2 weeks february 2017

I've never been to the Baranquilla Carnival, so I'm afraid I can't be of any help there. However, I have spent plenty of time in and around Santa Marta. Tayrona isn't your only beach option and just outside the park, there's plenty of beach to be had. The highway that runs past Tayrona, from Santa Marta to Palomino, goes past many beaches and rivers. Honestly, due to the amount of people in Tayrona and the small amount of beaches where swimming is permitted, I actually prefer the beaches outside of the park. Also, plenty of hostels in Santa Marta offer tours to many of the nicer beaches in the area. If you prefer to stay in the city, then taking day trips to the nearby beaches could be an option as well.

In my opinion, 3 days is a bit much to spend in Tayrona. You can only bring so much into the park with you, and there really aren't any places where you can cook. The only way to realistically get a hot meal inside the park, is to pony up some cash and pay the inflated prices charged in the park. I've been to Tayrona several times and my initial impression of the park being managed as a way to fleece tourists, hasn't wavered. Once you're in the park, your options for purchasing things like food, beer, and extra water are slim and not very good. Some campsites are better than others, but if it were me, I'd visit the beaches on a day trip and then head back to a nearby hotel/hostel in the evening. Tayrona is a pretty place, but the people running it haven't invested much into the park itself, and the high prices you pay to get in, definitely aren't reflected in the sorry state of the park. I'm personally not going back to Tayrona until the concession that runs the park, begins to take better care of it.

I've stayed with these guys a few times:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g297484-d1636451-Reviews-Ecohostal_Yuluka-Santa_Marta_Santa_Marta_District_Magdalena_Department.html

The hostel is located about 5min down the highway from the park, and the staff offers free rides to the park. The hostel grounds are quite beautiful, and there's a swimming pool and a restaurant on site as well. There are dorms available, but I think for 50$, you could easily afford one of the private cabañas. Also, you can easily catch buses from the highway next to the hostel grounds, so accessing the nice beaches and rivers in the area is a breeze.

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