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Added by Jopie, at 02 February 2017
Opening Hours
- Monday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Tuesday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Thursday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Friday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Saturday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Sunday 5:00 AM – 9:00 PM
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15 Reviews
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26 March 2018
We took Mar Sol twice while we were in Colombia. The first time we traveled from Barranquilla to Taganga. We got to the pick up spot in Barranquilla and they kept saying "Santa Marta" Just to clarify, I talked to the guys at the front desk. I explained that I had called to make the reservation and asked about door to door service, they had said they didn't have that for this route, but they did go to Taganga. (Just past Santa Marta.)
It was like getting water out of a stone. Finally, they walked out with me and we went to the guy loading up our bags. He asked me where we were staying and I gave them the name of the hostel. He asked me to wait a minute while he went to talk to the driver. He came back and let me know that he had agreed to take us to Taganga.
It's on their sign, guys
He dropped us in Santa Marta anyways. I reminded him that there had been this whole interaction. He said that we had only paid for Santa Marta and then gave me his back and wouldn't even look at me. I pointed out that this was bad business and he was ripping us off, and he shrugged in acknowledgment and gave me his back. It made me even angrier because there was another girl on the bus that didn't speak any Spanish. Apparently, someone had told her in Barranquilla that he would drop her at the bus station in Santa Marta. When I asked him why he wouldn't take any of us to where it had been agreed upon, he just gave me his back and said, "You paid until here."
The second time was from our resort in Tayrona to Cartagena. The bus kept breaking down the whole way there and it was incredibly hot.
Go with someone else.
Besides, you'll be paying less.response / report this review -
16 March 2018
We used MarSol for our airport pick ups, shuttle from Cartagena- Tayrona, and Santa Marta-Cartagena. The only one that went smoothly was the arrival at the airport. Our trip was absolutely perfect and the only negative part was this company. They were 45 minute late picking us up, told us to get a taxi to the office and they would reimburse us, which they never did just pretended to not understand english, even tho they were messaging me in english. The driver was super aggressive driving and I got extremely car sick. Then from santa marta to cartagena they were 30 minutes late. I asked them if I could have a seat up front and they basically just said well you are the last one so if no one takes the front aka no and we aren't going to help you. Got dripped on the entire time, we stopped at a sketchy place to use the bathrooms where the driver was basically yelling at us that our ticket from our phones wasn't right, seriously thought he was gonna leave us on the side of the road. Then our ride to the airport, they show up 45 minutes early, fight with us saying it was 11am, but we should the email that says 1130. We tell him that we can be ready for 11 and he agrees. We rush to get ready and are ready to go at 11am. The driver doesn't show back up until 1125, so we are just waiting for him. I would not recommend this company, but I do think they may be one of the only shuttle services. I would try to find a different service even if it is a little more. We did have the mercedes bus once, but the second one was old smelly and the AC did not work well. I Will never use this company again and cannot say anything positive about the experience.
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21 February 2018
I traveled from Cartagena to Santa Marta with Mar Sol after most of the locals recommended me that this is the best way to get to Santa Marta. The price was reasonably cheap and the service was fine.
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19 February 2018
Our driver demonstrates some of the most dangerous driving. He constantly tail gates other cars, sped up, did some really scary passes. Many people on our bus got motion sickness because of the jerky driving style. We’ve wasted 30 minutes picking up someone who looked like the driver’s family member or a friend. Driver was collecting addresses off passengers and figuring out his route on the phone while driving full speed on the highway. I would not recommend this bus company to anyone. We’ve had much better experience with Brasilia bus company.
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21 January 2018
Con: At the ticket office they told us to pay the driver directly, who then asked us for a 20% higher price, so we had to go back. Also he picked up random passengers in dodgy areas (a previous review mentions they got robbed in that situation) plus he was rude and a bad driver.
Pro: The mini bus was a new Mercedes Sprinter with comfy seats and decent leg room. Also we arrived on time after ~4h at Santa Marta.response / report this review -
15 October 2017
Our hotel arranged transport with this company for us, but no complaints. They were timely and professional.
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22 September 2017
We were quoted 4.5 hrs direct Cartagena to Minca, and instead it took 8 hours. The bus was late to pick us up, there was an hour spent picking up & dropping off other passengers on both ends (and time spent dealing with everyone's baggage for which there was no room), plus, instead of driving us direct to Minca, they dropped us off at another agency in Santa Marta, where we had to wait 45 minutes for a different bus.
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21 September 2017
Marsol was recommended by the Hostel from Taganga to Cartagena so I had someone from the hostel call them for me. They offered 10.30 and 11.30am. I chose 10.30, however they forgot to let me know that they would actually pick me up at 9.30am, as I wasn't ready the bus went on with the next one being apparently only on 12!.30. Still decided to take them. The whole journey (being the first to be picked up and rather one of the last being dropped off) took over 6h including traffic. I guess taking taxis and public bus etc, it wouldn't have been faster, but it's far from the 3 1/2 h they advertise. Generally a good service that let's you avoid taxi trips to and from terminals, however they are rather unorganized so make absolutely sure you know times and pick up points.
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10 August 2017
The shuttle was alright but it's definitely not door to door - we and most of the others in our van were dropped off at random points in Santa Marta and told to catch a taxi to our hostels, even though none of them were out of town or far off the shuttle's route.
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19 July 2017
Is a fast way to travel. Don't need to call with much anticipation to make a reservation. They need to give a better maintenance to their buses or replace them. The AC is almost inexistent on those buses.
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14 May 2017
The bus journey itself was fine - our driver was helpful and courteous, however as others have said, this is definitely not a door-to-door service.
We were told to wait for up to an hour inside the walled city as they would not pick up just outside. In the event, they didn't even bother to pick us up and lied to us that the bus had already gone past. We ended up having to rush to get a taxi to their offices.
We have heard many similar stories from felow travellers!
If you have no other choice than to use MarSol, don't bother trying to get them to pick you up and just go to their offices.response / report this review -
05 March 2017
STAY AWAY - tourist scams! No one answered their phones so we went to the office to book shuttle from Cartagena to Barranquilla. We were charged $4000 more per ticket than was quoted by our hotel and what is posted on Marsols website. We were then given our ticket after payment which we gave to one of their representatives upon introducing us to our driver. Halfway through the trip our driver asked us only about our ticket- when we told him that we already gave it to someone at the office he told us that we would have to pay again. Once we arrived at their office we discussed with the managers and even though they could prove that we did pay for the ticket already, we still had to pay again because the ticket was supposed to be presented to the driver. We ended up paying again for one of the tickets after lengthy arguing! Lesson to others if you have to use this service: Hold on to your ticket and only present to your driver!
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23 February 2017
Unfortunately I can't give zero stars. It's not a door to door service. They wouldn't even take me to an address in Torrices outside the old city just 5 minutes from their office. Despite the fact that I gave them my address before leaving Santa Marta, they only informed me of this once we were en route to Cartagena. I then had to pay for an additional taxi which strangely was waiting for me at their office. A total scam! Furthermore, the staff (drivers and in the office) were rude, aggressive and actually quite belligerent. This is my first ever Google review which shows how incensed I was by this company. Unprofessional, lacking in service, they deserve to go out of business. In four weeks of travelling in Colombia I have so far found everyone extremely friendly and helpful. This was a real shock!
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19 February 2017
I travelled directly from palomino to cartagena, and it was a pretty nice bus ride. The driver was friendly and the bus had enough space. Only the climate was freezing cold after a while. Probably the best way to get from Cartagena to the eastern cities.
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09 February 2017
Booked a trip from Cartagena to Santa Marta and back again. Worked out fine for us and no real problems. Bus was comfortable. On our trip to Santa Marta, we went to the MarSol offices/terminal. I'd recommend doing this. On the way back, we were supposed to be picked up from our hotel, but after an hour of waiting we called the offices in Santa Marta. They had a problem with their systems. Off we went to their offices and within 5 minutes we were on another bus. So it was all fine in the end, but that experience would defintely make me suggest that YOU got to them, rather than them coming to you. Do that, then you'll be fine. Expect a few stops along the way. Be prepared to just roll with it in terms of how long it takes. We felt safe and in good hands.
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