What are the most beautiful beaches in Tayrona National Park? Can you swim at all the beaches? Can you stay overnight at the beaches and what are the facilities? Here you can find information about the best beaches in Tayrona National Park.

Tayrona National Park stretches across a large part of the coast and has many beautiful beaches. Due to strong currents, not all beaches are suitable for swimming. Therefore, keep a close eye on the warning signs and flags at the beaches. Here is an overview of the beaches and facilities from El Zaino, Calabazo and the Neguanje entrance.

BEACHES – ZAINO ENTRANCE

Cañaveral

• At the beginning of the walking trail
• 1e beach after entrance Zaino
• Accessible by shuttle (10 min.) or walking from the main entrance (Zaino)
• Camping and eco-habs
• Swimming not allowed

Next to Cañaveral is “Playa Piscinita”, where swimming is allowed. This beach with sun umbrellas and sun beds belongs to Hotel Ecohabs Tayrona.

Castilletes

• A few minutes’ walk from Cañaveral
• Swimming not allowed
• Camping on a large finca. There are also a few private rooms
• Restaurant

Playa Arrecife

• Location between the Zaino entrance and Cabo San Juan: 50-60 min. walk from trailhead and 50-60 min. from Cabo San Juan
• Swimming not allowed
• Campsites
• Ecohabs Arrecifes
• Restaurant

Playa Arenilla

• Small beach with calm water
• 10 min. from Arrecife
• Swimming allowed
• No facilities

Playa la Piscina

• Small, quiet beach 20 minutes from Arrecife
• Between Arrecife and Cabo San Juan
• Swimming allowed
• Snorkeling
• No facilities

Cabo San Juan del Guía

• Most popular and busiest beach 30 minutes from Playa la Piscina. A photo of this famous beach, you will find in almost every article about Tayrona
• Accessible: on foot from Zaino, (around 2 hours) Playa Brava (around 2 hours) or by boat from Tatanga (approx. 1 hour)
• Swimming allowed
• Snorkeling
• Campsite and few private cabañas. Hammocks cost around COP40.000-50.000 per night. The private cabañas cost around COP 250.000-400.000, depending on the season. 
• Restaurant

Playa Nudista

• Quiet beach 10 minutes from Cabo San Juan del Guía
• No facilities
• Swimming is allowed when the sea is calm, keep an eye on the warning signs
• Boca del Saco is a quiet beach 10 minutes from Playa Nudista

BEACHES – CALABAZO ENTRANCE

Playa Brava

• A secluded beach about a 3.5-hour walk from the Calabazo entrance
• Swimming is allowed
• Restaurant available
• Private cabanas at ecolodge Playa Brava Teyumakke. There are also glamping options and you can sleep in a hammock or tent (bring your own)

BEACHES – NEGUANJE ENTRANCE

Beautiful beaches in another part of the park are Playa Cristal and Playa Cinto, accessible through the Neguanje entrance. Bahía Concha is the beach in Tayrona, which is the closest to Santa Marta, 35 minutes away. These beaches are accessible by car, bus or moto-taxi or by boat or sailing trip .

How many days do you need for Tayrona National Park?

How many days do you need for Tayrona National park? Can you visit the park in 1 day or do you need to stay overnight? This information and more, you can find in this article. 

Tayrona in one day?
Want to visit Tayrona National Park in one day, do a hike and not spend the night there? It’s definitely doable, if you do the hike from the Zaino entrance to Cabo San Juan. The hike takes -depending on your pace and number of stops- about 2 hours one way. You’ll still have time to swim somewhere. However: keep in mind that the humidity is high, so the hike -in spite of the good hiking path- can be intense. If you don’t want to hike the whole route to Cabo San Juan, you can stop halfway at Playa Arrecife. There you can have a drink and walk back to the Zaino entrance from there. If you want to enjoy the park to the max, visit the various beaches and not have to be in a hurry, then it’s recommended to stay in the park at least one night. Another advantage of this, is that you can experience the park outside the crowds of day-trippers, who leave around 4 p.m. For the hike from Calabazo to Playa Brava, one day is too short. Better to stay overnight at Playa Brava and make it a multi-day trip.

3 DAYS: in/out of Calabazo

DAY 1: Sleep one night in a hostel or hotel just outside the Calabazo entrance, leave your luggage there and travel alone with a small backpack

DAY 2: Take a minivan or taxi to the Calabazo entrance. The entrance is open from 7 .00am. Hike to Playa Brava (about. 3.5h) and there you spend the night at Hotel Playa Brava Teyumakke

DAY 3: On Day 3 you can relax on the beach in the morning. In the afternoon you will hike back to the Calabazo entrance and from there you return to your hotel. There spend another evening relaxing or continue on to your next destination.

4 DAYS: in Calabazo/out of Zaino
If you have an extra day, then on day 3 you can do do the hike from Playa Brava to Cabo San Juan (approx. 2h) and spend the night there. NOTE: can’t reserve your hammock for Cabo San Juan at the Calabazo entrance, so you’ll have to do that right upon arrival in Cabo San Juan. On day 4 you will then leave the park via the Zaino exit.

Look here for more information about the hiking trails and  lodging in and around Tayrona National Park.

Continue reading our Tayrona National Park Travel Guide for information about beaches and more. Follow the link for an article about our trip along the North coast which we made from Barranquilla to Santa Marta.

Climate, busy periods and closing dates

What is the best travel time for Tayrona National Park? What is the climate like, what are the busy periods and when is the park closed? Here you can find more information and tips.

• Most important in your planning: check the park’s closure dates. 3 times a year Tayrona is closed so that the indigenous groups can perform spiritual rituals and the ecosystem can recover. The closure dates for 2026 are: Feb. 1 to Feb. 15, June 1 to June 15 and Oct. 19 to Nov. 2

!!Update March 5 2026: Tayrona National Park re-opened for visitors. After a closure of 5 weeks to strengthen security and environmental protection, travelers can enjoy one of the most beautiful areas on the Caribbean coast again. New surveillance measures are in place. Some areas might still have limited access while environmental restoration continues. 

⚠️ Tayrona National Park CLOSED — Travel Update (February 19, 2026)

Colombia has temporarily closed Tayrona National Park due to security concerns in the region, including road blocks and safety risks affecting visitors and staff.

Although some local Indigenous communities have indicated limited reopening, this access is not officially authorized by Colombia’s National Parks authority. Tourism operations and guided visits remain suspended until further notice, so be aware of any people offering any services for Tayrona National Park.

This is not one of the usual ecological closures, authorities say the park will remain closed until security conditions improve, and no reopening date has been confirmed yet.

👉 If you’re traveling to Colombia soon, check official updates before planning your visit.

• Tayrona has a hot and humid climate, with an average temperature of 28 degrees Celcius/82 Fahrenheit. A humidity of 80% is quite normal in Tayrona! When we did the hike, the humidity was 79% and we noticed it! We were soaked and the humidity was hitting us hard.

• Because of the heat and crowds, it’s best to get to the park early. Moreover, there is a limited number of visitors allowed per day and you can’t enter after noon.
• Tayrona is very popular with Colombians and during school vacations, weekends and puentes (long weekends around Colombian holidays) can be very busy. Semana Santa (Easter week) and December/January are particularly busy. If you can, avoid these periods. If you can’t arrive as early as possible. The busiest beach is at Cabo San Juan.
• You have the best chance of good weather outside the rainy season. The rainy season is May-June and September through November. Still, you can visit Tayrona National Park even during the rainy season. The showers are usually temporary. The downside is that the trails can be muddy in the rainy season.

• We ourselves went to Tayrona during the rainy season (late September). During our 3-day stay near Tayrona National Park, it rained (long and hard) every afternoon from about 3-4 o’clock. That’s why we started the hike early, so we could get back to the hotel before the rain in the afternoon. Also, in 3 days the power went off 3 times in the evening. In our accommodation Kantawa Eco Spa hotel they quickly switched to a generator, so luckily we were not bothered by this.

Prices and check-in procedure Tayrona National Park

How much does an entrance ticket cost and what are the opening hours for Tayrona National Park? What are the prices for shuttle buses and mototaxis to the starting point of the trail? What do you need to bring with you? Why do I have to pay insurance and can I use debit cards at the ticket office? Here you will find answers to all your questions about visiting Tayrona National Park.

There are two main entrances where you can buy a ticket, at the Calabazo entrance and at the popular El Zaino entrance. The prices are the same.

Ticket and insurance payment (rates 2025).
Upon arrival, you must first pay the mandatory insurance of COP 7000/$1.75 (for each day you are in the park), after which you will receive a green wristband.

After this, you must go to the box office to pay the entrance fee. Prices are increased every year and depend on the season. In low season, you pay COP 77,500/$19.50. In high season* you pay COP 92,000/$23. The ticket has no time limit and you can use the ticket for several days. but not out and in, then you have to stay in park. We paid cash, but you can use debit cards at the ticket office, even though we heard from other travellers that the ATM machines don’t always work.

Honestly, we wondered at first if the mandatory insurance wasn’t nonsense. However, when we saw a first-aid post at the starting point of the hike and another one in Arrecife, we thought it was understandable that the insurance is mandatory. Good to know: there is no first- aid post on the hike from Calabazo to Playa Brava.

*High season:
June 15-July 15, December 15-January 30, long Easter weekend and puentes (extended weekends during holidays)

Copy of passport
At the entrance they ask for a copy of your passport. We wanted to show our passport on our phone, but at our hotel they told us that sometimes the staff can act difficult about it and it is better to bring a copy. We heard from other travelers that a photo on the phone was also accepted. We were not asked for proof of yellow fever vaccination. We had heard in advance that you are required to watch a movie about Tayrona. There was a movie playing about the park but nothing was said to us about it. Payment went smoothly. 

ZAINO ENTRANCE
At the ticket office you will be asked if you want transportation to the beginning of the trail. If you want, you can show the receipt to the driver and for around COP 5000 you will then be taken by shuttle bus to the beginning of the trail, the sendero Arrecifes. (cash only) The vans to and from the trailhead, run every 10 min or when full.

The path to the start of the trail is not very attractive to walk (see photo below), so we thought it was well worth taking the van.

There are also motorcycles that can take you.

There are also horses at the beginning of the trail, with which you can ride to Cabo San Juan in 1.15h. You can also ride horses on part of the trail. See entrances and hiking trails for more info.

CALABAZO ENTRANCE
For around COP20,000/$5 you can take a mototaxi for the first 3 kilometers of the trail.

Stay inside or outside the Tayrona National Park?

There are a lot of  accommodations in and around Tayrona national park. Whether you should stay in the park or outside, depends very much on what you want to do and what your budget is. Accommodations (and food and drink) inside the park are usually very basic and a lot more expensive than (just) outside the park, while from a hotel or hostel just outside the park you can still be in the park in 5 minutes.

Check here our tips For where to stay in Tayrona National Park: the best hotels and hostels in and near Tayrona National Park. Would you rather camp in the park ? Then continue reading here for information about the best campsites in Tayrona National Park.

Tips for booking your hotel or hostel

Check here our tips on where to stay in Tayrona National Park

Tip #1
Do you have the time and want to do several hikes in the park?
Then spend 1 or 2 nights in a hotel inside the park. You’ll experience the park without the crowds of many day-trippers, and you can head out early in the morning for a hike. Overnight stays in the park range from budget options like hammocks or tents to luxury ecohabs. There are also several mid-range hotels.
We recommend choosing a hotel or campsite that is not too close to the main entrance at El Zaino, where it tends to be busier, noisier, and further from the beaches.
Tip: Cabañas Tequendama Playa Arrecifes Parque Tayrona is centrally located in the park and closer to the beaches.

Tip #2
Do you want to stay in an adventurous location, far away from most tourists?
Then Ecolodge Playa Brava Teyumakke (Calabazo) is probably more your thing.

Tip #3
Do you want to relax after your hike in a comfortable hotel with a pool and/or spa facilities?
Then book one of the hostels or hotels just outside the park, such as Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel. This hotel is located in Calabazo, about a 15-minute taxi ride from the El Zaino entrance. We loved enjoying the pool with hydromassages, the jacuzzi, sauna, and Turkish steam bath after our hike in the park.
Another great option is the Senda Koguiwa Hotel, located right across from the El Zaino entrance.

Tip #4
If you prefer staying a bit farther away at the beach, there are several options within 10–25 minutes’ drive from Tayrona.
In Los Naranjos, Costeño Beach, and Taganga, you’ll find various beachside hotels within 10–25 minutes of the park.
Just outside Tayrona in Los Naranjos, you’ll find a number of mainly luxury accommodations. Costeño Beach is a bit further and is a popular beach among backpackers, with many affordable hostels and cabañas.
Taganga is located about 5 km from Tayrona National Park and offers many budget-friendly hostels. You could stay here and take the boat to Cabo San Juan del Guía, if weather and sea conditions allow it.

Tip #5
Keep reading for even more tips for hotels and hostels inside and outside the park.
Would you rather sleep in a hammock or tent? Check our tips here