Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Tayrona National Park

In the Magdalena region of northern Colombia, along the Caribbean coastline and at the foothills of Sierra Nevada mountain range, lies one of the most popular destinations for both Colombians and worldwide visitors alike – Tayrona National Park.

The park encompasses 150 km² of nature preserve and is also the ancestral home of the indigenous Kogi people. Its unique landscape is incredibly beautiful and wildly diverse.

While the park has become extremely popular in recent years, navigating entry can prove slightly complicated. We visited Tayrona in November 2022 and have put together this useful guide to help you plan your own visit.

Opening Hours

The park is currently open at 8am daily. It closes at 5pm.

You may read on Google that the entrance time is 7am and closure is at 6pm. This is not true. The information is either outdated or applies to the peak summer months.

Thing You Need To Bring

You NEED your passport details to enter the park. We didn’t want to risk bringing our actual document so brought clear print outs on A4 instead. These were readily accepted.

Cash is king. As you will read below there are several reasons you need to bring cash.

Water and snacks. You can find restaurants inside the park (and street sellers with cool boxes for drinks/ice creams etc). However, some of these were shut and some were running low on stock after midday.

Both walking boots & flip flops! The trek constantly changes from challenging uphill hikes to muddy/sandy pathways. There are also sections where you have to cross flowing rivers.

We interchanged between footwear about 5 times. Those wearing trainers didn’t last long! Bare feet is an option but expect cuts and bruises.

Additional Items

Yellow Fever vaccine card – We were told this was needed but were never asked
Mosquito repellent
Sun cream
Rain jacket
Hat
Sunglasses
Microfibre towel
Swimwear
Change of clothes/socks
Day backpack and bag for wet clothes/rubbish
First aid kit

Entrances

There are two entrances. Zaino (considered to be the main entrance) and Calabazo (considered to be quieter).

Zaino is the most popular entrance. Get there at least an hour before official entry as the queues get long.

Public buses are cheap and can be picked up all along the coast to get you to the entrance. The only issue with getting the bus to Tayrona is that the bus service starts at 7am, which means if you are coming from Santa Marta or Palomino, you will be at the end of the queue. Consider sharing a taxi/private transport to get there earlier.

Insurance

You are required to purchase insurance for the day/days you are going to be inside the National Park. This is irrespective of whether you have your own travel insurance already.

To the left of the entrance queue you will see a small booth (next to the toilets) where you can purchase your insurance wristbands. These are 6000 COP per person. CASH ONLY.

Frustratingly, the insurance booth is closed until about ten minutes before the park opens. Split your group so that one person/a couple of you stay in the queue for the insurance and the rest stay in the park entrance queue.

The insurance line runs pretty quickly so once you have your wristbands you can meet up in the main queue and go to the ticket booth together.

For solo travelers we would recommend getting your entrance ticket first. You should then be able to exit the park and pick up an insurance wristband. Then ask one of the guards to let you back into the park.

Transport From The Entrance

Congratulations, you made it into Tayrona! Well… not just yet..

Now that you have your insurance and your entry tickets you will need to walk up the road towards a group of minivans. These will take you to the real entrance point – the start of the hike into the park.

The minivan transfer is 5000 COP per person each way.

AGAIN, CASH ONLY.

You can decide to skip the minivans and walk to the main entrance. However it’s a 5km trek, along a ‘main road’. It’s not worth it and you’ll only lose time within the park.

What To Expect At The Main Entrance

The minivan journey takes about ten minutes and you will be dropped off in a clearing just before the main walkway begins. There are some medical tents, a couple of souvenir vendors and locals offering horse rides (if you don’t want to walk).

NOTE: The horse rides are weather dependent. There had been a significant storm days prior to our entry and the ground was so waterlogged no horse rides were available. We had always planned on walking anyway but this came as a shock to other visitors.

The Hike

The designated route is stunning. It takes you through a whole host of ecosystems. Everything from rainforest, to marshlands, to wild coastal terrain. However, it’s also intensive.

To get to the beaches that you’ll have seen on instagram and other blogs (La Piscina and Cabo San Juan, for example) you’re looking at a good 2 – 3 hours.

With the park shutting at 5pm, this means even if you’re one of the first in, you’ll only have a few hours before having to turn around and take the long trek back to the clearing (where you need to get your minivan back to the main entrance).

Our suggestion if the beaches are your main reason for visiting is to book accommodation in the park and stay the night.

TOP TIP – We would highly recommend downloading a map of the park online and having it readily available on your phone. There are not many sign-posts in the park and although it’s difficult to get lost it will help you keep to time.

The Wildlife

Having come from Palomino – a town with plenty of nice beaches – we were less concerned about making it to the ‘Instagram spots’ and instead took our time walking the trails and keeping eyes peeled for wildlife. If you’re going for a day we’d suggest this is the best approach rather than Usain Bolting it to a beach with hundreds of people on it.

If you take your time exploring the park and get away from the crowds you will be wowed by numerous animal and bird species.

In the space of a few hours we saw geckos, lizards, bats and capuchin monkeys. The absolute highlight was running into a group of cotton-top tamarins – a critically endangered species only found only in Colombia. There are just 6,000 left in the world, many of which are within Tayrona.

There are also caimans and jaguars within the park. We weren’t able to add them to our spotted list but you get pretty close to the cayman lagoons on the trail so keep your eyes peeled! We also heard from others that if you’re lucky you can hear the occasional jaguar roar.

Park Closures – Very Important!

We met far too many people who have missed out on visiting Tayrona because they didn’t know that the park closes at various times throughout the year.

These closures are due to requests made by the indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada who call the park their home and consider it sacred.

Please research what dates you are planning to visit the national park and book accordingly.

For example, this year (2022), the park was closed for two weeks in February, the end of May through to July and from mid-October to the 2nd of November.

Also remember to respect the park, its people and its wildlife. The park was in immaculate condition when we arrived but we did see people litter on the trail, which is incredibly frustrating.

What To Wear

With regards to clothing, we would recommend moisture-wicking sports wear – the kind of stuff you would wear on a typical hike. Be prepared to become very sweaty, very quickly. A change of clothing might be useful, and at the very least a change of socks!

Wearing swimwear underneath your clothes will also mean if you do reach the beach, you can just strip off and jump straight into the water to cool off.

A good day backpack and a bag to put wet swimwear/clothing/socks etc. is essential. Carrying a small first aid kit would be worthwhile as we saw some people with cuts on their feet etc.

Don’t bother bringing anything that you won’t want to get muddy or ruined either.

Staying Overnight

As mentioned it is worth staying overnight if you want quick and easy access to the beaches or for more time to delve deeper into the park’s trails. However we felt that a day was more than enough time for us. (As long as you’re one of the first ones in!).

If you do end up camping, be sure to pack light. We saw a couple of travelers struggling with the walk and carrying too much luggage with them.

Stay At A Hotel Inside The Park

There are numerous hotels/hostels within the National Park, some of which look incredibly luxurious. If you are looking to plan a trip which allows you to stay within the park, give these a look into.

Camping And Hammocks

If you’re not looking for a hotel/hostel stay there are plenty of vendors at the entrance offering camping spots or hammock stays. Most can be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis and one camp can be booked online in advance.

These looked very popular and we saw loads of people with camping equipment.

Some of the campsites were quite close to the caiman lagoons however, so you may have some interesting company if you stay the night!