Colombia 2025 – San Gil

San Gil

San Gil is a charming town in Colombia’s Santander department, widely known as the adventure capital of Colombia. Nestled in the Andes, it offers a perfect mix of colonial charm and adrenaline-pumping activities like whitewater rafting, paragliding, caving, and bungee jumping. Founded in 1689, San Gil also boasts a rich history and a lively central plaza surrounded by traditional architecture. Whether you’re chasing thrills or exploring nearby gems like Barichara and the Chicamocha Canyon, San Gil is a gateway to nature, culture, and excitement.

San Gil is very close to Barichara, just 45 minutes down the hill. It is a larger town, but now very big, and very easy to visit. From our guest house we booked three amazing trips.

Day 1

The first adventure, which we made the day we arrived, was a trip to the cave Cueva de la Vaca.

Cueva de la Vaca, located in Curití, is one of Colombia’s most thrilling underground adventures. This cave, discovered over 80 years ago, is a hotspot for exploration and offers a dramatic journey through damp tunnels, icy water pools, and stunning formations of stalactites and stalagmites.

The guided tour typically lasts around 1.5 to 2 hours, taking visitors deep into the earth where they’ll encounter crystal vaults, underground waterfalls, and even a submerged 11-meter tunnel that adds an extra dose of adrenaline. It’s considered an extreme cave experiences, but it’s accessible to most people with a moderate level of fitness.

We took a bus 30 minutes from San Gil to the pretty town of Curiti, where we were greeted at a tour office, which had us to wait a while for a decision about if we could go due to the rains that had fallen, which made it a bit more exciting. We had good luck, so a young boy led the way, and showed us into the caves which were full of water, but it was surprisingly clean and fresh. Sometimes it was also quite deep, and at the submerged tunnel we had to dive to get to the next chamber, which was really exciting to get to chambers that were really impressive and full of stalactites that glittered in the flash light.

Day 2

The second adventure was tougher, it was white water rafting in Río Suárez, which is one of Colombia’s most exhilarating adventure experiences. Known for its Class IV and V rapids, this river offers a high-adrenaline ride through the dramatic Suárez Canyon, surrounded by green forests, rugged landscapes and roaring currents.

We went there as a fairly large group, and got an introduction before whe were sorted into three rafts, with two cayaks as support for safety. Each raft had an experienced guide who took control while we tried to follow commands paddled frantically in really wild water, with level 4 and 5 rapids to beat. Everything went well and it was a blast.

Day 3

The third adventure was easy, but spectacular. Paragliding in Chicamocha Canyon, Colombia, is an unforgettable experience of breathtaking scenery. Located near San Gil, this is one of the few places in the world where you can soar above a canyon that’s 2,000 meters deep and 227 kilometers long, making it one of the largest in in the world

We went with a trip from San Gil, and took almost two hours to get there by minibus. Then we had to wait for a long time before it was our turn to fly, a nervous wait hoping for enough wind and no rain, while the others slowly got their town. Finally, we got our twenty minutes, which sounds like a very short time for so much effort, but it was truly spectacular.

Day 4

Our final day we had a night bus to go to Minca. Luckily we could place our gear at the hostel, and even hang around there for free. Very nice of them, but we wanted to do something during the day too. We started it by seeing the Parque Natural El Gallineral, a lush ecological sanctuary, spread across four hectares on an island formed by the Fonce River and Curití Creek. It is quite well worth spending an hour or so, looking at squirrels, amazing butterflies and fantastic plants. In the park they also sell one of the most unique snacks you’ll encounter. They are called ”hormigas culonas”, or “big-bottomed ants.” These are giant leaf-cutter ants (Atta laevigata), traditionally harvested in the region during the brief mating season in April and May, when the winged females emerge from underground nests. They taste somewhat like peanuts.

Thereafter we went to the neighbour town Curiti to have lunch, see it and go swimming in the beautiful nearby river pools called ”Pescaderito”. Just a 45-minute walk or short tuk-tuk ride from Curití’s center, these natural swimming spot create a series of crystal-clear pools and waterfalls nestled in a scenic gorge.

Transport to and from San Gil

There seems to be a bus to San Gil every hour to and from Bogota. The stated time isn’t reliable, count on eight hours. There is also a night bus to Santa Marta, which is quite comfortable, but count on fifteen hours for that one. Don’t forget a long sleeved shirt or two, as air-con can be bitterly cold.

Barichara is reached from San Gil, and it seems to be a bus every fourty minutes or so. In San Gil, you find the buses at the local bus terminal, where you either buy a ticket in the ticket boot, or just on the bus. The buses go to the main square in Barichara, and that’s where you find the buses going the other way back to San Gil. It is quite common to do Barichara as a daytrip from San Gil, although I’m happy we spent a few days in Barichara to soak up the atmosphere.