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.
Alcohol
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.
