Tayrona National Natural Park
Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona
Interesting facts
- Behind the park rises the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, reaching about 5,700 metres just 42 km from the sea, the highest coastal range in the tropics.
- The east is wet and the west dry because moist Caribbean trade winds slam into the Sierra Nevada and drop their rain on its eastern flanks.
- In the park's cloud forest much of the moisture arrives as fog, condensing on leaves and dripping to the ground rather than falling as rain.
- More than 70 kinds of bats make up a large share of the roughly 108 mammal species recorded in the park.
- Jaguar, ocelot, margay and puma have all been recorded in Tayrona's forests.
- Surveys of its waters list about 202 sponge species, 471 crustaceans and some 700 molluscs, plus more than 350 kinds of algae.
- It is one of only three national parks on Colombia's Caribbean coast with coral reefs inside its boundaries.
- Among its birds are the military macaw, the montane solitary eagle and the lance-tailed manakin, known for its elaborate courtship dances.
- With about 546,000 visitors in 2022, Tayrona was the second most visited national park in Colombia.
- One of its beaches, long called Playa del Muerto, was renamed Playa Cristal in 2010.
Why it is worth it
Tayrona is where the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the jungle-covered mountain range of Colombia's Caribbean coast, steps straight down into the sea. The park, created in 1964, protects about 150 square kilometres of land and some 30 of sea, rising from the waterline to around 900 metres in the foothills. The coast is cut into a series of bays and coves, each with its own crescent of pale sand, framed by forest and scattered with enormous rounded granite boulders - some as large as houses - that the surf has polished smooth. It is this combination of boulder, beach and rainforest that gives Tayrona its unmistakable look.
The landscape changes as you move east. The western sector is dry tropical forest and cactus scrub; further east it turns to humid tropical forest, and higher up the slopes to cloud forest. The park records more than 770 plant species, around 300 birds and 108 mammals, among them one of the last populations of the endangered cotton-top tamarin. Offshore lie coral formations - around 110 coral species and over 400 fish have been recorded - and a marine life that rewards anyone who swims with a mask.
The best-known image of Tayrona is Cabo San Juan del Guía, a rocky headland that splits two curved beaches, with a small wooden lookout perched on its top; visitors who stay overnight can sleep there in hammocks above the waves. On the way from the main entrance the trail passes Arrecifes, where powerful surf breaks over the boulders and the sea is too dangerous for swimming, and La Piscina, a sheltered cove where the water is calm. Inland, the ruins of Pueblito Chairama, with stone terraces and paths built by the Tayrona people who lived here from pre-Columbian times well into the colonial period, are a reminder that this coast was densely settled long before it was a park. The Kogi people live in the eastern part of the park and still hold rituals of environmental healing on this land.
Getting there
The park lies on the coast east of Santa Marta, about 5 km from the city at its nearest point; the main entrance, El Zaino, is about an hour away by bus from Santa Marta's public market, with departures every 15-20 minutes from early morning. The nearest airport is Simón Bolívar International Airport (SMR) in Santa Marta, about 19 km away. From El Zaino, the walk to Cabo San Juan del Guía takes around two to three hours along forest trails and beaches.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Tayrona National Natural Park is a protected area in the Colombian northern Caribbean region and within the jurisdiction of the city of Santa Marta, 34 kilometres (21 mi) from the city centre. The park presents a biodiversity endemic to the area of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, featuring a variety of climates and geography that ranges from arid sea level to 900 meters above sea level. The park covers approximately 30 square kilometres (12 sq mi) of maritime area in the Caribbean Sea and approximately 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi) of land.
Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
11.28333, -74.18333per Wikidata