Immersion 2

Immersion 1

Secretaria de Turismo

Pacific area

The Pacific region is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the West Andes to the east. To the north is the Darién Gap and the Serranía del Darién at the border with Panamá. The area is mostly flat and covered by dense rainforest, rivers, swamps, and mangroves.

Cali is the biggest city in this region and the Salsa's capital of the world! Cali is the perfect place for night owls with its concentration of "Zonas Rosas" areas with a lot of bars, restaurants, and clubs. During the day you can walk around the city, visit the Cat Park, walk up to El Cristo Rey amongst many other things. You can even go birding around Cali!

The Pacific coast is quite remote and is the ideal place for you if you're a nature fanatic looking for an off the beaten path destination. There is a great variety of wildlife, and it's not unusual to spot dolphins and whales swimming at stone's throw distance from the beach.

Humpback whales are some of the recurrent visitors to this region. They usually come from the Antarctic between July and September to mate, raise their young, swim quietly in the depths of the Pacific and then raise to the surface to blow streams of water.

Nuquí and Bahía Solano: Bahia Solano is where most of the adventures in Colombia's Pacific Region start. Diving, fishing and birding are the main activities there. You can reach Nuqui by boat and explore untouched beaches and deep jungles but also do ecological hikes and enjoy the incredible biodiversity.

Every year enormous sea turtles crawl onto Choco’s beaches to dig themselves a nest in the sand and lay their eggs. A couple of months later their tiny turtles hatch, dig themselves out of the sand and make their own way to the sea. One of the best places to see this is at Estacion Septiembre, a turtle nesting sanctuary and research center around 5km from El Valle.

The Pacific coast’s botanical garden is a 170-hectare nature reserve beside the Rio Mecana, full of mangroves, tropical forest, and a native botanical garden. Members of the local Embera indigenous tribe take visitors on boat rides and lead hikes through the park and also organize whale watching. Most visitors hire a boat rather than undergo the hour’s hike to the park from Bahia Solano.

Ladrilleros is located 15-20 minutes by motorcycle cab from Juanchaco. There are several hotels built along the coast, among the coconut trees. It is in Ladrilleros that you will find the most comfortable hotels in the area.

These colorful little frogs are beautiful, but you should be cautious! These frogs, known as dart-poison frogs, eat insects (including ants) to secrete a toxic substance on their skin to protect themselves from predators.

One of Colombia’s most beautiful and biodiverse national parks is located on the Pacific Coast: Utria National Park. A vast park made up of jungle, Pacific Ocean, mangroves, and gorgeous beaches, Utria is up there as one of the country’s most stunning parks.

The Pacific coast is home to the two Holy Grail diving sites of Colombia: Malpelo Island and Gorgona Island. Malpelo – an isolated rocky island some 500km (311 miles) from the mainland – can only be visited as part of a diving expedition, but the reward is huge: schools of up to 500 hammerhead sharks have been seen there.

There are several excellent, natural hot springs along the coast of the Chocó – the most popular is definitely in the town of Termales, about a one-hour walk along the beach and coastline from Playa Guachalito (or 15 minutes by boat). Just outside the town is a large hot spring, where visitors can enjoy the natural waters, get a mud facial, or sip a cold drink in the sunshine.

You’ll eat coconut almost every day. You won’t care because it’s delicious!!!

Petronio Álvarez in Cali is one the best events that people can attend . And the best part – it’s free! This is a six day festival that takes place in August every year, celebrating Pacific Afro culture in Colombia.

We are pacific!