Shared dorm
Bed in a 4-bed dorm
Four beds, big lockers, and the whole rooftop as your living room.
- Sleeps
- Room of 4 · you book one bed
- Bathroom
- Shared bathroom
- Size
- ≈12 m²
6°33′N 73°08′W San Gil · Santander · Colombia — San Gil time
Rapids by day. Rooftop by night.
Dorm beds and private rooms on San Gil’s main square. A small rooftop pool under the SAM’S sign, a sauna, two shared kitchens — and a front desk that lines up the river for you.
Go wild out there. Come home up here.
San Gil sends you down class IV–V rapids, off a canyon edge and into caves with bats for company. SamS is where you land afterwards: a top-floor hostel facing Parque La Libertad, a block from the cathedral, with a small pool and a sauna on the roof.
Cook in one of two shared kitchens, grab the free morning coffee, retell the day on the leather sofas under the wooden ceiling — then let the front desk line up tomorrow’s river, flight or bus.
- Rooftop pool
- Sauna
- Two shared kitchens
- Free morning coffee
- Balcony over the square
- Big dorm lockers
- Free Wi-Fi
- Luggage storage
- Adventure desk
- Parking (ask first)
01 — Rooms & beds
Pick your bunk.
Or your door.
Four ways to sleep, from a bed in a four-bunk dorm to the Deluxe with air-conditioning. Rates move with the dates — ask, and the desk replies with the real one.
Private room
Double room, shared bathroom
Your own door and a double bed, steps from the square.
- Sleeps
- Up to 2
- Bathroom
- Shared bathroom
- Size
- ≈10 m²
Private room
Double room, private bathroom
A double bed and your own shower. Simple and private.
- Sleeps
- Up to 2
- Bathroom
- Private bathroom
- Size
- ≈10 m²
Private room
Deluxe room (double or triple)
The biggest room in the house: A/C, a TV with streaming, and room for a third.
- Sleeps
- Up to 3
- Bathroom
- Private bathroom
- Size
- ≈15 m²
Compare every room
Rates change with dates and season — the front desk quotes them on WhatsApp.
02 — The adventure desk
Class IV–V.
About an hour away.
The Río Suárez is the big one: operators run it as class IV–V, about an hour’s drive from town, and usually ask for 18+ and confident swimmers. Not today’s mood? Start gentler on the Fonce, fly the Chicamocha, or go underground.
All adventures Class IV–V whitewater
Rafting the Río Suárez
The big-water day: an hour on the road, then rapids that need every paddle in the boat.
- Bring it on
- Book through SamS
Your own ring, real rapids
Tubing on the Río Fonce
Same river as the Fonce raft trip, but this time you are the boat.
- Easy start
- Book through SamS
Class II–III · first-timer friendly
Rafting the Río Fonce
San Gil's home river: bouncy rapids, swim stops and a finish line by the park.
- Easy start
- Book through SamS
Rappel down a waterfall
Waterfall rappel at Juan Curí
Lean back, walk down the rock and let the waterfall do the shouting.
- Getting bolder
- Book through SamS
Illustration
Cold streams, warm rocks
Swimming holes: Pozo Azul & Pescaderito
The rest day San Gil does best: natural pools, sun on the rocks, nowhere to be.
- Easy start
- Explore on your own
Tandem flight · no experience needed
Paragliding over the Chicamocha Canyon
A few running steps at Dos Ventanas, then nothing under your boots but canyon.
- Getting bolder
- Book through SamS
Illustration
70 m or 140 m — your call
Bungee jumping near San Gil
Ten seconds of physics, a full day of telling people about it.
- Bring it on
- Book through SamS
Illustration
Two caves, two moods
Caving: Cueva del Indio & Cueva de la Vaca
Bats, mud, dark water — pick the cave that matches your nerve.
- Getting bolder
- Ask the front desk
Heritage town + stone-path hike
Barichara & the Camino Real to Guane
White walls, terracotta roofs, then 5.5 km of old stone path down to Guane.
- Easy start
- Explore on your own
Moss-draped river island in town
Parque El Gallineral
Trees hung with grey moss, stone paths and the Fonce rushing past — six blocks from SamS.
- Easy start
- Explore on your own
Canyon lookouts and a 6.3 km cable car
Parque Nacional del Chicamocha (Panachi)
Ride a cable car across the Chicamocha Canyon — 6.3 km of air under your feet.
- Easy start
- Explore on your own
Colombia's national sport — it goes bang
Tejo night
Throw a metal puck, hit a paper triangle of gunpowder, hear the whole hall cheer.
- Easy start
- Book through SamS
03 — Not sure yet?
Find your kind of wild
Three questions, a shortlist from our own catalogue, and one WhatsApp message for everything you pick.
Start with your mood:
04 — The clubhouse part
Big home energy.
Small hostel.
Two kitchens
Both shared, both fully equipped. Guests rate them among the best things about the place.
The lounge
Pitched wooden ceiling, leather sofas, a TV for the match and glass doors out to the balcony.
Tejo nights
Guests mention hostel-organised outings to a local tejo court: gunpowder, cold beer, a lot of cheering. No fixed schedule — ask if one is on.
05 — Above the square
Front row,
top floor.
SamS sits on the top floor of the BBVA building, facing Parque La Libertad. The cathedral is about a block away, El Gallineral roughly a ten-minute walk, and guests say the little terminal for Barichara and Curití buses is a few minutes on foot.
Finding the door: look for the yellow pillar and the vertical HOSTEL sign beside the BBVA cash machine, then climb.
- Address
- Carrera 10 #12-33, San Gil
- Check-in
- 15:00 – 24:00
- Check-out
- 11:00
06 — Word on the street
Don’t take our word for it.
- Hostelworld 10 / 10 1,091 ratings Read guest reviews on Hostelworld
- Booking.com 9.0 / 10 231 reviews Read guest reviews on Booking.com
- Google 4.6 / 5 441 reviews Read guest reviews on Google
Scores as displayed on each platform when we checked (29 October 2026). Read the reviews where they were written.
07 — Ask the desk
Send us your dates.
No online checkout, no fake calendar: tell us the dates and who’s coming, and the front desk gets back to you on WhatsApp with what’s free and the rate.