WHERE TO EAT

Where to Eat in and near Tayrona National Park

Where to eat in Tayrona National Park and around it: the restaurants at Cabo San Juan and Arrecifes, places near the El Zaino gate, Los Naranjos, Guachaca and Palomino.

Where to Eat in and near Tayrona National Park

Food is one of the easier parts of a Tayrona trip, as long as you know where the kitchens are. Inside the park you eat at a handful of restaurants run by the concessions on the beaches; outside, a string of restaurants lines the Troncal del Caribe from the El Zaino gate to Palomino. The local staples are fried fish (pescado frito) with coconut rice (arroz con coco), fried plantain (patacones) and salad, with fresh juices made from whatever fruit is in season.

Before you go: four practical points

  1. Bring cash. Card readers inside the park depend on a weak signal and often do not work, and there are no cash machines between Santa Marta and Palomino.
  2. No single-use plastic and no alcohol may be brought into the park; bags are checked at the gate. Bring a reusable bottle and snacks in reusable containers (park rules).
  3. Prices inside the park are higher than outside, because everything arrives on foot, by mule or by boat. Water and snacks bought before the gate cost less.
  4. Plan lunch around the trail. If you walk from El Zaino to Cabo San Juan you will reach the beach restaurants around midday; the last hours of the afternoon are for walking back, not for a long lunch.

1. Inside the park

  • Cabo San Juan: the restaurant of the campsite at Cabo San Juan serves fried fish, rice and patacones, breakfasts for campers and drinks. It is the busiest place to eat in the park at lunchtime.
  • Arrecifes: several camps and small restaurants on the way to La Piscina and Cabo San Juan; a good place for a fresh juice or an early lunch. Swimming at Arrecifes itself is dangerous (beaches compared).
  • Cañaveral: the restaurant at the Ecohabs, above Cañaveral beach near the trailhead, with a sea view and higher prices.
  • Along the trails: in season, vendors sell fruit, coconut water and the well-known pan de chocolate from small stands. Do not count on them for a full meal.

2. At the El Zaino gate and Los Naranjos

The roadside strip around the gate is where buses stop and day visitors eat before or after the park. A few kilometres east, the Los Naranjos area has restaurants by the Piedras river and the beach, plus the restaurants of the lodges, most of which also serve non-guests (ask or check their opening hours first).

  • El Sabor del Tayrona (El Zaino): a local restaurant near the gate with set lunches of fish, patacones and coconut rice.
  • Restaurante Los Ángeles (Playa Los Ángeles): Caribbean coastal food at the beach of the same name, about 3 km from the gate.
  • Restaurante Barlovento (Los Naranjos): coastal food where the Piedras river meets the sea.
  • Kásankala (Los Naranjos): the restaurant of the Villa María Tayrona lodge, about 4 km from the gate; its menu is published online.
  • Los Naranjos Beach Club (Los Naranjos): drinks and snacks by the beach.

3. Guachaca and Buritaca

East of the park the highway crosses the Guachaca and Buritaca rivers. Restaurants here are small and spread out; most travellers eat where they sleep.

4. Palomino

Palomino, 45 minutes east of El Zaino by bus, has the widest choice on this coast, from bakeries to seafood and pizza, most of it on the road between the highway and the beach.

5. Santa Marta

If you sleep in Santa Marta, the Historic Center has most of the city’s restaurants, especially around Parque de los Novios and along Carrera 3, with everything from street food (arepa de huevo, carimañolas) to tasting menus. For an early bus to the park, buy breakfast and water near the market at Calle 11 with Carrera 11, where the Tayrona buses leave.

Picnic or restaurant?

For a single day you can carry your own lunch, as long as it is in reusable containers and you take your rubbish out with you. Many visitors combine both: breakfast and snacks bought outside, a fish lunch at Cabo San Juan, and dinner back on the highway or in Palomino or Santa Marta. Our full list with photos is on the restaurants page, and the timing for a one-day visit is in Tayrona in one day.

For a special dinner, see fine dining near Tayrona.