Playa Gairaca Tour: Snorkeling in Tayrona Park

What the Playa Gairaca tour is like

Playa Gairaca, which Colombia's National Parks (Parques Nacionales Naturales) spells Gayraca, sits in a bay of Tayrona National Park, in the sector you enter through Palangana. It is a day-visit entrance: the beaches in that sector are visited in a day, with no overnight stay in the park.

The tour spends the day on the beach. There is a tent for shade, basic snorkeling from the shore and beach games such as frisbee, paddle rackets and floats, and at midday a regional lunch with a fish option. During lunch, a local guide talks about the Indigenous communities that live nearby.

Getting there: the Palangana entrance

The tour leaves at 8:00 a.m. from the Expotur Eco office in Santa Marta's historic center, by private taxi or Expotur Eco bus. Palangana is at km 5 of the Troncal del Caribe highway, before the toll booth, according to the Tayrona National Park page from Colombia's National Parks (in Spanish). At the checkpoint, park rangers give the induction talk, and from there it is about 40 minutes more to the beach. You get back to Santa Marta around 5:00 p.m.

Snorkeling, lunch and extras

According to Colombia's National Parks, swimming and free diving are allowed at Playa Gayraca, and there is a restaurant plus gear and tent rental. Basic snorkeling from the shore is included. At an extra cost you can book guided snorkeling, with a talk about marine life and a swim over the reefs, or a boat ride to other beaches in the park. If you take a boat, wear your life jacket for the whole ride, as Colombia's National Parks asks.

Playa Gairaca has a carrying capacity of 115 people a day, one of the lowest in the park, according to the management plan of Colombia's National Parks. Book ahead in high season.

Entrance fee, closures and when to go

The park entrance fee, with insurance, is already included in the tour. For reference, in 2026 it costs COP 81,000 in low season and COP 96,500 in high season for non-resident foreigners, and COP 36,500 and COP 43,000 for Colombians and residents aged 25 or over, according to Resolution 551 of 2025 (in Spanish). The tour price is the same for Colombians and foreign visitors.

Tayrona National Park closes every year from February 1 to 15, June 1 to 15 and October 19 to November 2, and the tour does not run on those dates. In 2026 it also closed from February 17 to March 4 because of public safety risks; as of September 25, 2026, Colombia's National Parks reported that the park remained open and tourism was running normally. In Santa Marta it barely rains from January to March, and the wettest months are September, October and November, according to IDEAM.

What to pack and park rules

• ID. Bring your original passport or ID: the park asks for it.
• Yellow fever. Ministry of Health Resolution 691 of 2025 requires proof of a yellow fever vaccine given at least 10 days earlier to enter natural parks in high-risk municipalities (it is the new requirement announced by Colombia's National Parks, in Spanish), and Santa Marta is listed as high risk. Bring your vaccination card.
• What you can't bring in. Pets, speakers, single-use plastics, drones without a permit, liquor and hallucinogens are not allowed.
• In the water. Swim only in authorized areas: a beach flying a red flag is closed to swimming.
• Trash. Bring a bag and take out of the park everything you brought in.

Combine it with

If you want to hike in the park, the Cabo San Juan tour walks past Arrecifes and La Piscina; if you would rather arrive by boat, there is the Playa Cristal tour. All three, with how they differ, are on our Tayrona National Park tours page, and the rest of the park information is in our Tayrona National Park guide.

If your trip continues to La Guajira, our Santa Marta to La Guajira guide explains how to get to Riohacha, where the 3-day Punta Gallinas tour starts.