Tayrona National Park is one of the most famous destinations in Colombia. It is on the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta and boasts some of the most beautiful natural beaches of the area. The park is protected from automobiles and real estate development, so it is a great place to escape the commercial beach towns and discover some natural beaches and jungle.
Tayrona was one of the top destination for me in Colombia, so I planned to spend two nights there. It is easy to get there from Santa Marta as it is only a little over an hour by bus from the downtown. The bus dropped me at the entrance to the National Park, where I was able to get some additional information about the park and accommodation options before entering. There is a fee for entering the park (approximately 40,000 COP when I went) as well as a 3,000 COP fee to take the shuttle to the start of the trailhead (optional but saves 45 minutes of walking). I chose to stay in Cabo San Juan the first night, which is the farthest and also most popular place in the park. This is because it is right on the beach and close to La Piscina, one of the only beaches in Tayrona that is safe for swimming (elsewhere the riptides are too strong). It is a 2.5 hour walk from the start of the trailhead to Cabo San Juan. The trail is not too difficult but does cross over a ridge so I did have to climb up and down fairly steeply to reach the beach side.
Cabo San Juan is quite pretty, with its own small beach, restaurant and camping area. There are some hammocks in top of the hill over the sea with a gorgeous ocean view, but these sell out very quickly so I was left with the choice of a hammock further back from the beach or a tent. I chose the hammock, then decided to set out to explore the area. I took a hike up to El Pueblito, which is actually an alternate entrance to the park but passes through some old ruins and an indigenous village. It was interesting to see more of the jungle side of Tayrona rather than just the beach.
In the morning, I walked to La Piscina and enjoyed a couple of hours swimming in the warm waters there. Afterwards, I retraced the trail from the previous day back out to where the shuttle ended and took the trail to Castilletes. This on the east side of the park and offers hammocks and private rooms near the ocean. It is much quieter than Cabo San Juan and much cheaper (a hammock at Castilletes is 25,000 COP whereas in Cabo San Juan it is 40,000 COP). The beach is very beautiful, with wide open views of the sea, but swimming is not allowed due to the strong currents. It was a nice place to just relax and take in the scenery with much less crowds than Cabo San Juan. I even got to see several monkeys in the mango trees along the walk to Castilletes!
I thought Tayrona was definitely worth the trip to see, especially with taking two days to fully enjoy the park rather than rushing to hike in and out. The part I liked best was the remoteness of it – one of the unique places where you can visit a nice beach that isn’t lined with shops and vendors and hundreds of people. If you’re traveling through the Caribbean coast of Colombia, it should be on your list!
Parque Tayrona is easy to reach from Santa Marta. Buses leave the downtown market area every couple of hours. There is no true bus station here, just a street block where the buses will park. It is between Carrera 9 and Calle 12. Take the bus headed for Palomino (Tayrona is one of the stops along the way).
It is also easy to reach Tayrona from Palomino – just take one of the buses from the main street headed for Santa Marta – Parque Tayrona is halfway between the two.
Once in the park, you can take a shuttle as far as the trail head for Cabo San Juan, but be prepared to walk about 2.5 hours from there.
- Plan for two nights if you want to have time to see more than just one side of the park. It’s also best to go in the middle of the week if you can to avoid the weekend crowds.
- The water in the park isn’t recommended to drink. They do sell water bottles at the accommodation areas but they are only small bottles and overpriced. You may want to bring water with you, although you’ll have to carry it the whole hike in.
- The hammock rentals do come with a locker for locking up valuables but be sure to bring your own lock. Also bring your own towel and be prepared that the showers are pretty basic and get crowded in the evenings.
- Try to wake up in time for the sunrise – depending on where you are, the beaches face northeast so the sunrise over the water can be very pretty.
