If there is anything I’ve learned in my travels is that Everything is relative.
It is perhaps one of the things I’ve learned over the toughest experiences and adventures that have forced me to internalize this even law of physics.
When a friend tells you about his peaceful boat ride through the beautiful clear blue waters off the coast of Colombia to go to Tayrona Park, which was even made with her grandmother, you assume that it will be the same for you and your family.
In my plans in South America, one of the places I always wanted to go is the Tayrona Park in Colombia on the Caribbean coast, near Cartagena de Indias.
Tayrona National Park on the Caribbean coast of Colombia
To reach the beach at Tayrona Park in Colombia the usual way it is done is through the road that connects Cartagena and La Guajira. You can take taxis or buses from the city of Santa Marta who will leave you at the park entrance.
From there you must take a walk for almost two hours to get to the last and most beautiful beach, the Cabo de San Juan.
As on that trip I was not alone, as usual but with my sister, my best friend and my mother (yes, my mother backpacking!) the alternative option to get into the park and avoid making that long walk with the high temperatures that characterize the area, we decided to reach Tayrona Park by boat from Taganga.
My Dutch friend who lived in Bogota had told me about the peaceful and beautiful trip he made with his family who have visited him to get to this beach park, and they choose this – much easier – way.
The only thing we needed to do was head to the small fishermen village called Taganga and from there to hire the boat trip that would take us straight to the beach. He told us from there you can make a deal about the price and it should take us about half an hour to get from Taganga to the beach Cabo de San Juan, he even showed me photos with his grandmother in the boat.
A fishermen village called Taganga
So we decided not to go by bus and went for the option to get there by boat from Taganga. That way we could also meet this adorable fishermen’s village and see a little more of the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
That way we could also meet this adorable fishermen’s village and see a little more of the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
When we reached Taganga, all of us had a very bad feeling. From the hostel where we slept to the place where we dined they all tried to scam us or to charge us more, when we asked about this boat ride with different people to check if it was indeed safe to travel on these boats, they all made too much propaganda for the boat ride and saying was THE BEST way to get to Tayrona Park.
From the hostel where we slept to the place where we dined they all tried to scam us or to charge us more, when we asked about this boat ride with different people to check if it was indeed safe to travel on these boats, they all made too much propaganda for the boat ride and saying was THE BEST way to get to Tayrona Park.
We went to talk to the boat driver who was recommended by the hostel girl who was working there. We agreed on a price for the four of us and we were ready to leave the next day in the morning. The only thing that I don’t know why didn’t gave us any alarm was the last comment of the boat driver:
The only thing that I don’t know why didn’t gave us any alarm was the last comment of the boat driver: ‘Bring few trash bags to store your things. See you tomorrow!?
As were kind of used to ride boats in southern Chile this didn’t cause us any alarm because, over there, usually things get adventurous and wet due to wind and waves.
That day we slept still not convinced about the journey that awaited us the next day.
And here begins our ‘adventure’
We arrived in the morning to the meeting point in the bay and had two more groups of travelers, all foreigners, and included about 8 Argentines who were sitting at the tip of the boat.
The sea in the bay looked so peaceful and quiet and it was like that we started the trip – but only after leaving our stuff in the trash bags on the floor, on top of the boat -.
Right when we were leaving the bay we saw the worst: the sea was having huge waves!!! We asked the guys in the boat and we were told that everything was normal, that everything would be fine. Even we indicated we wanted to return to what they said something like ‘
We asked the guys in the boat and we were told that everything was normal, that everything would be fine. Even we indicated we wanted to return to what they said something like ‘
Even we indicated we wanted to return to what they said something like ‘mamita” quiet, nothing happens, we do this trip every day … and we can’t go back now’. So we continued….
The trip was not pleasant anymore, between waves up to two meters, which sometimes make the boat spent up to three seconds after the boat jumped and touched the sea again, my face had buckets of water the whole way and could barely open them all the way. The nice & pleasant boat trip instead of lasting 30 or 40 minutes lasted a little over two hours.
Everything would have been fine if our dear boat drivers (yup, there were two, with two engines running at once) had been quiet and calm, but near the half-hour of our trip I looked at them and saw their panic face: This is not good, I’ve said!
And then began the adventure, with the drivers discussing what was the best way forward, which would not makes us fall into the swirls if they continued over there, or how we could not get crushed against the reef, and there were sharks out there… then… the only thing we had left was to stay as calm as possible.
I remember that the only thing I could thing about were about the words of my father before leaving, and for the first time they made sense: “Please don’t do something to crazy’.
As that was not enough, amid huge waves and the sea current, suddenly, the boat engine has stopped!
They had run out of gasoline because we had a lot more time than budgeted and our friends from the boat did not even know if we would be able to reach our destination.
My mom had to pass a container with gasoline from the middle of the boat because they had to control it by as the waves were very strong at that point and they could not stop looking at the sea.
So, after several minutes adrift we continue the trip, between hops, water, and many strong waves we finally arrived at the beach of Cabo de San Juan, we had to enter the water to get to the beach with our backpacks inside the trash bags. We were all in a state of panic and shocked and all we all could do was sit on the beach and those who still had dry cigarette were smoking like it was the only thing on earth to do.
After this experience, when I was traveling in Dominican Republic, I realized this experience had left some sequels: now I was afraid of the sea! I had to make a bit of therapy to overcome this fear and return to enjoy the ocean once again.
After a few minutes, everybody was awakening from our state of panic and in unison, we said, ‘Let’s beat this m#%$$%#’s and ask for our money back!
But it was too late as they were already heading back with two blond tourists that had boarded to the probably worst trip they would have during their stay in Colombia. We shouted to warn them but they heard nothing.
And there we were, sitting on the beach, watching the paradise we had arrived and thankful of being alive!
I remember even one of the boys was hugging his guitar for hours, several – including us – moved from the beach only after some hours and even a few stayed on that beach until the next day.
Things to take note
Tayrona Park in Colombia is one of those beautiful places and you should not miss if you go to the Caribbean coast in Colombia.
It is a nature reserve of 19,256 hectares of protected areas where live the jungle of the Sierra Nevada and the beaches, there are several things you can do within the park and different lodging offer.
If you wanna know more about Colombia Check this great Colombia travel guideÂ
If you go to Tayrona Park research carefully about the weather in the area and surroundings.
This route can be done without any risks at certain times of the year when the sea is calm, but when we went it was a big storm season in the Caribbean.
There was a very strong one in those days coming from Mexico and had the sea with very strong waves all these days, we totally forgot about it and never thought it could reach that area of the coast.
Hi, returning from a recent trip to Tayrona. We hiked in and took the boat to Taganga on the way out. Please please get off the boat if they overload it. We had life vests but the ride was horrendous (several comments if we were even to survive). We were expecting a choppy ride but they overloaded the boat with double the amount of people there should have been and as a result there were several occasions the boat was likely to tip. On top of that the motor stopped running and we were stuck for a while whilst they changed it over. I’m sure sometimes its fine but if you’re on the last boat and they keep piling people on please get off and just sleep on the beach for a night!
Hi, I have been searching for similar stories to mine and I found this. I first went to tyrona from Taganga around 2012. We hiked in and then took the boat back to Taganga. The weather was nice and the boat ride was beautiful, even though it was a little bit rough. Kind of like a shaky roller coaster, but nothing TOO dangerous.
Then i returned to Colombia in a December 2016 and visited Tyrona Park in the same way (bus/hike there and the boat back). There was no rain but the wind in Taganga had been VERY strong for days. There were white-caps everywhere in the sea every day. This made me hesitant about taking the boat but I had no idea how bad it would really be.
We were on the last return trip of the day from Tyrona to Taganga and the boat was very late arriving from the previous trip (probably due to the terrible ocean conditions). This meant that now we not only had to deal with the waves but we also had to deal with darkness (as the sun was now setting). The guides looked very nervous about the time as they looked and looked for the arriving boat from shore. When it finally arrived, there was only one passenger that got off the boat from taganga. He was literally soaked in water from head to toe and he looked totally traumatized. He was slowly shaking his head with his eyes wide open as he walked away from the boat. We actually thought it was humorous at the time. But what we didn’t know was that we were about to have a terrifying near-death experience that would last for over an hour.
We knew the ocean was rough but it wasn’t until we got about 100-200 yards from shore that it became ridiculously rough. There were 15-20 foot swells completely surrounding us and coming non-stop from every direction. Every time we were on top of a swell we had to stop the engine because to go forward off the top of a swell would have flipped the boat. The captain had to constantly direct the boat into swells from every direction so that they would not hit us from the side and flip us. We were getting buckets of cold water dumped on us constantly. We were shivering. It was now almost dark and there were no lights on the boat. The worst part is that the shore was almost all huge cliffs, which then gave way to miles and miles of wild mountainous jungle. So if we flipped (and it really felt like it was 80% that we would flip), there was no way to get to the land. Also the waves were so high, it seemed impossible not to drown in the water, even with a life jacket. Also there would clearly be no rescue until the next day, if ever.
Having no control of the situation and no way to survive a flip, the passengers were either totally silent and terrified (like me) or crying uncontrollably. At that moment, I would have done anything to be off that boat.
I think the boat is mostly safe if the the ocean is calm only! Do not take the boat if there is wind or white caps on the water! It may look ok from the shore but it is not! It took me a couple days to recover from this trauma.
Oohh I’m so sad you had such a similar and terrible experience.
Thank you very much for sharing and I’m very happy nothing happened to you and the other people in your boat.
I know how terrifying this can be and I really hope no one else lives this ever again.
Be careful and keep having safe trips!
I know exactly what you are telling me! It was the same. I’m happy nothing bad happen to you guys and that you are safe.
Did anyone get seasick during the boat ride? I would have been petrified AND seasick.
Hey Suzanne! Nobody was seasick but definitely petrified and so afraid!!!!
My oh my! I probably wouldn’t go on any kind of water vessel for a very long time after that. Glad you made it out ok.
How did you go back? :p
Without even doubting it for a second we went back walking throught the jungle until the exit as we should do to get in, lol 😉
I’ve been to Tairona park. It’s beautiful and worth the visit. I treked the hour and half hike to the amazing beaches. It was hot but there was a little hut half way that sold drinks and some typical snacks. That gave us enough energy to keep walking through beautiful landscapes to finally reach our destination. It was like our special reward after the long trek to dive into the blue waters. Don’t miss out on this hidden paradise but I do suggest tohike there instead of the boatride.
Hi Claudine! I’m so glad you had a great experience. Totally agree with you! This is one of my favorite places in the world and worth to visit! Many thanks for sharing your story!