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One of my favorite parts of Colombia, at least so far, is Buritaca and the surrounding coastal areas. If you haven’t yet explored this part of Colombia, I highly suggest you go.

During my initial trip to Colombia, my boyfriend and I traveled around at a fast pace in order to see and experience as much as possible. Colombia is a large, beautiful, and diverse country and of the places we were able to visit, the northern coast ranked at the top. Keep reading for more information on how to get there, where to stay, and what to do while you are there.

Where to stay

In and near Buritaca, Colombia and Parque Tayrona, there are many accommodation options from ecolodges to hostels, boutique hotels, and campsites.

Ecolodge

We flew from Medellín to the Santa Marta airport and then took a taxi to Playa Pikua ecolodge located between Parque Tayrona and Buritaca. Upon arriving at the ecolodge and looking at our accommodations, I must admit I immediately became concerned with spiders. I wasn’t concerned bugs, lizards, or even snakes, solely the possibility of encountering spiders.

As you can see in the image above, and as I also could see when we booked the accommodation, it is indeed an ecolodge. However, not at any point did we encounter any bugs, lizards, or spiders in our room despite the somewhat rustic construction.

The ecolodge was and still is our favorite accommodation for the entire trip. The price was reasonable, the breakfast was delicious, the staff members were incredibly friendly, the beach was a very short walk away, you had the option of ordering dinner prepared with the catch of the day, and there was a beach front hostel a short walk down the beach that had very good food and fresh margaritas.

Hotel

After we left the ecolodge we stayed a couple of nights in a hotel inside the Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, or as more commonly known, Parque Tayrona.

The hotel sufficiently met our needs and had beautiful views. There were advantages to being inside the park as it was easy to access the trailhead to the beaches from our accommodation. There may be better and more budget friendly locations within the park, as we were traveling during high tourist season. The hotel was much more expensive than the ecolodge and arguably more basic.

Travel mishap at the hotel

Unlike the ecolodge, the room was fully enclosed by walls and a door. Despite this fact, we were met by what was presumably a cockroach the size of my palm in the middle of floor after dinner our first night. I mention this partly because if you read my recent article about travel mishaps, you can imagine this encounter joins in the ranks of my other mishaps.

In true form, the next day laughed about it over lunch. My boyfriend told me that he made a plan to capture it with a towel so he could release it outside. However, when he placed the towel over it, the whole towel began to move across the floor so much so that he began to expect it would fly away with the towel. This story became our favorite to tell and laugh about after the trip.

Camp

Another option to consider is to camp inside the park. There are companies you can hire to carry all or most of your belongings to a campsite within the park. Or, you can backpack your belongings in yourself. In the future, maybe we would choose to backpack and camp. Camping is certainly the best way to immerse yourself in the beautiful surroundings in the park.

What to do in Buritaca and Parque Tayrona

Enjoy the beaches

The beachfront near our ecolodge was beautiful with a nice large sandy beach and trees for when you needed a break from the sun. We enjoyed resting and relaxing on the beach and going for long walks and wading across the incoming rivers that interrupted the coastline.

As the nearby hostel was bustling, there were people playing volleyball and other games on the beach. If that is something you were interested in doing, I’m certain the hostel staff and guests would welcome you.

Within Parque Tayrona, there are wonderful places to swim. However, take caution when choosing where to swim and be sure to ask a local if you aren’t sure if it is safe. The ocean directly in front of and immediately surrounding the ecolodge was extremely rough with multiple currents. It is not considered safe to swim there.

One of the destination beaches within Parque Tayrona, pictured below, however is very safe and an inviting to swim.

Cocoa tour

The ecolodge owner connected us with a local tour guide and company which we hired to take us in the mountains to a cocoa farm. This was an amazing experience that involved hiking up to the homestead, learning about vegetation and crops along the way.

The hike up to the homestead through the farm was marked with the distinctive sound of howler monkeys, which was the first time I had ever heard them.

During the cocoa tour we tried various fruits along the way including the cocoa fruit. Upon arriving the homestead, we proceeded to make fresh cocoa from scratch with multiple generations of this lovely family.

Hike to a waterfall, lagoon, or along the river

Other experiences you can choose to do in and around Buritaca and Parque Tayrona can be accessed by hiking. There are excursions where you can hike in the mountains, you can hike to one of the many beautiful waterfalls, or you can hike to a lagoon where you can enjoy a swim.

Kayak along the river

Another experience we would have loved to have is kayaking along one of the many rivers in and near the coastline around Buritaca and Parque Tayrona. I have marked this on my list of things to do when I return to the area.

Hiking in Parque Tayrona

There are many trails in Parque Tayrona. You can choose to go for a day hike, or a multi-day trek within the park. We chose to make a day hike to the iconic Cabo San Juan del Guia. The hike to the beaches was beautiful. We even saw two Blue Morpho butterflies.

Roughly in the middle of hike to the beaches, there was a little restaurant where we enjoyed lunch and a quick break. After lunch, we continued our hike and were rewarded with some of the most stunning coastal views.

Trek in the mountains

By far one of the most popular things to do in northern Colombia is trek to La Ciudad Perdida, or the Lost City. La Ciudad Perdida an ancient city estimated to have been created around 800 A.D. thus to pre-dating Machu Picchu by several hundred years.

The 28 mile (45 kilometer) round trip trek must be completed with a guide. If you have 3 or 4 days available in your itinerary, this trek is a must do according to those we spoke to while in Colombia and according to the internet. I look forward to the opportunity to see this impressive archeological site in the future.

Enjoy the food

Of course I must again mention the food. The food in Colombia is amazing but one of our favorite meals during this trip was at a this small restaurant in Buritaca.

The restaurant also sold locally made goods. Pictured below are various cocoa, coffee, and honey products for sale.

Conclusion

Northern Colombia, Parque Tayrona, and the areas surrounding Buritaca contain weeks’ worth of exploring and is high on my list of places to visit again.

Maybe it’s the laid back coastal energy I enjoyed, but everyone was so warm and friendly. The combination of visible, snow-capped mountains near the warm beaches, and the pristine rivers occasionally interrupting the coastline were so unique to anything I had ever seen or experienced.

If you haven’t been and you have the chance to go, I would highly encourage it. As always, I’m happy to try and answer any questions you have may. Let me know in the comments.

What was your experience?

Have you been to Buritaca, Parque Tayrona, or some other part of northern Colombia? What was your experience like, what did you do, and what would you recommend? I would love to know! Tell me in the comments.