Tayrona Park

Parque Tayrona

Parque Tayrona is a beautiful, vast and diverse national park, located 1 hour from Santa Marta. The park can be enjoyed on a quick day trip, a short 2-3 day stay, or explored for weeks of hiking, camping and beach hopping.   Be sure to not miss El Cabo San Juan beach; you’ll recognize the stunning scenery from the covers of nearly every guide book of Colombia.  Hike to Pueblito for a challenging ascent up ancient Tayrona stairs to see the site of a former indigenous village. Catch a boat to Playa Cristal and marvel as you stand in crystal blue water and look down at tropical fish swimming around your feet.  Tayrona is breath taking place that will make you feel as though you’ve truly arrived in paradise.

Cost: 37,500 pesos entrance fee; 6,000 pesos bus fare each way; 2,000 pesos jeep ride to the begining of the trail

What to bring: bathingsuit, sunscreen, bug spray, towel, plastic bag in case it rains, water

Minca and beyond

Minca and beyond

Forty five minutes up into the Sierra Nevada mountains lies the small, sleepy, campesino (farming) village of Minca. Here you can escape the bustle of the city to relax by a waterfall or quench your thirst for adrenaline in the highest coastal mountain range in the world.  Choose from number of activities offered in Minca: hiking, rappelling, ziplining, river tubing, mountain biking, paintballing, coffee farm tours, and bird watching.

Cost: 8,000 pesos collective fare each way

What to bring: bug spray, outdoor sporting shoes

La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City)

La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City)

This 4-6 day trek is considered an advanced hike into the jungle to see the sacred indigenous site of the Lost City; only discovered by outsiders in the 1970s.  To access the spectacular panoramic views of the Lost City, one must first trek steep trails (no switchbacks here), wade over rivers, spot multiple cascading waterfalls, visit an indigenous village, and climb over 1,000 ancient stone steps.  Marvel at the view and your accomplishment while keeping in mind that only 10% of the Lost City has been excavated!  Kogis and Aruachos (two local indigenous groups) have said that they used the site long before its discovery for spiritual rituals and that there are many more like it hidden in the jungle of the Sierra Nevada.  Tours can be booked through our reception.  Our biggest piece of advice: bring bug spray!  You can thank us later.

Cost: Around 1,000,000 pesos per all inclusive tour

What to bring: BUG SPRAY, long hiking pants, plastic bags to keep things dry