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An empty dark-sand beach with driftwood and dense forest in golden evening light near Nuquí

Sample journey · 7–9 days

Where the rainforest meets the whales: Colombia's Pacific coast

Medellín, the Nuquí coast, the Utría inlet & Termales

Photo: Lucas Chizzali / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Other journeys in Colombia stay in the Andes or by the Caribbean. This one heads west to the Chocó, one of the wettest and most biologically rich corners of the world. No road reaches the Nuquí coast: you arrive by small plane, then go on by boat along a shore where forest, waterfalls and dark-sand beaches follow one another. Roughly from July to October, humpback whales arrive in these warm waters from the Antarctic to give birth, and the males sing songs you can sometimes hear through a hydrophone.

The shape of the journey is simple: one night in Medellín on arrival, five nights at a lodge on the edge of the forest by the ocean, and two nights in Medellín to finish. Lodges on this coast are usually small and simple, with wooden verandas, mosquito nets and electricity for only part of the day, and that is exactly why all you hear is the surf and rain on the roof. The villages here are Afro-Colombian communities, whose people are often your guides, boatmen and cooks.

The route

The journey

  1. Medellín
  2. Flight to Nuquí
  3. A lodge on the coast
  4. Ensenada de Utría
  5. Termales & the Joví River
  6. Medellín
  7. Santa Elena
  1. The timber orchid pavilion, shaped like giant flowers, in Medellín's Botanical Garden

    01Days 1–2 · Medellín

    A brief stop in the city of eternal spring

    After the long flight, one quiet night in Medellín, in the green El Poblado district. If you have the energy, spend the afternoon in the Botanical Garden, where a timber orchid pavilion rises over the paths like a cluster of giant flowers, then dinner and an early night. On the second morning, a short drive to the city airport, where small planes leave for the Pacific coast. The flight takes about an hour: the coffee-covered mountainsides slowly give way to unbroken green forest, and then the ocean appears. Baggage weight on these aircraft is strictly limited, so larger suitcases stay in Medellín and you bring just a soft bag, which is plenty for five days by the sea.

  2. The view from the bow of a boat over the water towards forested shores near Nuquí

    02Days 2–4 · The Nuquí coast

    Where the roads run out

    At Nuquí's little airstrip a boat is waiting, and in roughly half an hour to an hour, depending on where the lodge is, you travel along the shore: mangroves, river mouths, waterfalls dropping straight into the sea. Five nights at a lodge by the beach, between the forest and the ocean. The first days are slow: walks on the sand that low tide reveals, swims when the sea is calm, a hammock when it rains. And it rains often here, though usually briefly and warmly. In the evenings, the kitchen cooks whatever the fishermen brought that day: fish with coconut rice and plantain, seafood soups. With a local guide, you can walk to the nearest village to see the school and the boat-builders, and hear how life is lived between the tides.

  3. Sunset over a calm Pacific, with tropical plants in silhouette in the foreground, at Arusí on the Chocó coast

    03Days 4–5 · The whales & Ensenada de Utría

    A song beneath the water

    In whale season (roughly July to October), mornings begin with a small boat and a local guide. Humpbacks here usually stay close to the coast: mothers rest with their calves in calmer water, while males sometimes launch their whole body clear and fall back with a splash you hear from far away. Boats keep their distance and never head straight at the animals; the whale decides whether to come closer. When the engine stops, you can sometimes hear the males' song through a hydrophone. One day is best given to Utría National Park: a narrow, mangrove-lined inlet that whales sometimes enter too, boardwalks through the mangroves and patches of coral for snorkelling. Every year is different, so whales are never guaranteed, but in mid-season you usually see them.

  4. A yellow wooden canoe pulled up on the bank of a forest river in the rain, near Arusí on the Chocó coast

    04Days 5–7 · Termales & the Joví River

    Upriver into the forest

    The last days by the ocean belong to the forest. At high tide, a local guide poles you up the Joví River in a narrow canoe, past rocks and lianas to a waterfall with a cool pool beneath it for swimming. The next day, the village of Termales and its hot springs in the forest: warm water, tree roots and birdsong all around, and on the way, village lanes where children play football on the sand. Guided forest walks show how much life this humidity holds: bright poison dart frogs on the leaves, toucans, sometimes sloths in the canopy. In some years, sea turtles come ashore to nest on the beaches in late summer and autumn. We always visit community villages with local guides and on their terms.

  5. Brightly painted houses climbing the hillside in Comuna 13, Medellín

    05Days 7–9 · Medellín & Santa Elena

    Flowers and stairways up the hill

    On the seventh morning, the boat back to Nuquí, the flight to Medellín and two final nights in the city. The next day, Comuna 13 with a local guide who grew up in the neighbourhood: outdoor escalators on the hillside, murals that tell of hard decades and recovery, music and street snacks. In the afternoon, by cable car and car up into the hills of Santa Elena above the city, where families have grown flowers for generations. This is the home of the silletas, wooden frames of flowers once carried on the back to the city market and now the emblem of the annual flower festival. On a family farm, the hosts show how they're made and offer you coffee. On day nine, the flight home, or onwards to the coffee region or Cartagena.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Humpback whales

    Mothers and calves close to shore and the males' song through a hydrophone, roughly July to October, sea permitting.

  2. 02

    A coast without roads

    You arrive at the lodge by boat, and the days turn around the tides, the rain and the light.

  3. 03

    The Joví River and Termales

    A canoe upriver to a waterfall, hot springs in the forest and Afro-Colombian villages with local guides.

  4. 04

    Medellín's hillsides

    The stories of Comuna 13 and the flower-growing families of Santa Elena.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • For a honeymoon

    A lodge on a more remote beach with just a few cabins in the forest, a private boat for the whales and dinners on the sand, with a few nights in Cartagena to finish.

  • Outside whale season

    Even without whales, the coast is worth the trip: rivers, waterfalls, birds and surfing. The first half of the year is often a little less rainy.

  • With the coffee region

    From Medellín it's a few hours' drive to the coffee farms and the wax palms of the Cocora Valley, stretching the journey to two weeks.

  • With the Caribbean

    After the humid Pacific, a very different sea: Cartagena's old town and the Rosario Islands, a short flight from Medellín.

Practical considerations

  • Humpbacks are around roughly from July to October, usually most numerous in August and September. It rains on the Chocó coast almost all year, usually briefly and warmly; wildlife and weather are never guaranteed.
  • Nuquí is reached by small aircraft: schedules depend on the weather and baggage weight is strictly limited, so we leave slack before the international flight home.
  • Lodges on the coast are simple: electricity often runs for only part of the day, internet is limited or absent, and a rain jacket and quick-drying clothes will serve you better than anything else.
  • Before you travel, we check current entry requirements for Colombia and the latest travel advice for the Chocó, and suggest you speak to a travel health clinic.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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