How to get from Cartagena to Tayrona National Park

Why visit Tayrona?

Tayrona National Park is a magical paradise on Colombia’s north coast. With lush jungles and breathtaking beaches, it is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Its beauty is unparalleled in Colombia, some would say even in Latin America.

Despite the increasing number of tourists visiting Tayrona, many areas remain off-limits, allowing the park to maintain its untouched glory. But don’t worry, there’s still a huge part of it you can explore while hiking, diving, snorkelling and camping. Tayrona National Park is an adventurer’s dream!

Access points

Tayrona National Park spans 225 km² and has many access points. The most popular are:

• El Zaino – the main entrance with the most facilities
• Calabazo – a quieter, more scenic hiking route into the park

Both are easily accessible from Santa Marta, with buses departing frequently from the city centre. You can also reach the park from Barranquilla, Palomino, or Cartagena.

If you want to stay close to nature, consider skipping Santa Marta and spending the night in one of the most unique places to stay in Colombia, right by Tayrona National Park. It’s an experience you won’t forget.

When is Tayrona National Park closed?

Tayrona National Park closes three times a year to give the environment time to rest and recover.

These closures are requested by the Indigenous communities who live in and protect the area. During this time, they carry out physical and spiritual restoration practices to cleanse the territory, restore balance, and allow nature and wildlife to regenerate.

Tayrona has followed the same closure schedule for several years:

• 1-15 February
• 1-15 June
• 19 October – 2 November

During these dates, the park is completely closed to visitors. If you’re planning a trip, make sure it doesn’t fall within these periods.

While the schedule is usually consistent, the dates can change slightly from year to year. It’s always best to check out Parque Tayrona’s website for the latest information.

Entrance into Tayrona

For foreign visitors, the entrance fee is 87,000 COP ($23) during high season and 74,000 COP ($19.30) during low season. You can pay with cash or card, but card payments are only accepted at the El Zaino and Calabazo entrances. All other entrances require cash only.

In addition to the entrance fee, there’s a mandatory insurance charge of 6,000 COP ($1.60) per person, per day. This must be paid in cash at the entrance.

High season runs from:

• 15 June – 15 July
• 15 December – 30 January
• Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday
• All Colombian long weekends with public holidays

Looking for more info about Tayrona National Park and the different entrances? Check out this route post from Santa Marta to Tayrona, where we go into more detail.

TIP: Before you make your way from Cartagena to Tayrona National Park, we highly recommend taking a boat from Cartagena to Isla Grande. On this paradise island, you find some gorgeous white-sand beaches with turquoise water.

There are 3 ways to travel the 240 kilometre (149 miles) distance from Cartagena to Tayrona. You can choose between the bus, minivan and private transport. The journey takes 4 hours 45 minutes to 7 hours and the quickest way is by private transport. If you're on a budget, the cheapest option is by bus with tickets starting at 73,000 COP ($19.30).

The bus is an affordable way to get from Cartagena to Tayrona. You’ll need to book a bus to Riohacha and get off earlier at El Zaino, one of the park’s main entrances.

You can choose from two bus companies operating on this route: Expreso Almirante Padilla and Copetran.

Bus fares start from 73,000 COP ($19.30) and the journey takes around 6 hours 10 minutes to 7 hours.

Departure station

Buses leave from Terminal de Transportes de Cartagena on the far east side of the city, about 12 km from the centre. You can get there via Uber, with prices starting from 44,000 COP ($11.60). Taxis can be hailed on the streets, but know that drivers often try to overcharge tourists.

If you’re on a budget and don’t mind a longer ride, the Transcaribe bus is a good alternative. It costs 3,000 COP ($0.90), and you’ll need a Transcaribe card to board since cash is not accepted. If you’re coming from the city centre and other popular areas like Getsemaní and San Diego, you can catch Line X104 at the Centro B1 Station. The bus takes you straight to Cartagena’s main terminal.

Alternative via Santa Marta

Another option for getting from Cartagena to Tayrona National Park is to first take a bus to Santa Marta, which has more frequent departures. From Santa Marta’s bus terminal, you can hop on a local bus heading towards Palomino or Riohacha and ask the driver to drop you at El Zaino.

You can find out more about the bus from Santa Marta to Tayrona here.

There are no direct minivans that will take the full route from Cartagena to Tayrona.  You’ll need to split the trip into two parts.

First, take a minivan from Cartagena to Santa Marta. From there, you can continue to Tayrona by either public bus or another shared minivan.

A minivan ride from Cartagena to Santa Marta costs around 93,000 COP ($24.50). The minivan journey takes about 4h - 5h 30m, depending on traffic.

What we like about this option is that some minivan companies offer free hotel pickup and drop-off. This saves you the hassle and extra cost of finding your way to and from bus stations.

The bus is the most affordable way to reach Tayrona National Park from Santa Marta. Buses depart from Tayrona Park Bus Station, which you’ll find near the public market in Santa Marta.

Fares start from 10,000 COP ($2.60), and the journey takes about 1h.

If you’d rather skip the hassle and get picked up directly from your hotel, check out the shared minivan service with Tayrona Tour Colombia. Minivan fares start from 40,000 COP ($10.50).

A private transfer is a convenient option when travelling in a group from Cartagena to Tayrona.

Rates start from 1,007,000 COP ($265) for a 3-seater private transfer. Divide the cost, and that’s about 336,000 COP ($88) per person. Travel time is around 4 hours 45 minutes to 5 hours.