Overnight Guide To Tayrona National Park, Colombia
Tayrona National Park, in northern Colombia, is a large protected area covering the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta as they meet the Caribbean coast. It’s known for its palm-shaded coves, coastal lagoons, rainforest and rich biodiversity
Getting Here
From Santa Marta getting to Tayrona is just a local bus ride away. You can arrange shuttle service through your hostel, but it is really not worth it. Head over to the central market and just ask people where the bus to Tayrona picks up. It tooks us a minute to find the stop and the right bus. Just hop on and ride for about 45 minutes to an hour, and th ebus drops you off right outside the gate to the park.
Things To Know
Passport: Do not forget your passport to get into the park, or just bring a copy of your passport. I always bring in my day pack photo copies of my passport and yellow fever vaccinations.
Yellow Fever Vaccinations: I suggest everyone gets vaccinated before visiting the Caribbean region of Colombia, and It may be required by now as well. In order to get into Tayrona you will need to show proof of vaccinations. Like my passport I carry a copy of my vaccination card with me.
Most hostels can help you to make sure you have all the proper paperwork you need for day trips. It is always a good idea to ask a ton of questions then to not ask at all.
Entrance Fee
The entrance fee is 56,000 COP ($17.50 USD) for foreigners. It is quite pricey by Colombian standards which is why it makes sense to stay longer than 1-2 days. There is also a mandatory insurance fee that you have to pay when you enter the park, which is 2,500 COP per day (less than $1 USD)
I stayed overnight in the park, and it was $10USD for a Hammock at the campsite near the beach.
What To Pack
If you can leave your main backpack at your hostel in Santa Marta. Load up your day pack for this adventure. In your backpack you need:
a towel
sun screen
a hat
sunglasses
a flashlight
phone charger
water
comfortable shoes for walking and short hikes
cash for food and beer
Food and Drink
It is always a good idea to stock up on water and snacks. Depending on how long you are planning to stay in the park will determine your need. We stayed 2 days and 1 night, so be brought in enough water and snacks to get by for that amount of time. Inside the park you will have many food options at the larger beaches, and if you are adventurous you can find some hidden gems among the palm tree paths.
We found an amazing bakery along the trail from one beach to another. The owner was a really amazing and sweet man, who made some of the most delicious fresh bread I have ever had. We loved his food so much we bought a few sandwiches to pack for meals later in the day. We would go back in the morning for breakfast and fresh made orange juice.
Accomidations (Where to Stay)
As you enter the park, the paths first arrives at a resturant and what appears to be a big open grass field. The field is actually the campgrounds, with a lot of space for tents that a re spreadout all over the ground. Also on the field is a desginated hammock area, which is sort of in the back of the campground.
The hammocks were pretty comfortable, and each one had a mosquito net. The hammock area also had a really good fan to beat the night heat and scare off other insects. You also get a locker to store your stuff. It was certainly not the greatest location, but we were only at the campsite late at night when it was time to sleep.
You can also rent a tent from the park, or just bring your own. We also saw people making camp on some of the smaller beaches. I don’t think this is allowed, but also I dont think anyone really cared.
The campsite has multiple bathrooms with showers. The toilets were pretty gross, but the showers are sort of nice.
As you hike along the path to the more popular beaches, you will find hotel options if that is what you are looking for. If you are trying to stay in a hotel you should book in advance because they fill up quick.
Choose Your Own Adventure
From the campsite you will find a path that leads all throughout the park. Leading you into the jungle and then out onto a beach head. We would just walk the path, taking in the scenery and the sounds of the birds and wildlife. Then when we would reach a beach, we would setup our towels and jump into the water.
Each beach offers its own unique vibe to it, and the people you meet at each one also bring something different to the experience. We meet couples on honeymoon, vagabonds who are traveling for years, and a really cool girl from New York who was camping on the beach by herself.
In between the beaches is a really fun but challenging hike to the El Publito Ruins. The hike is sort of a secret, as we did not encounter many people on the trail or up at the ruins. The ruins are set up in a beautiful setting up in the jungle mountains overlooking the Tayrona beaches.
Eventually we spent a lot of time at beach Cabo San Juan, where we switched from napping, beer drinking, coconut cracking, and swimming. This is truly living your best life and paradise. We met this really cool local scuba instructor and she showed us some other cool beaches and told us stories of growing up in Colombia. As the sunset we hiked back to our campsite, and treated ourselves to a steak dinner and of course more beer.
On our last day we made our way back to Cabo San Juan, where we caught a boat from the beach all the way back to Tagaganga. It was a bit of a challenge to get our ticket and figure out the timing of the boats. Eventually we got on one and the ride was so beautiful. You ride along the shoreline, passing cliffs and more secluded small little beach towns along the way. The ride is very bumpy and wet so you have be warned.
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