Practical information about Tayrona National Park

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Here you will find essential and practical information for your trip to Tayrona National Park. What about food and drink? Can you withdraw cash at an ATM? Is there wifi? Are there any mandatory vaccinations and what should I bring with me to Tayrona National Park? Can I do the hike with my small children? You can find all this info and more here.

ColombiaMyWay

Alcohol
You are not allowed to bring alcohol into the park. It is for sale in restaurants, though. Your bag may be checked at the entrance
Packing List

We recommend that you bring as little as possible. Leave your large backpack at the hostel and only bring a small backpack if you are going to spend the night in the park. We saw backpackers hiking with big backpacks and they looked pretty exhausted. With the high humidity, you want to carry as little as possible anyway.

Bring:

  • Enough water and possibly a snack for the first part of the trail, from El Zaino to Arrecifes. At Arrecifes you can buy more water and also have lunch at the restaurant. Along the way (near Arrecifes) there are also vendors of coco frio (coconut water) and ice creams. Tip: Between Cabo San Juan and Playa Brava there are no vendors, so make sure you have plenty of water for that part of the hike.
  • Anti mosquito spray
  • Sunscreen
  • Cap/hat
  • Good hiking shoes, it can be slippery on the rocks
  • Airy clothing
  • Raincoat or poncho in rainy season
  • Towel
  • Cash money, ATM is not always working
  • Change for ice cream etc.
  • Copy of passport
  • Proof of Yellow fever vaccination (FYI: we brought it, but were not asked to show it)
  • Flashlight if you stay overnight
  • Locks for lockers if you stay overnight at camp sites
Food and drink

Near Arrecifes, there are vendors selling ice creams and coco frio (coconut water). At Arrecifes, Cabo San Juan and Playa Brava you can buy more water and eat at the restaurant. A little past Playa Arrecifes is a bakery (Bera) where you can also buy chocolate caliente. Between Cabo San Juan and Playa Brava, there are no vendors. Food and drink in the park is expensive by Colombian standards. Expect to pay around COP20,000-50,000 for lunch/dinner and COP 7,500-10,000 for breakfast. For a 1.5-liter bottle of water you pay about COP8,000 and for a beer about COP7,000

Yellow fever vaccination

A yellow fever vaccination is not mandatory, but is recommended for Tayrona. Officially, you have to be able to show your vaccination booklet at the entrance, but we and other travellers we talked to, were not asked for it. Here you can read more about vaccinations and medical care in Colombia.

Malaria tablets

We did not take malaria tablets. Many travelers take an emergency supply of malaria tablets with them so that they can take it at the time of symptoms and not have to take them unnecessarily when there are no symptoms. Here you can read more about malaria tablets and medical care in Colombia.

Going to Tayrona with small children?

We were not travelling with children ourselves, but we were talking to a family with 2 small children ages 3 and 4. They had stayed overnight outside the park and did the hike from Zaino to Cabo San Juan del Guía. They gave us the following feedback about the hike with the kids:
– It is a tough hike with the kids, due to the hot weather and high humidity
– The hotel with pool was wonderful for the kids after this hike!”

ATM machine?

There is no ATM machine to withdrauw cash inside Tayrona National Park. You can pay your entrance ticket with your debit card at the entrances, but we were told by other travellers that the ATM machine does not always work. Therefore, it is convenient to bring cash. Also, payment for the shuttle bus, bottled water, ice creams, soft drinks etc is cash, so we recommend bringing plenty of cash.

Wifi

In Tayrona National Park there is only wifi (limited) at campsites in Tayrona National Park. In case there is wifi, it is often only in the common areas. At the hotels, there is usually a better internet connection.

How to get to Tayrona National Park

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How to get to Tayrona National Park, Santa Marta?

Here you can read about the different modes of transportation to Tayrona National Park.

Most visitors of Tayrona National Park, travel from Santa Marta, which is 35 km away. This is also where the nearest airport is located. There are flights to Santa Marta from Bogotá (1.35min) and Medellín (1.15 min). If you fly to Cartagena or Barranquilla, you can catch a bus or colectivo to Santa Marta and there you can take the bus to Tayrona. You can also get to Tayrona National Park from Palomino.

If you’d rather not visit the park on your own, you can check out options for a guided tour to Tayrona National Park.

Transportation by bus

From Santa Marta
Buses depart every 30 minutes from the Mercado Público, at the corner of Calle 11 and Carrera 11. Tayrona National Park has two entrances, the main entrance El Zaino (the most used entrance) and the Calabazo entrance, which is 10 minutes before the Zaino entrance. Take the bus toward Palomino and tell the driver at which entrance you want to be dropped off, The trip takes over an hour and costs about COP10,000 /$2.50.

From Palomino
The ride takes around about an hour and costs about COP8000/$2

From Cartagena, Barranquilla or Minca
Coming from these destinations, you must first go to Santa Marta and catch the bus there. Tickets for Cartagena-Santa Marta cost around COP45,000/$11, Barranquilla-Santa Marta COP26,000/$6.50 , Minca-Santa Marta COP9000/$2.25 (colectivo).

 

Private transport

If you want to travel comfortably and/or save time, you can arrange private transportation, that drops you at your hotel near Tayrona. Stopping along the way to withdraw money at an ATM or running an errand is usually no problem. A private transfer from Santa Marta costs around 150$ (up to 6 people) and a private transfer from Cartagena costs about 200$ with 2 people. For private transport from Barranquilla to your hotel near Tayrona, you should count on a minimum of COP 420,000/$105 for 2 people.

By car

If you come to Tayrona National Park by car, you can go to the main entrance (Zaino). You can drive to Cañaveral and park the car there. Parking costs COP20.000 per day for cars and COP14.500 for motor bikes (rates 2025).

There is another entrance you can go to by car, which is the Palangana (Neguanje) entrance. This is the first entrance from Santa Marta, about a 20-minute drive. From here you do not have access to beaches like Playa Arrecife and Cabo San Juan, but you can go to Playa Neguanje and take a boat to the beautiful beach Playa Cristal. There are no hotels or camping spots here so you have to leave the park the same day.

By boat

The popular Cabo San Juan beach del Guía can be reached by a boat trip from Tatanga. The boat leaves around 9:30am, or when the boat is full. The boat returns at 4 p.m. The trip takes about an hour. Agree clearly where the captain will pick you up for the return trip. The ride can be very rough and is not recommended for everyone. Price indication is around COP80,000 /20$ one way. From December to the end of March, the sea is extra rough and the boat trip can even be dangerous and take over 2 hours instead of 1 hour. Therefore, check the forecast for wind and waves before you decide to book the boat trip.

Continue reading here for more information about Tayrona National park; beaches and hikes, staying in the nicest hostels and hotels in Tayrona National Park, what is the best travel period, how much does an entrance ticket cost and other practical information for your visit to Tayrona National Park. Are you going to take a tour of Colombia’s north coast? Then read here about the trip we made from Barranquilla to Santa Marta.

Kantawa eco spa hotel Tayrona National Park

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Hotel tip Kantawa Eco Spa hotel - Tayrona National Park

Are you going to Tayrona National Park and would like to enjoy the wellness facilities of an eco spa hotel after an intense hike in the park? Then Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel is highly recommended. Here you can enjoy the swimming pool with hydromassage showers and sun beds, jacuzzi, massages, sauna and Turkish bath.

Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel is located in Calabazo, a 5-minute drive from the Calabazo entrance to Tayrona National Park and a 10-minute drive from the main entrance (Zaino) to Tayrona National Park.

Upon arrival at Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel, staff member César gave us a tour of the property so we immediately knew where to find all the spa facilities. When we visited the hotel in September 2023, the hotel was constructing an additional spa area with heated pool.

At this beautiful place you will completely relax. The hotel has a beautiful garden, where you can see all kinds of birds and butterflies. During a walk in the grounds we also saw a cute squirrel. By the river you can chill in the giant hammock.

The wellness facilities
Near the river is a special room where you can have a massage (which my travel companion can warmly recommend), while you relax with the sound of the river.

The ultimate chill place for us was the jacuzzi, which you have to reserve. After  you made your reservation, the jacuzzi is prepared and brought to temperature especially for you. Bathing in all the foam, overlooking the nature, was the ultimate experience for us at Kantawa eco spa hotel.

The same protocol is followed for the sauna and Turkish bath: an hour in advance you indicate that you want to use it and the sauna and Turkish bath are prepared for you. What we noticed was that the wellness facilities were well maintained and very clean. The use of the wellness facilities was included in the price, only for the massage we had to pay extra.

Rooms
We had booked a double room. The room was basic, but had a refrigerator, air-conditioning and wifi. There were nice bathrobes waiting for us.

In front of our room was a common terrace.

There are several options. These include a room with a private jacuzzi and this freestanding cabaña by the river.

Restaurant
The restaurant provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is not a restaurant where you can just sit down for lunch and dinner. The friendly staff comes and asks what you want to eat and what time and then they make sure it is ready when you come.

Breakfast includes fresh fruit, coffee or hot chocolate, orange juice and eggs of your choice.

On our last day, we were asked if we wanted to try the specialty of the Caribbean coast, and yess…we wanted to! We got a nice crispy arepa con huevo with suero, a kind of sour cream.

WhatsApp service
The service of Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel was excellent. For example, through the convenient app service, we could ask for the jacuzzi to be prepared. We could also ask for other things, such as extra towels. When my travel companion was not feeling well, we could even place an order for medicine. Normally the droguerias have a delivery service, but they did not deliver at the hotel. Therefore, someone went to pick up the medicine for us! This service was very affordable and cost COP20,000/$5. When I realized after leaving the hotel that I had left my bikini on the terrace, César even arranged for the bikini to be delivered to our hotel in Santa Marta. Again, we paid only COP20,000 for this!


During our stay (in the rainy season), there were heavy rainstorms from about 3 in the afternoon, with thunderstorms. This also caused the power to go out a few times, but fortunately Kantawa Eco Spa hotel has a generator, which was quickly switched on. As a result, we still had electricity and wifi!

#ColombiaMyWay Tips

Tip #1
Check this link for more information and the different room options at Kantawa Eco Spa hotel.

Tip #2
Transportation to Tayrona National Park
You can catch the buses from Santa Marta which are on their way to Tayrona National park, or you can ask your hotel to call a taxi for you. A taxi to the main Zaino entrance cost us COP30,000/$7.50. Coincidentally, our taxi driver lived next to the park and when we went for a drink at the restaurant after our hike, he was sitting here as well and took us back to the hotel.

Tip #3
How to get to Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel?
The hotel is about a 50-minute bus ride from St Marta (COP10,000/$2.50) Calabazo is a 10-minute drive before Zaino, where most travelers go. If you travel by bus, ask the driver explicitly to drop you off earlier than Zaino, otherwise he will drive past the Kantawa Eco Spa Hotel. We were coming from Barranquilla and had arranged private transportation. This was not cheap: the ride cost COP420,000/$110 for the two of us, but this was worth it to us. It was a very comfortable ride and in about 2 hours we were at the hotel.


Check out our Tayrona travel guide here, with information and helpful tips for visiting the park. Check out more information about the trip along the north coast of Colombia, with information on Minca, Santa Marta and Barranquilla.

 

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The Tayrona National Park

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The Tayrona National Park

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Where the jungle ends on the beach

Hiking through the jungle to spectacular beaches, wildlife spotting…The location of Tayrona National Park is spectacular, between the Caribbean Sea and the highest coastal mountain range in the world, the Sierra Nevada de St. Marta. Not surprisingly, it is one of the most popular national parks in Colombia. Add to that its location 35 km from Santa Marta and 240 km from Cartagena, and you have a fine stopover to grab while traveling along the North Coast. Many travelers combine a visit to Tayrona National Park with Minca, Ciudad Perdida and La Guajira.

Influence of the Indian community
Long ago, the Tairona Indians lived in PNN Tayrona and today their descendants, the Kogui, live in the Sierra Nevada. They have preserved their culture and traditions and -together with other indigenous groups- are closely involved in PNN Tayrona. About 3 times a year Tayrona NP is closed so that the indigenous groups can perform spiritual rituals and the ecosystem can recover.

Find information on current closing dates and other tips here.

 

#ToColombia tips

#1 Visiting Tayrona, this is how it works!
 (updated February 2023)

  1. Pay COP5000 for the mandatory insurance
    After this, you get an orange band on
  2. Go to the box office to pay the entrance fee.
    COP 54,500 low season- COP 64,500 high season. At the end of April 2022, we paid COP 57500. Payment by debit card is possible
  3. Show a copy of your passport + Covid-19 vaccination certificate
    The rules are changing rapidly, but at this time a vaccination certificate is still required for Tayrona NP. A yellow fever vaccination is recommended but not required.
  4. A van can take you to the start of the hike for COP5000.
    These go every few minutes. The start of the hiking trail is 5km further up so highly recommended. The same goes for being taken back to the exit.

#2 Avoid the queues and arrive early
The park opens at 7:00am. If you come after 12:00am, you may not be let in due to the maximum number of visitors allowed per day. On holidays and weekends it can be very busy, so if you are flexible, plan your visit during the week.

#3 Bring plenty of cash
We entered the park at El Zaino, the main entrance. If you enter the park at the Calabazo entrance, you can only pay in cash. Also inside the park itself, you can’t take debit cards and it’s cash only.

#4 Keep in mind the closure dates
3x a year Tayrona NP is closed so that the indigenous groups can perform spiritual rituals and the ecosystem can recover.

The closing dates in 2023 are:

  • Feb. 1-15
  • June 1-15
  • October 19-November 2

Check the website of Tayrona National Park for updates.

#5 You can’t swim everywhere
Due to strong currents, not all beaches are suitable for swimming. Tayrona’s most popular beach is Playa Cabo San Juan and you can also swim at Playa La Piscina. Always keep a close eye on the warning signs and flags at the beaches.

#6 ToColombia hotel tip
After an active day in Tayrona, want to relax in a beautiful lodge near the park? Then check out Senda Koguiwa lodge This lodge is a 10-minute walk from the park’s main entrance. Also at Kantawa Eco Spa hotel is a great place to relax after a day of hiking in Tayrona National Park. The hotel features an outdoor pool, spa and wellness center with a steam room, hot tub and Turkish bath.

Check out more hotels and hostels in and around Tayrona. and in Santa Marta. Check out here if you want to go to Tayrona National Park with a guide.

Read here the comprehensive travel guide to Tayrona National Park

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Tayrona-the other travel story →

Hiking in Tayrona National Park

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Like everyone who visits Colombia, we had heard of Tayrona National Park, known for its beautiful unspoiled nature and the beautiful hikes. A must-do if you are near Palomino/Santa Marta. And so the adventure began. Read our story here…

 

A different hike from that of many visitors….

Very optimistically, we made another vlog for the home front that we were already walking for 4 hours and that we only had “2 more hours” to go! Nothing could be further from the truth…

When the receptionist at our hostel (Eco hostel Yuluka) said that we could do the Tayrona hike in 6 hours, that already seemed pretty tough to us but still we started the hike in a good mood! From the entrance of the Tayrona National Park you are first brought to the starting point. The first kilometers were beautiful with an amazing view over the sea, cliffs that went straight down, great nature (here and there a big mud puddle that you had to avoid) and animals like howler monkeys and different kinds of birds.

Very optimistically, we made another vlog for the home front that we had been walking for 4 hours and that we only had “2 more hours” to go! Nothing could be further from the truth…

Where we spent the first few hours hiking, by now we were climbing. Moaning, we said to each other “couldn’t the receptionist have told us that we had to climb like a monkey, descend as if you had the strong legs of a horse, a physical condition of a cheetah and lose as much moisture as from the blowhole of an orca?” Or, had we taken a wrong turn while chatting and admiring nature? Knowing us, this was exactly what must have happened….

There is no one who can do this route (the wrong one that is) in 6 hours, so it took us not 6 but 9 hours. Did we like it? In the beginning yes……but soon we lost sight of the nature as we were struggling and every rock felt like a victory.

When, after more than an hour of scrambling, we were told that we had another hour of climbing and scrambling over rocks (which I couldn’t have done with my short legs without help) and then another 3 hours of walking uphill and downhill, we were both fed up. We were running out of water and snacks. Fortunately, we ran into a group of Argentinean girls who shared some peanuts and water with us, so we still had something to keep us going.

23 kilometers and more than 31,000 steps further…..with pain in our back, hip and knees we made it to the finish line just before closing time: we did it! No Christmas kilos for us this year 😉

Written by Mellijn
Travel Date December 2017, updated September 2025

#ColombiaMyWayTips

#Tip 1: Check the route in advance!
If necessary, ask fellow hikers along the way if they are walking the same route as you, to avoid ending up in a situation like ours. Standard route: Calabazo to El Zaino (or the other way around, also possible!)

#Tip 2: If you start from Calabazo and hike via Playa Brava (about 4 hours walk), it’s another 2 hours walking from Playa Brava to El Zaino. During the first part (from Calabazo to Playa Brava) you have to climb and descend a lot, this is a lot more challenging than the second part of the route. Once you get to Playa Brava, the second part of the route is a piece of cake 😉

#Tip 3: Want to master Spanish faster? Then set your phone settings to Spanish! It has helped me to shift faster to Spanish.

#Tip 4: Check out more info on the hiking trails and more practical information and tips in our travel guide Tayrona National Park

#Tip 5: Want to hike in the park with a guide? Then check out this Tayrona hike and beach tour.  These are your options for hotels in and around Tayrona National Park.

    We do not accept direct payments from touroperators or hotels for our reviews and we pay for our own stay and tours. Every recommendation is based solely on our own experiences and honest opinions. However, some of our links are affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission if you book through them. This commission comes at no extra cost to you and helps us maintain our website.

    Jeanette and Shelly

    Writers and Travelers, Colombia My Way