Tayrona National Park: Which Gate Is Open, What It Costs and When It Closes

Tayrona is the reason most people come to Santa Marta, and in 2026 it has been shut, or half shut, more often than any guide will tell you. The park closes three times a year by agreement with the four indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada. This year it also closed twice more without warning, and both times it reopened with the two gates most visitors actually use still locked. Here is the current picture from Parques Nacionales, the fees set for 2026, and what all of it means for the morning you drive out there.

Safe Transfers Colombia. Checked against Parques Nacionales sources on 9 September 2026.

The 2026 closure calendar, and why it has not been the whole story

Three times a year the park shuts completely. Parques Nacionales calls the programme Respira Tayrona and describes the period as Kugkui shikasa, a spiritual cleansing led by the Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. While the gates are closed, rangers and the communities carry out ecosystem restoration, scientific research and environmental education, and the indigenous authorities hold ceremonies on the territory. The dates fall in February, in June, and across the end of October and the start of November.

February: fifteen days on paper, thirty-two in practice

The planned closure ran from 1 to 15 February. On 16 February the park closed again under Resolución 090, on weather grounds, after cold fronts brought heavy rain and damaged infrastructure. On 17 February Resolución 091 made it a total closure on public-risk grounds. Resolución 112, signed on 4 March, ordered the park reopened from 5 March and required that the reopening be controlled and governed by the precautionary principle. The same resolution kept the Kogui trail closed and restricted Bahía Concha to pedestrians and light electric vehicles.

So the park was closed continuously from 1 February to 4 March. Anyone who read the published calendar, booked flights for the third week of February and expected fifteen days of closure lost the trip.

June: the park reopened, the gates you wanted did not

The same shape a second time. The closure ran from 1 to 15 June as published. On 16 June Parques Nacionales announced the reopening with Bahía Concha, Neguanje and the maritime access working, and with the Calabazo and Zaino to Cañaveral entrances still closed, citing situations affecting mobility in the areas around the protected area and on the Santa Marta to Palomino road corridor.

Zaino is the gate for Cañaveral, Arrecifes and the walk to Cabo San Juan del Guía. For most visitors, that is the park. It was open again by 3 July, when Parques Nacionales stated that Calabazo, Zaino, Palangana and Bahía Concha were all operating, Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with last entry at 2 p.m. That is the most recent official statement we have found, and at the time of writing it is two months old.

Which gate you want

There are four land entrances and one way in by sea. They are not interchangeable, and the distances below are the ones Parques Nacionales publishes.

If you have one day and you want the photograph everybody comes for, it is Zaino. If you would rather swim than walk, it is Palangana. If you have half a day and a hotel in the city, it is Bahía Concha.

Opening hours, and why the last entry matters more than the opening

The park page publishes hours by gate and by season. The July announcement gave a single schedule for the whole park instead. Both are official, they do not agree, and the gate hours have moved more than once this year.

Take the earliest figure that could apply to your gate and work backwards from it. Calabazo closing entry at 1 p.m. in high season, less thirty-five minutes of road, means leaving Santa Marta by midday at the very latest, and in practice a good deal earlier, because the queue at the ticket window is part of the journey and not something that happens after it.

What it costs in 2026

The 2026 tariffs were set by Resolución 551 of 19 December 2025. All figures are per person in Colombian pesos.

People born in Santa Marta pay a lower rate again, applied at the ticket window on proof. Note what the last column does: Bahía Concha is roughly half the price of the rest of the park for a foreign visitor, which makes it the cheapest way into a Tayrona beach by a wide margin.

What counts as high season

From 1 December to 31 January; from 1 June to 31 July; Holy Week, from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday; the long weekends where the Monday is a public holiday; and the school recess week before Día de la Raza. Everything else is low season. For a foreign visitor the difference is $15.500 COP a head, which is worth knowing if your dates are flexible by a few days either side of 1 June or 1 December.

Vehicles

Press coverage of Resolución 551 reported vehicle charges of $21.000 COP for a car, $54.000 COP for a colectivo, $113.000 COP for a bus and $14.500 COP for a motorcycle. Those figures come from news outlets rather than from the park’s own published tariff page, so treat them as indicative and expect the ticket window to be the authority.

Tickets are sold at the gate, on the day

Parques Nacionales is explicit about this: ticket availability depends exclusively on the entries sold each day at the ticket window. There is no online booking for general admission. Anything sold to you in advance as a Tayrona ticket is something else, usually a tour, a transfer or an insurance policy, with the park entry still to be bought at the gate when you arrive.

Two things follow. Each attraction inside the park has a daily carrying capacity, so on a busy day arriving late is not merely inconvenient, it is the difference between getting in and not. And you need to be able to pay at the window, in the way the window accepts that day.

The two things you cannot skip

Accident insurance with visitor assistance is compulsory. Parques Nacionales names Zurich Colombia and Allianz Seguros as authorised providers. This is not the same thing as your travel insurance and it is checked.

An induction briefing before entry is also compulsory. It is short, it is not optional, and it happens at the gate, which is one more reason the queue is longer than the ticket line alone would suggest.

Where you can actually swim

Not everywhere. The open Caribbean side of Tayrona has currents that have killed people, and most of the coastline is closed to swimming for that reason. The authorised bathing areas are the ones below, and a red flag closes any of them on the day.

Bahía Concha is the one you cannot drive into

Resolución 112 restricted access to Bahía Concha to pedestrians and light electric vehicles. Parques Nacionales has run electric eco taxis on the stretch between the access gate and the Bahía Concha parking area since December 2023, four passengers to a vehicle, operated by local service providers under the national energy transition framework set out in Ley 2099 of 2021.

If you are arranging a car, that is the fact that changes the plan rather than the price: your vehicle stops at the gate and the last stretch is walked or ridden. Nobody mentions this until you are standing there.

Getting there from Santa Marta

The honest version: two people going to Zaino and coming straight back are fine on a bus. The full day car earns its money on three specific things, and none of them is comfort. Leaving early enough to clear the ticket window before the capacity bites. Having a vehicle at the gate when you come out tired at four with wet clothes and no signal. And being able to turn the car around and drive to Palangana when you arrive at Zaino and find it closed, which has happened twice this year.

Common questions

Is Tayrona open right now?

As of the last official statement we have found, dated 3 July 2026, all four land sectors were operating from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with last entry at 2 p.m. The next planned closure runs from 19 October to 2 November 2026. Given that the park has closed unexpectedly twice this year, check the Parques Nacionales park page and press room in the week you travel.

How much does it cost to enter Tayrona?

For a foreign visitor, $81.000 COP in low season and $96.500 COP in high season, per person, under Resolución 551 of December 2025. Colombians, CAN nationals and foreign residents pay $36.500 COP or $43.000 COP from age 26, and $27.500 COP or $30.500 COP between 5 and 25. Bahía Concha has its own lower tariff of $43.500 COP for foreign visitors.

Can you buy Tayrona tickets online?

No. Parques Nacionales states that availability depends exclusively on the tickets sold each day at the ticket window. Anything sold online in advance as a park ticket is a tour, a transfer or insurance, and you will still buy the entry at the gate.

How far is Tayrona from Santa Marta?

Zaino, the main gate, is 32 km and about 45 minutes by car. Calabazo is about 35 minutes. Palangana lies 5 km in from the Troncal del Caribe. Bahía Concha is about 15 minutes to its entrance gate.

Why does Tayrona close three times a year?

For Kugkui shikasa, a spiritual cleansing of the territory led by the Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, under the Respira Tayrona programme. Rangers and the communities also use the closures for ecosystem restoration, research and environmental education.

Do you need insurance to enter Tayrona?

Yes. Accident insurance with visitor assistance is compulsory, and Parques Nacionales names Zurich Colombia and Allianz Seguros as authorised providers. There is also a compulsory induction briefing at the gate before you go in.

Which Tayrona beach can you swim at?

The authorised bathing areas are Cabo San Juan del Guía, Playa del Muerto known as Playa Cristal, Neguanje, Gayraca, Cinto and Bahía Concha. A red flag closes any of them for the day, and the rest of the coast is closed to swimming because of the currents.

Can you do Tayrona in one day from Cartagena?

Not sensibly. Cartagena to Santa Marta is four to five hours on the Troncal del Caribe before you start, and the gate stops admitting people in the early afternoon. Tayrona is a Santa Marta day, and Santa Marta is where you sleep the night before.

Official sources: Parques Nacionales, PNN Tayrona · Resolución 112 de 2026 · Reapertura de junio de 2026 · Sectores habilitados, julio de 2026 · Respira Tayrona

Sources: the 2026 entrance tariffs by category and season, the Bahía Concha tariff, the four land entrances and the maritime access, the gate hours by season, the distances of 32 km and about 45 minutes to Zaino, about 35 minutes to Calabazo, 5 km in from the Troncal del Caribe to Palangana and about 15 minutes to the Bahía Concha gate, the definition of temporada alta and temporada baja, the compulsory accident insurance with Zurich Colombia and Allianz Seguros as authorised providers, the compulsory induction, the authorised bathing areas, the rule that ticket availability depends exclusively on daily sales at the ticket window, and the daily carrying capacity of each attraction — Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, the park authority, on its Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona page. The planned 2026 closures of 1 to 15 February, 1 to 15 June and 19 October to 2 November — the same page. The Respira Tayrona programme, the term Kugkui shikasa for the spiritual cleansing, the leadership of the Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the three closures a year and the restoration, research and education work carried out during them — Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, press release of 29 May 2026. The closure of 16 February 2026 under Resolución 090 on weather grounds, the total closure of 17 February 2026 under Resolución 091 on public risk grounds, the reopening ordered by Resolución 112 of 4 March 2026 effective 5 March, the requirement that the reopening be controlled and precautionary, the continued closure of the Kogui trail and the restriction of Bahía Concha to pedestrians and light electric vehicles — Resolución 112 de 2026, Dirección General de Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. The reopening of 16 June 2026 with Bahía Concha, Neguanje and maritime access operating while the Calabazo and Zaino to Cañaveral entrances remained closed, and the reason given as situations affecting mobility in areas adjacent to the protected area and on the Santa Marta to Palomino road corridor — Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, press release of 16 June 2026. The statement that Calabazo, Zaino, Palangana and Bahía Concha were all operating Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with last entry at 2 p.m., and the rules on marked trails, biodegradable sunscreen, beach signage, fires and smoking — Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, press release of 3 July 2026. The electric eco taxis running between the access gate and the Bahía Concha parking area, their four passenger capacity, their operation by local service providers and their basis in Ley 2099 de 2021 — Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, bulletin of 22 December 2023. The tariff instrument Resolución 551 of 19 December 2025 and the reported vehicle charges of $21.000 COP for a car, $54.000 COP for a colectivo, $113.000 COP for a bus and $14.500 COP for a motorcycle — Infobae, 7 January 2026, a news outlet rather than a primary source, and flagged as such in the text above. Judgements about which gate suits which kind of day, when a bus beats a car, what time to leave Santa Marta and whether Tayrona works as a day trip from Cartagena are the Safe Transfers Colombia team’s own. Tariffs, hours, closures and gate status change, sometimes at a day’s notice: confirm with Parques Nacionales before you travel.