Cartagena: Breathtaking Tayrona & Cabo San Juan 18-Hr Escape

While being a quite long tour with a long car ride to the park and back, it was an awesome day. We hiked through amazing nature, saw multiple beaches, got to swim at Cabo San Juan and enjoyed a delicious lunch. For the way back to the bus, we were given the option to ride on horses for an upcharge, which we did and which added to our experience. The hike was quite fast paced and a bit challenging, which can be attributed to the heat, but definitely doable for moderately fit people. We would recommend this tour to people who don’t have a lot of time in Colombia and don’t want to spend a night or two to visit Tayrona National Park, but still want to see it.

A fantastic tour to an incredibly beautiful national park! I was picked up from the hotel with a big bus bringing people from Cartagena to different activities, a few of us then transferred into a minibus which got us into the park. The hike is definitely fatiguing, especially due to the heat and humidity. With the short amount of time for a day trip including the long drive from and to Cartagena, the local guide (who was super friendly and very knowledgeable about the park after more than 30 years of working there and pointed out interesting things to us on the way) walked very fast, which contributed to that. We hiked for about 1h45-2h to get to Cabo San Juan, had about an hour there for swimming and taking in the gorgeous views, then walked back a bit to get a delicious lunch (multiple options available, including fish, pasta with vegetables, a dish with chicken etc) - the fish was amazing! - and then had the option of either hiking back or taking a horse together with a small group and a guide. Due to the heat, I did the latter and even as a horse riding novice, it was a very safe way back even though the horses were going through quite uneven terrain which they clearly knew very well though. We were then brought back to the big bus and returned to Cartagena. I enjoyed the trip immensely which is why I give it 5 stars but I have to point out that I booked an English speaking tour and while the tour guide in the big bus spoke English, the local guide in the park where the tour actually happened (and the horse guide) did not. Fortunately, I speak Spanish well enough to be able to communicate but if I did not, this hike would have been a lot more complicated and adventurous, and maybe even a bit risky if something had gone wrong (it did not, everything was very well organised).

Tour was great, bus ride very comfortable. The hike is serious in the sense that speed was quite fast but we had great time.

So you're in Cartagena, you don't want to pay the extra for staying a night or two in Santa Marta, and deal with the hassle of organizing your Tayrona Park entry. You don't want to spend hours and hours laying on a beach because that's boring. Instead, you want to see a variety of what the park has to offer. What's a girl to do? This tour! Keep in mind it's a looooong day and the van isn't *all* that comfortable. But you get to hike (~ 15km total, about 7+ each way), you see forest life, 5 beaches, and spend just the right amount of time (~1hr) at the final beach. Lunch was delicious. It's in Spanish but they'll try a few words of English if you really need it. The hiking guide will hustle you along the hike and it's **sweaty**. Def a highlight of my several months in Colombia.

This is a quick way to see Tayrona, hike it for several hours, and visit the Cabo for an hour. Most of the time is spent on bus transportation. There is no coconut water break as advertised. Also, there was no English guide as mentioned on the site. I recommend contacting the agency and speaking to a live person in Spanish to ensure pick up. I had to scramble around 4:30 am because they forgot to pick me up.

Perfect tour! Both guides were excellent! Alfonso and Jose are amazing! They compliment each other so well! The food was excellent, highly recommend the fish! This is more of a hike rather than a beach tour! If you want to chill at the beach all day find another tour! But for those that love nature and life please book this tour!

Guiderne var søde og rare, maden god og turen levede egentlig op til forventningerne, men den var bare al for lang, ca. 5 timer ud og 5 timer hjem, og så var der ikke tid til at nyde Tayrona. Man skulle skynde sig igennem og tilbage igen for at holde en meget stram tidsplan. Så min kritik går egentlig blot på, at konceptet ikke fungerede for mig. Jeg synes, man har brug for mere tid i Tayrona, og lave turen fra Santa Marta i stedet for.

Wonderful tour, walking among the Caribbean rainforest and reaching a beautiful beach is well worth it. You have to walk a lot and there is a lot of heat, so you have to bring hydration and sunscreen, but the arrival at the beach (the pool I was, it is bigger than Cabo San Juan) is exquisite. Very honorable mention to the guide, always very patient, attentive and friendly Misael. Only the topic of drinking coconut water and seeing the crafts remained outstanding, which for time (everything is scheduled) could not be done. Howling monkeys and cappuccinos could be seen. I'd definitely do it again.