Beaches
Tayrona’s beaches and the jungle that edges them are the irrefutable stars of the park. If arriving by boat, you’ll get dropped off at Cabo San Juan, an attractive palm-fringed beach where many budget visitors stay; further west into the park from here are two more beaches, the second being a nudist beach (30min). Twenty minutes’ walk east of Cabo San Juan brings you to La Piscina, a beach good for swimming and snorkelling, with calm, deep water. From there, it’s another twenty-minute stroll east to La Aranilla, a narrow strip of sand framed by huge boulders, fine for swimming, followed almost immediately by the long, beautiful, wave-lashed stretch of Arrecifes where signs warn you that over two hundred tourists have drowned here; swimming is extremely dangerous due to rip tides and strong currents. Another forty minutes or so east along a wooded, muddy trail takes you to Cañaveral and the entrance to the park, where the beach is good for sunbathing but the rip tides make it unsuitable for swimming.
Pueblito
A clear and physically demanding uphill path leading from Cabo San Juan brings you to the archeological site of Pueblito, a former Tayrona village with a large number of terrace dwellings, sometimes called a mini Ciudad Perdida. Although it’s possible to complete an Arrecifes–Cabo San Juan–Pueblito circuit in one long, strenuous day, the trip is better made as part of a multi-day stay on the beaches in the park. From Pueblito, you can also hike two hours through the jungle back down to the road and catch a bus back to Santa Marta from that park exit point, instead of traversing your original route back to Cabo San Juan. That said, you may be better off hiring a guide for this hike out, which has no signs and is quite taxing.