Daniel's DANIEL'S
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Daniel's DANIEL'S
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A little house. A big world.

Minca · Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta · ColombiaMinca · Colombia

Daniel’s — guesthouse in Minca, Colombia

Minca centre · 5 min dark gate, round lamps: keep left! white house under the big tree Santa Marta + the Caribbean

A little house. A big world.

A grandfather’s unfinished house on Calle la Casona, restored by his grandson and opened to travellers who would rather live like locals than stay in a hostel. Five minutes from Minca’s centre. A couple from the river.

Come on in Ask about availability

Calle la Casona, Minca

Not quite a hostel. Much more like home.

Daniel’s is his own home: a white, single-storey house under a big tree, a few minutes’ walk from the village. One four-bed dorm, two private rooms, a real kitchen, hammocks in every direction and a host who actually lives here.

You will cook, swing, swim, lose at chess, and leave knowing a surprising amount about the history of a small mountain town.

“My place is not a hostel. It is a home where we can live together.”

Read the story of the house See the rooms
Hand-painted black-and-white sign with the word DANIEL’S inside a winged emblem and the handle @danielsminca on a wooden frame
Wide view of the common room: an orange hammock in front, a ladder, white walls and a metal roof
The kitchen with patterned tiles behind the counter, shelves, a stove and windows
The kitchen: pots, pans, fridge, stove, yours to use.
  • From the centre 0.4 km confirmed
  • To the river ~2 min, say guests guests say
  • Sleeps 1 dorm + 2 privates confirmed
  • Bathrooms Ensuite, every room confirmed
  • Kitchen Shared, fully kitted confirmed
  • Check-in 14:00–19:00 confirmed
  • Pay Cash on arrival guests say

A look inside

White walls, metal roof, hammocks in every direction.

Keep scrolling, the house slides bySwipe through the house →

  1. The open common room with a metal roof, gymnastic rings, a hammock, wooden chairs and a red curtain
    the common room
  2. An orange hammock beside a black ladder in the common room, with a shelf and a decorative plate on the wall
    orange hammock, black ladder
  3. The living area with wooden armchairs, cushions, a bookshelf and a hammock, light coming through curtained windows
    armchairs + books
  4. Hand-painted wall lettering in red, yellow and navy: Live every moment, Laugh every day, Love beyond words
    the wall that says it
  5. A long kitchen counter under windows with colourful patchwork curtains, a wooden chair at the end
    a long kitchen counter
  6. A hanging wire basket with a pineapple and fruit over the kitchen sink, patchwork curtain behind
    pineapple on standby
  7. A bookshelf with folded towels and books next to wooden armchairs and a curtained window
    books, towels, armchairs
  8. A covered terrace with a translucent roof, plastic chairs and a yellow bicycle, jungle behind
    the terrace
  9. Orange and blue plastic chairs lined up on a tiled porch along the white wall of the house
    sunset seating
  10. A dog trotting along a grassy dirt lane next to a long white house and a wire fence
    rush hour on the lane

Rooms & beds

Three ways to sleep under a metal roof.

A mixed dorm with a family story and two simple private rooms. Every one has its own bathroom. None has a minibar. You will be fine.

No live prices or availability on this site. Daniel replies himself, or check Hostelworld.

Ask about availability

The story of the house

“A house with a story.”

— Daniel’s own first line on his listing

A grandfather who started a house and never finished it. Brothers on bunk beds. A family that had to leave, nine years in the United States, a phone call nobody else wanted to answer with a yes. Then a grandson with tools, and a door opened to travellers.

Read the story of the house →

  1. A long time ago

    Abuelo builds a house

  2. Childhood visits

    Brothers and bunk beds

  3. Later

    The family moves away

  4. Nine years

    Nine years in the United States

  5. The phone calls

    “Does anyone want it?”

  6. 2015

    Back to Minca, tools in hand

  7. Today

    Not a hostel. A home.

Life at Daniel’s

Hammocks, chess and a little cumbia.

Evenings here are home-made. Someone cooks, someone loses at chess, someone swings in a hammock pretending to read. Ask Daniel and the hand drums come out.

Two travellers concentrating over a chess game on a wooden table in the common room, hammocks behind them and a hand-painted sign reading LESS do MORE
Chess night, February 2024

Hand drums, by arrangement

Cumbia, tropical, reguetón, salsa, merengue, champeta: Daniel lists hand-drumming sessions on Hostelworld and says “write me to set up a time”.

Tap the drum
A guest in a flowered dress cooking at the stove of a colourful kitchen with red pots and patterned tiles

Cook like you live here

It is Daniel’s own kitchen, so it is properly kitted. Guests have made guacamole from the avocado tree and lemonade with limes from the garden.

Life at Daniel's

The river

Two minutes to cold, clear water.

That is how guests describe it: a couple of minutes on foot and you are standing on a warm boulder over a clear mountain river. Morning dip, afternoon dip, “I’ll just put my feet in” dip.

Bigger water further up: Pozo Azul, Oído del Mundo and the Marinka falls are all walkable from the house.

River & waterfalls guide →
A white-haired man standing arms wide on a huge boulder in a rushing river while a woman photographs him
The river, a couple of minutes from the house. Boulder poses encouraged.
A man crouching on a boulder in a clear, shallow mountain river surrounded by big granite stones
Clear water, big boulders, no hurry. November 2024.
A small waterfall pouring between dark rocks into a calm natural pool
A waterfall and a pool, from one of Daniel’s reels. April 2024.

Explore Minca

Waterfalls, coffee, birds and one very big mountain.

Most of what makes Minca famous is a walk or a short moto ride from the house. Here is a proper field guide: how to get there, how long it takes, what to bring and what to watch out for.

↖ Santa Marta & the sea Paso del Mango ↗ Daniel’s Cascadas de Marinka Pozo Azul Oído del Mundo Finca La Victoria Coffee & cacao farms Los Pinos Cerro Kennedy Village life Rough sketch, not a trail map N
  1. 01 Cascadas de Marinka Waterfalls · Cold pools
  2. 02 Pozo Azul Swimming hole · River
  3. 03 The river, two minutes away River · Daily ritual
  4. 04 Oído del Mundo Waterfall · River walk
  5. 05 Finca La Victoria Coffee farm · History
  6. 06 Coffee & cacao farms Farms · Chocolate
  7. 07 Hikes from town Trails · Offline maps
  8. 08 Birdwatching Birds · Endemics
  9. 09 Los Pinos Viewpoint · Sunsets
  10. 10 Cerro Kennedy Summit · Overnight
  11. 11 Village life Cafés · Street food
Not sure? Let the Adventure Picker choose → All places

A little house journal

Straight from @danielsminca.

Daniel’s Instagram is not a brand account. It is sunsets that turn the Sierra pink, rainbows over the gate, river days and chess nights. The best of it lives in a journal here, and you can turn any view into a postcard.

  • Pink and lavender sunset over the dark ridges of the Sierra Nevada, framed by jungle leaves 01A
  • A rainbow over a misty green mountain, seen over a hedge, a metal roof and a dark gate with a stone pillar and a round white lamp 02A
  • A white-haired man standing arms wide on a huge boulder in a rushing river while a woman photographs him 03A
  • Dusk view from the mountains down to the lights of Santa Marta and the Caribbean Sea 04A
  • Golden sunset behind forested hills above Minca, with a few roofs among the trees 05A
  • Hand-painted wall lettering in red, yellow and navy: Live every moment, Laugh every day, Love beyond words 06A
  • A small waterfall pouring between dark rocks into a calm natural pool 07A
  • Three smiling travellers taking a selfie in the house, one in a yellow Colombia football shirt 08A
  • A deep orange sunset with the sun just above a dark tree line and streaked clouds 09A
Open the journal → Make a postcard

Getting here, booking

From Santa Marta to the white house, in three moves.

  1. 1

    Up the mountain

    Shared vans (colectivos) leave from near Santa Marta’s public market when they fill up. Allow 30–60 minutes; longer at weekends. Taxis and mototaxis go too.

  2. 2

    Right at Calle de la Casona

    As you come into town, take an immediate right (not into Hotel Minca’s driveway) and continue straight for about 300 m, roughly five minutes on foot.

  3. 3

    Dark gate, round lamps: keep left

    Third house on your right: the white house under the big tree, with the wire fence. Hello.

Directions written by Daniel on his listing.

Directions in Google Maps ↗ Getting Here

Come and stay

Pick your dates and Daniel will tell you what is free. No robots, no live inventory, just a person who lives in the house.

Book on Hostelworld ↗

Check-in 14:00–19:00 · Check-out by 13:00 · Cash on arrival

· Source ↗