Most travelers come to La Macarena, Colombia for one reason: to see Caño Cristales, the so-called most beautiful river in the world. And yes — it’s absolutely worth the hype. But many don’t realize that this remote town in the Meta Department offers much more. From crystal-clear swimming holes and jungle trails to boat rides and jungle sounds, La Macarena is the kind of place that makes you want to slow down and stay a little longer.
Whether you’re planning a weekend escape or a deeper adventure, this guide will help you explore the best of La Macarena, Colombia — beyond just Caño Cristales.
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Table of Contents - La Macarena, Colombia - The ultimate Travel Guide
- Where is La Macarena
- When to visit La Macarena
- How to get to La Macarena, Colombia
- Top things to do in La Macarena
- How to organize your tours in La Macarena
- Other things to do in La Macarena
- What to pack for La Macarena
- La Macarena Colombia – Know before you go
- FAQ about visiting La Macarena Colombia
Where is La Macarena
La Macarena lies about 275 km south of Bogota, in the Meta department. A department that has a turbulent history, but La Macarena is now a safe and incredibly welcoming town. It is the closest town to the stunning Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de La Macarena and the gateway to this must-visit.
When to visit La Macarena
Since Caño Cristales is the absolute highlight of La Macarena, the best time of year to visit is when the algae in the river flourish. This is roughly from May to October, with July and August being the best months.
La Macarena is also good for wildlife watching, and if this is your top priority, La Macarena is a good destination year-round. But I would recommend visiting between June and September, at least, so you can also see the beautiful Macarenia clavigera algae which really gives Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de La Macarena its magic.
How to get to La Macarena, Colombia
The gateway to Caño Cristales is the town of La Macarena. You can reach La Macarena by road or by air. Most people fly here from Bogota, and this is also the only means of transport on which you will find widespread information. Clic air and Satena offer direct flights from Bogota every other day between them during the season.
However, if you’re traveling to Caño Cristales on a budget, traveling by road is the way to go. Since there is not much information available online, it seems complicated, but it’s not!
First, you need to get to San Vicente del Caguan, from where there are 4 daily jeeps to La Macarena. It’s a long ride of about 4 hours on a dirt road, but it’s a lot cheaper than flying, and this way to get to see some of the landscape and towns on the way as well.
You can reach San Vicente from several big cities in Colombia, like Bogota, Armenia, Medellin and Cali. If you can’t find a direct bus, or if you’re coming from the Tatacoa desert, try searching for a bus to Neiva, from where you can travel to San Vicente del Caguan. Easy as that!
Top things to do in La Macarena
First of all, it is important to note that you will need a guide to visit most attractions around La Macarena and that most agencies work with package tours. These packages generally include several attractions, meals, accommodation, a cultural experience and optional flights. The tours included in the package depend on your preference and the availability. You can discuss this with agencies.
If you prefer, you can also book the trips separately and organize your transport, accommodation, and meals. I do recommend booking your tours in advance, though, even if you want to organize them on your own. There aren’t any walk-in agencies in town, since they are used to organizing everything in advance. If you do want to organize on the spot, head to the Cormacarena office and ask them for contact details of agencies.
Caño Cristales
Caño Cristales is the main attraction in La Macarena and also highlight of the Serranía de la Macarena.
You can only visit Caño Cristales with an authorized tour which needs to be booked in advance. Tours of Caño Cristales are done in groups of max. 7 people, and that there is a maximum capacity for each trail in the park as well.
The tour consists of a hike during which you’ll get plenty of opportunities to see the Macarenia clavigera. There are also a few beautiful waterfalls along the way and swimming stops. Tours normally include two swimming stops and a lunch break on the way. In order to protect the fragile algae, you cannot swim in the areas with a lot of algae, but you might find a little lost plant at your swimming stop if you’re lucky.
For more information about this tour, see my dedicated extensive Caño Cristales guide.
Cristalitos
Cristalitos is a private area in the Serranía de la Macarena where you can also see the Macarenia clavigera algae. A tour of Cristalitos consists of a short hike passing by a viewpoint, waterfalls and a river (caño) where you can see the algae. At one of the waterfalls you’ll be able to go for a swim.
Caño Piedra
Caño Piedra is another river close to La Macarena, but the Macarenia clavigera doesn’t grow here. It’s still a beautiful place. The river is crystal clear and great to go for a swim and just relax. It’s a public place and popular with locals. Unfortunately, it’s not as well protected as other areas and there was quite a bit of rubbish around.
Having said that, there seems to be a growing awareness about littering and contamination so hopefully it has improved and will continue to improve!
Mirador del llano
Mirador del llano is often included in package tours for sunrise on the day of departure. It’s private property and there is a restaurant here as well where they will serve breakfast after the sunrise.
If you’re not leaving right away, you can easily combine Mirador Los Llanos with Caño Piedra
Laguna del Silencio
Laguna del Silencio is a great place for activities. You can go horseback riding or opt for a canoe or boat tour on the lake. Laguna Silencia is great for birdwatching.
Ciudad de Piedra
This tour consists of a river cruise combined with a 10k hike. The destination of the hike is La Ciudad de Piedras (Stone City): layered rock formations which were formed when this area was below sea level. This tour is a good option if you want to go on a hike, since it’s more about the journey than the destination I’d say.
While the stone formations are interesting, I enjoyed the wildlife watching from the boat and during the hike a lot more than La Ciudad de Piedras itself. This tour passes by a place on the river where you can often see river dolphins. Even though these dolphins don’t normally come out of the water much, it was still an amazing experience seeing them.
Raudal
At Raudal, you can see rock carvings. While this sounds really cool and we would have loved to have visited, this area is only accessible during the dry season, when most caños, including Caño Cristales are dry. When they have water, there is too much water going through the rapids you will need to pass to reach Raudal, making it impossible to get there.
Wildlife spotting tours
There are several guides in La Macarena who offer wildlife tours. You can opt for a bird watching tour, or a general fauna watching tour. Besides birds, it’s also very common to see monkeys around here. And there is also a spot on the river where you can frequently see river dolphins. River dolphins don’t normally jump out of the water, so it’s hard to really observe them, but it’s still quite a thrilling experience to see their dorsal fins pop up out of the water every once in a while.
How to organize your tours in La Macarena
As I mentioned before, the most common way to visit La Macarena is on a package tour. It is also by far the easiest. But also a little more expensive compared to organizing it on your own.
Joining a package tour
Most packages include at least Caño Cristales, Cristalitos and Mirador del llano. If you don’t have an early flight back on your last day, Caño Piedra is often included as well. If you have other special wishes, you can discuss them with your agency so they can customize it for you.
There are several agencies in town which you can contact for quotes. We planned our tours with Viajes Ecocristal, which I can definitely recommend. Everything was well organized and if you do a package tour with them, it also includes the cultural evening with food and folklore dancing and a unique Macarena Dish, invented to honor Caño Cristales.
Organizing on your own
If you want to book everything separately, you will still need to book your tours through an agency. I would start with that to make sure there is availability for the tours you want to do when you want to do them. You can then organize your accommodation later and transport by road can be organized on the spot or a day before.
Organizing tours
When you start in time, Caño Cristales and Cristalitos are the easiest to organize since they are the most popular and there will often be a group for them. But they can book out, so it is important to organize them in advance.
The other tours are not likely to book out, so you can organize them later if you want to stay flexible. For Mirador del llano or Caño Piedra, you don’t need a guide for them. This means that you don’t necessarily need a full group to be able to visit them. The Mirador is a private tower, which can get full, but it wasn’t when we were there. I also wouldn’t say it’s a must-visit, so I wouldn’t worry about it if you cannot visit it. Caño Piedra is a public area, so you can visit it anytime. You just need transport to get here.
If you’re interested in Laguna del Silencio or Ciudad de Piedra, it might be a little more difficult to get a group together as they are less popular. We had enough people for Ciudad de Piedra, but some of the people in our group actually preferred Laguna del Silencio. They were the only ones so they ended up doing Ciudad de Piedra with our group instead.
Wildlife watching isn’t an official tour yet and not included as a tour in any of the packages. While the tours that start with a boat ride along the river also include some wildlife watching, if you want to do a dedicated wildlife watching tour, you’ll need to speak to a guide directly for a private tour. You can organize these on the spot.
Where to Stay in La Macarena – Best Options for Every Budget
Posada Los Cristales is a great budget option. It is where we stayed. Rooms are simple, but comfy and the staff is very friendly. It’s a little further away from the center, but the town is only small and I enjoyed the walks.
If you’re after a little bit more comfort, look at Casa Real. Casa Real is located at the central square and has a pool. While you’ll be out on tours most of the time, if you’re planning an extra chill day in La Macarena, a pool could be nice to have.
For a more remote feel and a connection with nature, there is El Refugio. The accommodation here is in cabins along the river on a big plot of land. Also a great place to spend a chill day in between or after tours.
Where to eat in La Macarena
On full-day tours, lunch will be included, and you don’t need to worry about this meal. But if you are organizing your stay in La Macarena independently, you will need to organize your other meals.
A must-try is the Macarena dish at El Refugio. Do call them up at least 1 day, but better 2 days in advance to book. It takes a long time to prepare the dish. This is also the reason why they are the only place in town that actually prepares it
At Plazoleta de comidas La macaren you’ll find plenty of fast food stalls. Café de lithos is a nice place if you’re looking for something different. If you’re tired of the typical menu del dias and are craving a burger or a pasta, or just a coffee, juice or another drink, this is your place. They have games as well to play while you wait for your food or enjoy your drink. For a cheap and tasty menu del dia, head to the main square. Most tour operators include breakfast and dinner at the big restaurant here, but there are other small places around as well.
My recommendation
Putting all the pro’s and con’s together, I would opt for a package tour, excl. transport to organize your trip to La Macarena. You can easily organize your own transport by bus and jeep which is a lot cheaper than flying. It also gives you the flexibility to stay a day or two more and do other tours if you decided you wanted to stay a little longer.
Although we organized our own transport, food and accommodation, most of the time we ate at the same places as the people who had bought the package anyway so you might as well organize that with the agency. And we all stayed at different accommodations. So you can always ask for a budget place to stay to bring the price down a little, like Posada Los Cristales. Or ask for a quote including and excluding accommodation and compare.
Other things to do in La Macarena
The main things to do in La Macarena are the tours. The town itself is only small and doesn’t offer much to do itself. But if you have some time to spare and you want to do something else, you could visit the Jardin Botanical. Do note that it is quite far from town and not a very touristic experience. Get in touch with the owner if you’re interested. If you want to visit the garden mainly for wildlife watching, you can see the same closer to town. For example heading to the Morocoy river.
What to pack for La Macarena
La Macarena is hot and humid, so bring clothes suitable for this environment.
- Protective clothes. You’re not allowed to wear sunscreen when Caños Cristales, or other caños where the Macarenia clavigera grows. So bring a long-sleeved shirt, a hat, and sunglasses for protection.
- Swimwear
- A reusable water bottle or hydration pack. No single-use plastic is allowed into Caño Cristales. I brought my hydration pack, on every tour, which I always bring on hikes. But you can bring any reusable bottle.
- Comfortable shoes for hiking.
- A camera which can be used underwater, like a GoPro or another action cam or bring a waterproof case for your phone. If you have a camera with a tele-lens, it’s also worth bringing it. You’ll likely see animals on the way.
- Waterproof (dry)bag for the boat ride.
- Sunscreen. Even though you can’t wear it the days you go swimming in the caños with algae, you might need it the other days, and on the boat rides. Even if it’s just on the way back from your tour.
- A poncho or light rain jacket if you’re visiting in a rainier period.
- Cash. Not all places accept card payments and there is only one ATM in town, which might or might not have cash.
La Macarena Colombia - Know before you go
While the package tours are pretty well organized, and so is the Caño Cristales tour, the rest of La Macarena is still very new to tourism. There are not many tour agencies visibly around in La Macarena, since they mainly work with pre-bought packages online.
So some tours are not as well organized, and more improvised. I found wildlife watching was like this for example. In other places, which are more experienced with wildlife watching tours (like Amazon tours or the Pantanal for example), both the guides and boatmen are generally expert wildlife spotters. They know a lot about the animals and their behavior and look ahead so they could park the boat right where the animals were.
In La Macarena this was not the case. We did two tours which included wildlife spotting on the river on the way, but it was a little clumsy in comparison. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just something to keep in mind. The boat will most likely pass some animals initially, and you might need to lift your hand yourself if you see an animal to stop the boat.
Some other tours felt more like places where they could possibly send tourists when Caño Cristales is dry, rather than amazing places someone should definitely come and experience. They are trying to spread tourism over more destinations, which can be visited year round so it becomes easier for those working with tourism to generate an income year round.
As I said before, they are still fairly new to tourism and still figuring it out. Which is part of the charm of La Macarena and one of the reasons this is my favorite place in Colombia, hands down!
This was La Macarena, Colombia - The ultimate Travel Guide
If you’re looking for a more rustic experience, off the beaten track, La Macarena, Colombia is a must. It is one of my favorite places in this beautiful and diverse country, and the one that surprised me the most. We were doubting a lot whether it was worth the money and the trip, and it really was.
What’s on your La Macarena bucket list? Let us know in the comments below!
FAQ about visiting La Macarena Colombia
La Macarena is a charming town in Colombia’s Meta department, best known as the gateway to unique natural attractions—including the world-famous Caño Cristales. Beyond that, it offers vibrant local culture, scenic hikes and wildlife watching in a remote, welcoming setting.
La Macarena is located about 275 km south of Bogotá (as the crow flies) in the Meta department. It sits near the Serranía de la Macarena National Natural Park, which is home to many of the region’s natural wonders.
The ideal time to visit La Macarena is between May and October. This time of year you can experience the vibrant colors of Caño Cristales and lush wildlife. The best months to appreciate Caño Cristales and Cristalitos are July and August.
The most convenient way to reach La Macarena is by flying from Bogotá to La Macarena’s small airport. Budget travelers can also opt for a scenic jeep ride from San Vicente del Caguán, which typically takes around 4 hours on unpaved roads.
In addition to Caño Cristales, La Macarena offers a variety of attractions like Cristalitos, Caño Piedra, Laguna del Silencio, and Ciudad de Piedra. You can also enjoy wildlife spotting tours, scenic boat rides on local rivers, and cultural experiences that highlight the region’s history and local traditions.
For a comfortable trip, pack lightweight, breathable clothing and sturdy hiking shoes. Also bring swimwear, a hat, insect repellent, sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, and a rain poncho if visiting during one of the wetter months. These essentials will prepare you for a variety of activities—from hiking the trails to exploring scenic waterways.