The Pacific coast of Choco on the western edge of Colombia is remote and magical. There are no roads through the jungle to get there. Just small prop planes landing at small air strips in the fishing villages of Nuqui and Bahia Solano located on the Pacific coast and the jungle's edge.While not easy to get to, the black sand beaches and jungle around Nuqui are a hidden jewel, a natural paradise, an exotic destination and one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.
But one needs to allot a small chunk of time to visit Nuqui. Not only is it necessary to fly in and out of town, the best beaches are located outside of town to the north and south. Bring enough spending cash for your stay as there are no banks in Nuqui. The virgin beaches outside of town have no internet forcing one to disconnect with your world and reconnect with nature and ones self.
The village of Nuqui is small with just over 8,500 people in and around the town. It is located south of the Gulf of Tribuga and the Nuqui's sister village Bahia Solano. Of the two, Nuqui probably receives more visitors than Bahia even though it's easier to travel to the sites of Bahia over land while in Nuqui most of the sites lie outside of town and can only be reached by small motor boats or 'launchas' which seat up to a dozen people.
Upon arrival in Nuqui there are a few hotels in town and a number of guest houses down a dirt road running along the beach. Hotel Obega is considered the best hotel in town. A four story structure in town across from the park and the malecon, the rooms go for 100,000 cop a night. There is a good restaurant on the top floor open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with excellent internet throughout. In town there are some shops, restaurants, bars and a pool hall. Nuqui also has Playa Blanca, a nice clean beach to enjoy stretching from the center north far from town for miles. The roads in town have recently been paved and a boardwalk or malecon recently built which are major contributions from the national govenment which has famously marginalized the Choco region for decades and ignored the development of Colombia's Pacific coast.
While one could stay in town and do day tours to the surrounding sites. There are guided tours leaving from the tourist port in town around 9 a.m. Information on tours can be obtained from Nuqui Tours in town and also from the hotel managers. The tours cover the main sites. There are day trips to the south which take in the sites of Thermales, Guachalito Beach, Waterfall La Amor with lunch at Port Arusi. The price is 160,000 cop per person.
There are also day trips to the north of Nuqui to MorroMico Beach, Tribuga Bay, the town of Juribida and the Utria National Nature park and its coral reefs. The park covers 54,300 hectares with very few sandy beaches s the jungle spills out onto the seashore. Since it is a longer trip by boat the trips north go for 300,000 cop. There are a number of secluded beaches, hotels, resorts and cabins up this way.
One can take a tour the first day in town to get a feel for the surrouondings but it is a much better to stay in one of the more remote beaches outside of town. The beaches are Guachalito, Coqui, Jovi, Terco, Thermales, Partado, Arusi. The best places to stay are Guachalito beach. One of the the most beautiful beaches in Colombia where mountain streams trickle down from the jungle and across the beach sands. Following one of these beaches up into the jungle one comes upon the waterfall La Amor. Here one can swim in the jungle shade with the cicadas singing and monkeys jumping limb to limb in the overehead jungle canopy.
Guachalito beach is probably the most famous beach near Nuqui. It also may be one of the most beautiful beaches in Colombia with its black sands, palm trees and stunning magma rocks along the beach. Here onen can find premium lodgings on or near the beach for 200,000 cop per room per night per couple (Cabanas Iracas) up to 900,000 for a room per night (Hotel Palmas Pacific).
Termales is a little fishing village further south that lives off tourism. There are a number of small hotels and posadas in town and up and down the beach. Here prices range from 70,000 cop a night up to 100,000 (Refugio Salamon) the main lodge in the center of town. There is a surf school in Termales. And to repeat, there is no internet and the electricity is shut off to the town every night at 10:30 p.m. There is a nice bakery/restaurant in town. And meals can be reserved at diffferent restaurants around town. Fish is th main staple. The most famous restaurant in Therrmales is Restaurant Apache located a 15 minute walk up the path north along the beach. Here the Argentinian chef, , will serve wonderful meals. The price 50,000 cop per person.
The town is famous for its thermal baths Termales Agua Calientes which is an ancient pool of warm, spring fed mineral waters. The baths are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is 15,000 and there is a bar on site and same day massages can be arranged.
It's a 2 hour walk from Guachalito to Thermales. From Thermales one can walk south to the village of Partada. From here one can arrange for a tour with the locals to go up the River Arusi to see the mangroves and lake in the jungle. The price is 90,000 cop. There are also guided tours up the Jovi and Coqui rivers. Tour guides in Partada will also lead people through the jungle over a mountain to remote beaches. One of the beaches, Playa Blanca has small round rocks while another, Punta Brava is has white sand and is well known for its surf.
The indigenous live inland in the jungles and bring fresh produce from the jungle down the rivers to sell on the coastal villages. They produce bananas, plantains, rice, cocoa, corn, coconuts, yuca and variouos fruits. But this happens mostly during the rainy season or summer months. During the winter months the rivers are low due to lack of rain and difficult to navigate and fresh fruits and vegetables are harder to come by as a result.
The inhabitants of Nuqui are mostly black, ex-slaves from the era of rubber plantations. They live by fishing in dug out canoes with nets or hand held fishing lines. A growing tourism industry brings in some some money and they rent huts, rooms, make meals and ferry tourists and residents by boat between villages.
It's a quiet, laid back place not many people know about. While there is talk about the region of Choco not being safe, the towns and beaches of Nuqui and Bahia are considered very safe for tourism probably safer than most other places in Colombia. There is no delinquency due to the fact that everyone knows each other. The weather is hot with most days in the 90s.
Nuqui doesn't usually see a lot of tourism probably due to the fact that it's a remote location and difficult to access. There is always a small number of foreign tourists looking for those off the beaten path destinations. Colombian tourists don't flock to the country's Pacific beaches prefering the more popular and well groomed beach destinations of Cartagena, Santa Marta and San Andres island.
People say the best time to come is during the whale season between July and October when the humpback whatles come close to shore to birth and raise their calves in these warm Pacific waters. But this is also the absolute high season for tourism in Nuqui when lodgings are fully booked and prices are at a premium. to Oct.
How to get there
There are frequent flights to and from Nuqui from Medellin in the mornings every other day. The flights leave from Medellin's smaller airport in the city- Enrique Olaya Herrera and take no more than 45 minutes.
Frequent flights also depart from Quibdo the capital of Choco. One could also come from Bogota, Cali or other parts of Colombia with an airline connections to Nuqui in Medellin or Quibdo.
The cost of flights from Medellin are 150,000 to 200,000 each way. Satena, Clic and Moon Flights are the 3 airlines that fly into Nuqui and can be purchased online.
Upon arriving at the airport there is a entrance fee of 30,000 to pay.
Nuqui isone of the rainiest places in the world and during the rainy days life completely stops in this part of Colobia. This inclement weather frequently foreces departures to be delayed or postponed for a day or two. During one trip in October my flight there was delayed and the flight back cancelled. But Satena rebooked me on a flight the nextt day and paid for my hotel room and ttwo meals. On second trip in January I experienced no travel delays at all. So it's best to leave a little wiggle room in your itininery especially with a return trip.
One can also arrive in Nuqui by water. Boats leave from the port city of Buenaventure further south but it's a 374 km. trip. The smaller speed boats take 8 hours to make the trip and there is a larger cargo boat leaving once a week that takes 12-20 hours. The cost is 200,000 - 300,000 cop.
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