The Paradise You’ve Been Searching For: Tayrona National Park

Colombia boasts beautiful and interesting cities aplenty. They’re places that bustle with cosmopolitan culture, but that never lose that distinct Latin American flavor. Museums and galleries are found in abundance and the nightlife is almost always rocking. City life in Colombia can be a non-stop whirlwind of new and fascinating things, and that’s why I love living in Bogota.

Sometimes, however, you need to get out the city for a bit of a recharge and in Colombia you’re spoilt for choice. My favourite get away is Tayrona National Park, and whenever I need to just take it easy for a few days, I’m sure to head to the north of Colombia for a long weekend of beaches and relaxation.

Tayrona National Park is the kind of place travelers dream about. I was a backpacker for years and spent all that time searching for a place like Tayrona: somewhere that still feels wild and raw, untouched by mass tourism. Of course, Tayrona accomodation options are plentiful and of high quality, but there’s owing to the governments dedication to preserving the park, there’s no hotels. So you can camp, stay in hammocks, or in Tayrona’s beautiful Ecohabs. As you sleep you’ll hear the sea rolling onto the sand and when you wake you’ll be able to look out at the mountains that surround you on one side and the ocean that stretches out behind you.

Wandering around the park you’ll discover so many different little beaches, some you’ll be able to call your own, some inhabited by fellow travelers. Either way you can guarantee the sea will be several shades of blue and the sand will be golden.

The best thing about Tayrona, aside from the beaches, is that it’s surrounded by jungle and mountains, giving it spectacular views, great hiking options and, best of all, absolute distance from urbanisation. It’s the perfect place to get closer to nature, and to live, if only for a short while, a beautiful, simple life.

Need to know

To get to Tayrona it’s easiest to travel from Santa Marta. A taxi should cost around $50,000, and entrance to the park is an extra $35,000. Hammocks for the night cost $15,000.

You can visit Tayrona National Park with See Colombia Travel. Click here to find out more.

Ryan