February 8, 2017
Tayrona Park entrance is about 45 min from Santa Marta. After arriving, I took a bus into the park and then started the 2 hour hike out to the beach. I reserved a tent at Bukaru Beach for the first night. The park is lovely but there are huge beaches that remain empty despite how inviting the water looks. There are signs everywhere with the number of people that have died on each beach. There are only a handful of beaches that you can go into die to the riptides due to the currents making the few swimmable beaches very crowded.
The second night I decided to move to Cabo San Juan Beach to try and get a hammock over the water. After waiting in line for over an hour, the guy in front of me got the last hammock. So disappointing! But I was still able to snag a hammock in the main area which was okay for a night. The beach was lovely but super crowded.
Leaving, I decided to hike out a different way for a change of scenery. A few guys had told me that it was a difficult hike up to Puerto Escondido but I was feeling pretty confident so I ventured off. Luckily, I made some friends along the way because there was a few sections of boulders that I wouldn’t have been able to climb over on my own. This hike was definitely a challenge but totally worth it and peaceful compared to the flat tourist route.
