Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, Magdalena Department, Colombia

5KTNP 5:00 PM Mar 3, 2021

Highly recommend
We had a great day in the park. Here are a few tips in case you plan to go. There are 4 entrances to the park. We arrived at around 9 a.m. and entered at the Zaino entrance. Tickets ($20 USD per person) and insurance fee ($2 USD per person) were easy to buy at the entrance. You must bring a photo ID and wear a mask at the entrance. We didn't bring any drinks, food, etc. to keep our load light and there were many places to buy them including locals selling fruit, juice, chocolate bread, water, popsicles, and at lease one restaurants. Bring bug spray. We wore sunscreen but didn't bring any and it was fine as most of the trail is shaded. After getting your tickets you can take a van to the start of the trail. It's a long boring walk if you don't take the van. We were confused about which trails were where but as it turns our, there is basically one trail that goes all the way to Cabo San Juan beach and passes a few other small beaches on the way. It would be hard to get lost. We did not go all the was to Cabo San Juan and instead stopped at one of the beautiful small beaches along the way where it was calm enough to swim. The trail has a lot of flat areas but also a lot of up and down climbing areas. It was mildly challenging going there and pretty exhausting going back as our legs were fatigued on the way back. We are fit over-60 adults. Along the trail we were excited to see 2 species of monkeys that got up close to us for some great videos and photos. If you see or hear big movements coming from above, stop and look up! Before heading back we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant for fried fish and rice and it was tasty. There was a sink with soap for washing hands. There were also quite a few bathrooms along the way as well as first aid station. I'm really glad that we spent a day in this beautiful national park.

4FunkyMarshmallow 5:00 PM Feb 26, 2022

Start early and wear appropriate shoes
Get to the park as soon as it opens to avoid the long queue to get tickets and the heat. We didn't and it was a good 45 minute wait. Firstly to buy insurance (mandatory) then to have your ticket issued, then to pay for your ticket, then to have your ticket approved before entering, what a faff. The shuttle bus will take you the first 5k to the beginning of the path which runs along the coast. It's approx 90 minutes to the first beach, 30 to the next , 15 more to Playa la Piscina, then another 35 minutes to Playa Cabo which will be full of day trippers in from Santa Marta and Taganga on boats. La Piscina is beautiful and is safest for swimming, there is a restaurant on the edge of the beach. Wear trainers as the walk can be rocky, bring lots of water as limited places to buy and if the heat is all too much get a horse ride back to the shuttle bus. Colombia doesn't have any really nice beaches anywhere else along the coast so make the most of these, they are clean, white and pretty.