I first heard of Capurganá a few years ago when I interviewed Ndana Chibanda. Since I value personal recommendations, I decided to read more about the town. Its location immediately piqued my interest, and when I finally got the opportunity to visit Capurganá myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Here are some comments and tips that you may find useful if you decide to go there.

What’s so special about it?
Capurganá is located in Chocó, which is an extremely interesting region in terms of geography and biodiversity. You may have heard of Lloró, one of the rainiest places in the world. Towns like Bahía Solano and Nuquí on the Pacific coast are popular destinations for whale watching. Chocó has a bit of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean close to Panama as well, and that’s where Capurganá is. No roads lead to this town, so there aren’t any cars there.

Isn’t it dangerous?
Chocó is the poorest department in Colombia and suffers from several major issues. That said, Capurganá has developed a lot in the past decade or so. Due to its location, you can’t expect the same comforts as in a big city, but I found the atmosphere in the town very relaxed and felt completely safe there.

We can’t ignore the fact that Capurganá is one of the starting points for the infamous trek through the Darién Gap to Bajo Chiquito in Panama. However, if you’re not involved in the activity of smuggling people, there’s nothing to worry about. Tourists are well received in the town, and some locals even keep their house doors fully open, which I believe is a sign that petty crime isn’t an issue there.

There are direct flights from Medellín
Many visitors travel to Capurganá by boat from Necoclí or Turbo. That is quite time-consuming and not exactly comfortable, so if you prefer a faster way, you can go there directly from Medellín with Pacífica. The flight itself is an interesting experience since the airline uses this L-410 aircraft built in 1989 in Czechoslovakia.

The airport in Capurganá is very basic and the runway tends to be used by the locals for walks or as a shortcut when going somewhere. The hand-written boarding pass and no airport security at all perfectly fit the location.

What can you do there?
A lot! There is a beach in the town, but most visitors go on boat trips to nearby bays (Sapzurro, La Miel, El Aguacate). If you like diving, there are opportunities to do so, mainly from April to November when the sea is a bit calmer. Capurganá also offers amazing hikes to places like Reserva Natural El Cielo or La Coquerita. My favourite place in the area is Sapzurro, mainly thanks to its absolutely stunning beach.

Is the hike to La Miel in Panama worth it?
Yes, I think so. You can easily go there by boat, but if you are an avid hiker, a day trip from Capurganá to La Miel and back is doable. This is the official trail to follow, which involves paying a small fee. Even though the hike itself isn’t that difficult, there are a couple of passages where you need to climb up sets of stairs, which is a bit demanding in humid weather.

Since going to La Miel means crossing the border to Panamá, you are supposed to carry your passport or ID. In my case, there was nobody on the Colombian side and the Panamanian officials just waved me through without checking anything, but it’s better to be ready to have your papers looked at.

What are the drawbacks of visiting Capurganá?
We are talking about a place that is so remote that using Google Maps doesn’t help much and I recommend Bing Maps instead. You may experience water shortages and power cuts while staying there. Electricity doesn’t run 24/7 in the town, so if your accommodation doesn’t have its own power generator, it will get very hot in your room early in the morning.

There are no ATMs in Capurganá. Some places do accept cards or bank transfers, but it’s still recommended to travel with enough cash. You can just leave most of the money in your room when you go out. Again, I’d like to emphasise that I felt safer in Capurganá than in big Colombian cities. Just watch out for motorbikes because this is definitely not the place where you’d receive high-quality medical care if you got run over!

Finally, you need to choose your accommodation wisely. The dock area and some of the streets north of the airport could compete for the title of the noisiest place on Earth due to the locals’ penchant for playing extremely loud music through huge sound systems. I stayed in Mi Cabaña El Maderal, which is run by really nice people, and had no issues with outside noise at all. There are a lot of places to stay in Capurganá; just make sure to read the reviews before booking your accommodation so that you avoid unpleasant surprises.