing on the shore before stepping into a boat, and watch for official concession decrees before assuming any pier is operational.
Frequently asked questions
Are the new piers going to have fixed ticket pricing?
There is no publicly available data on pier fee structures, ticketing mechanisms, or operator concession rates. The signed agreement between Fontur and Santa Marta outlines infrastructure funding—COP 21,624 million in total—without detailing whether passenger rates will be capped, subsidised, or left to commercial operators. Until concession terms are published, pricing remains unverified.
Can local fishermen still take passengers from open beaches?
Official project disclosures do not specify whether open-beach departures will be prohibited once the piers open. While the stated goal is better sea access for visitors, the available public records contain no legal decrees or scheduled dates restricting traditional shoreline boarding points in Taganga, El Rodadero, or neighbouring coves.
Which specific beaches are slated to get a pier structure?
The six approved locations are Aeropuerto, Pozos Colorados, El Rodadero, Playa Blanca, Taganga, and Playa Grande. Fontur's announcement identifies these sites only by sector, without separate facility names. All six fall under the single agreement Fontur signed with the district in May 2025.
Sources
- Fontur Cited for “COP 21,624 million to build six tourist piers” · “fixed piers for small boats” fontur.com.co
- Opinion Caribe · July 24, 2026 Cited for “declared the construction tender void” · “fell through in July 2026” opinioncaribe.com
- Opinion Caribe · September 11, 2026 Cited for “took the project up again” · “restarted in September” opinioncaribe.com
- Radio Hoy · September 12, 2026 Cited for “construction would start in December 2026” · “December 2026” radiohoy.com
Honey lives in Minca, in the Sierra Nevada. What is here comes from living and working in the territory these pages cover, not from visiting it for a week. Where something is seasonal or has changed, the text says so.