The 10 most beautiful Tayrona beaches you must visit!
The pictures of paradisiacal Tayrona beaches are guilty of making us add this spectacular destination to our traveling plans in Colombia, not once, but twice!
Most of the time we don’t know how much to trust the photos we see on websites and blogs, due to the abuse of filters to which social networks have made us used to, but I can assure you that the beaches in Tayrona Park are just like the pictures and there’s no Photoshop that beats that reality. All of them are so beautiful!
The park perfectly combines jungle and beaches. They are mostly wild in style, and in this article I’m going to tell you about the different beaches that can be visited, how you can access each of them, those that are suitable for bathing, and more.
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Beaches in Tayrona: which area to choose?
In the Tayrona National Park, there are 3 entrances. Each one accesses different beaches in Tayrona.
Let’s see a list of the Tayrona beaches that you can access from each sector of the park.
Tayrona beaches from the Zaíno entrance
All the beaches in this sector can be accessed on foot along a single trail that goes through the vegetation from beach to beach:
- Castillete
- Cañaveral
- Piscinita
- Arrecifes
- Arenilla
- La Piscina Natural
- Cabo San Juan beach
- Tayrona nude beach
You can get to the Zaíno entrance by taking a bus from the Santa Marta market or by booking an excursion.
🌴 Book here a tour that picks you up at your accommodation in Santa Marta and takes you to visit the best Tayrona park beaches.
Beaches in Calabazo sector
From this sector, you can access a beach, but the trail is more tiring due to its unevenness.
- Playa Brava
Beaches in Tayrona from Palangana
The beaches in Tayrona in the Palangana sector that I’ll mention next the first 3 can be accessed by land and the last 3 can only be accessed by boat, which departs from Playa Neguanje:
- Chengue
- Gairaca
- Neguanje
- Crystal Beach
- Bahía Cinto
- Wachaquita
The 10 best Tayrona beaches you should visit
Though there are many beaches in Tayrona National Park, let’s see which ones you’re sure to see on your tour, many of which are the most beautiful.
1. Castillete beach
It’s the first beach that can be accessed when entering through Zaíno.
It’s in a wild environment with strong waves. It’s to the east of Cañaveral beach, but offers a low-cost alternative for those who can’t stay there, since Castillete has a campsite with tents, hammocks and simple cabins.
2. Cañaveral beach and Piscinita
This beach is known because it houses the luxurious Tayrona Ecohabs.
The beach is stunning but it is forbidden to bathe in the sea as it is very dangerous. There’s only a small protected area where you can bathe, known as La Piscinita.
3. Playa Arrecifes, the widest beach in Tayrona
More than half an hour walking from Cañaveral, through a jungle and rocky area, is this wild beach, where bathing is also forbidden. And you should respect the signs: there are some that show the number of people who drowned for ignoring them.
Arrecifes beach is one of the places in Tayrona with accommodation that’s more backpacker budget-friendly.
💤 This camping site in Arrecifes area is nice and clean. If you are looking for more comfort, take a look at these bungalows.
4. Arenilla
It is a 5-minute walk from Arrecifes and, although the strip of sand is narrower, here it is possible to get into the water, unlike in the previous beaches.
It is very pretty, with calm waters and stones at the ends that create a beautiful environment.
5. La Piscina, the best beach in Tayrona for snorkeling
If you like to snorkel, then this is the best beach for you. Personally, it’s one of my favorites.
The water is calm, and it’s halfway between Arrecifes and Cabo San Juan.
6. Cabo San Juan, the most photographed beach in Tayrona
Half an hour from Arrecifes, Cabo San Juan is the most famous Tayrona beach and, therefore, the most crowded. The reason is obvious: the place is amazing, with two beautiful bays.
Also, on this beach it is allowed to bathe, a great plus.
Once the tourists who arrived by boat from Taganga or on a day trip from Santa Marta leave, the area is much quieter, but you’ll always find people as the campsite in this area has many tents and hammocks to sleep in.
In fact, that was something that we didn’t like on our return to Tayrona, since we saw much more deforestation in the area where the campsite was expanded compared to the first time.
There’s a restaurant here too, so if you’re going for the day and don’t want to carry the weight, you could get here, have lunch, and then come back.
7. The Nudist Beach
A short trail that leaves from Cabo San Juan beach brings you closer to this beautiful beach, with waves and deep waters.
There are usually very few people (in fact, when we went, there was no one).
8. Playa Brava
Playa Brava is accessed from the entrance of Calabazo by a fairly steep and long trail, which takes about 2 or 3 hours to complete. This is a must-go if you have enough time.
This beach is a good option to spend the night, since the place is incredible and there is only one place to sleep, which are these simple bungalows but with incredible views of the sea. They cost about 20 dollars per person, and you have to book in advance.
The next day you could return by the same trail or continue from here to Cabo San Juan, to visit the Tayrona beaches in the Zaíno area.
9. Chengue
This lonely beach is accessed by boat. It has a particular landscape, since the vegetation is drier than in other Tayrona beaches, and also behind the strip of coastal sand there is a freshwater lagoon with mangrove vegetation, a good place for bird watching.
If you plan to visit it, I highly recommend taking plenty of repellent with you!
10. Crystal beach (or Playa del Muerto)
As for Playa Cristal, it is accessed through the Palangana entrance.
First, you get to Playa Neguanje by land, which is a wide bay, and there you must hire a boat to go to Playa Cristal, which is 10 minutes away (Bahía Cinto is 20 minutes away and Wachaquita 30).
It is a beach to spend the day and have lunch, but it is very pretty and worth it, although a lot of people usually go there on weekends.
🌴 Book here the excursion to Playa Cristal with transfers from your hotel in Santa Marta.
Beaches in Tayrona where you can swim
As you may have seen, Tayrona Park has many beaches but few of them are enabled for people to enter the sea.
In fact, only in four of the Zaíno sector it is possible to bathe since the others are considered very dangerous, either due to the waves, the depth, or the rocks and reefs on the seabed.
The four beaches where swimming is allowed at the Zaíno entrance are:
- Piscinita (in the Cañaveral area).
- Arenilla (passing Arrecifes).
- La Piscina (halfway between Arrecifes and Cabo San Juan).
- Cabo San Juan beach.
In them you can get into the sea and snorkel. For the latter, I recommend La Piscina beach, which has calmer waters.
Of the other entry sectors, it is only possible to bathe in the sea at the ends of Playa Neguanje and Crystal beach.
But beyond the fact that not everywhere is possible to enter the sea, I assure you that knowing the best beaches in Tayrona is worth it, undoubtedly some of the most beautiful beaches in Colombia.
🗺 Keep reading about Colombia: What to do in Cartagena?.
And so far the ones that for me are the most beautiful Tayrona beaches. Would you add any other?. Or if you are about to travel, please tell us in the comments!.
