Wayuu bags and textiles in Cabo de la Vela, Colombia

Bags and textiles made by the Wayuu people in Cabo de la Vela, Colombia. Photo by Chris Raven

Download the eBook version of Lonely Planet's Colombia guidebook

Colombia - Caribbean Coast (Chapter)

Sun-soaked and stewed in culture, Colombia’s dramatic Caribbean coastline is its dazzling crown, capping the country with myriad ecosystems, from the dense jungles of the Darién Gap on the border with Panama to the barren desert of La Guajira near Venezuela. The crown jewel along the coast is Cartagena, a colonial city with a beauty and romance that’s unrivalled anywhere in Colombia.

Coverage includes: Cartagena & around, Fuerte de San Fernando & Batería de San José, Islas del Rosario, Playa Blanca, La Boquilla, Volcán de Lodo El Totumo, Santa Marta, Minca, Taganga, Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Tayrona, Palomino, Ciudad Perdida, La Guajira Peninsula, Riohacha, Cabo de la Vela, Punta Gallinas, Valledupar, Mompox, Tolú, Islas de San Bernardo, Turbo, and Capurganá & Sapzurro

- discover Mompox, easily the region’s most charming colonial town and site of a future tourism boom

- escape the heat of the coast in the mountain town and chilled-out backpacker haunt of Minca

- straddle the Colombia-Panama border in the tranquil villages and excellent beaches around Capurganá and Sapzurro

Sponsored link

Join the Raven brothers on four epic overland adventures across the USA, Russia, Black Sea and South America!