Colombia / Magdalena Department
Playa Grande
Playa Grande is a 564 m-long beach facing west, 3.1 km north of Santa Marta (Magdalena Department, Colombia). The sea averages 28.9 °C in September, its warmest month, and 25.3 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Grande
Beach-day index 7.0/10 · Colombia median 7.4
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 25.6 °C | 25.3 °C | 25.5 °C | 26.3 °C | 27.5 °C | 27.9 °C | 27.5 °C | 28.1 °C | 28.9 °C | 28.9 °C | 28.3 °C | 26.9 °C |
| High °C | 26° | 26° | 27° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 27° |
| Low °C | 23° | 23° | 23° | 24° | 25° | 26° | 25° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 24° |
| Rain mm | 4 | 3 | 12 | 39 | 160 | 115 | 76 | 119 | 173 | 260 | 143 | 43 |
| Cloud % | 26 | 25 | 38 | 58 | 71 | 67 | 62 | 67 | 72 | 76 | 63 | 38 |
| Wind m/s | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 7.8 |
| Daylight h | 11.5 | 11.8 | 12.1 | 12.4 | 12.6 | 12.8 | 12.7 | 12.5 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.6 | 11.5 |
| Record high/low | 29°/22° | 29°/21° | 30°/22° | 30°/23° | 30°/23° | 30°/24° | 30°/24° | 30°/24° | 30°/24° | 30°/24° | 30°/24° | 30°/22° |
| Beach index | 9.0 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 8.6 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in December–April; January scores 9.0/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 25.6 °C and 4 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Colombia in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 27.2 °C, warmer than 82% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (260 mm) and February the driest (3 mm); the yearly total is about 1,150 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.5 hours in December to 12.8 hours in June; in mid-January the sun rises at 06:19 and sets at 17:51 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces west (265°). Open water fills about 17% of the horizon close by, which makes it a sheltered cove or bay.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:20 local time on a bearing of 294°.
Straight out to the west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 14 m deep and 70 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 44 m above sea level 500 m inland and 251 m at 1.5 km, with hills rising behind it.
Within 1 km, the land is 49% shrubland, 27% built-up land and 17% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 27% of that circle.
- Shrub 49%
- Built 27%
- Tree 17%
- Grass 5%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.4 m/s in February, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 28Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 1Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 100Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Campsites
- 1Grocery shops
- 6Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Cash machines
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 22 restaurants, 1 café and 5 bars. Accommodation: 100 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Mirador de Taganga 940 m SW
Nature
- Taganga, Parque Nacional Tayrona, Magadalena Colombia nature reserve 270 m SW
Campsites
- Lucys camping 210 m NW
- Lucys Campamento 230 m NW
- Pura Vida 310 m S
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simón Bolívar International Airport Santa Marta | SMR | 16.9 km | south |
| Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport Barranquilla | BAQ | 76.7 km | south-west |
| Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport Valledupar | VUP | 138 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 6 bus stops within 1.5 km and 1 mapped car park within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 499.2K residents); within 30 km there are 2 (about 587.5K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa Grande | – | 28.9 °C | 564 m | – |
| Playa Blanca | 7.4 km SW | 29.1 °C | 424 m | Sand |
| El Rodadero | 8.2 km SW | 29.1 °C | 1.1 km | Sand |
- Playa Blanca7.4 km SWCompare
- El Rodadero8.2 km SWCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 14.1 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w317488392; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_18PWT_20260628_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 5.4K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.