Banana Beach — Attraction in undefined

Banana Beach was recommended to us by our taxi driver on the way to Barú. We had heard that Playa Blanca was the best beach to go to but that there could also be hostile vendors and other nuisances that could ruin the trip, so we were a little worried. We decided to go a little later in the afternoon (arrived at the beach at about 2) to avoid bigger crowds and our taxi driver called Banana Beach and they had someone waiting for us when we got to the parking lot.

For $20.000 Colombian pesos per person (about $5 USD) they shuttled us to their section of beach, which wasn't secluded, but definitely felt a lot less crowded than the rest of the beach. They do charge extra if you want to lounge on one of their beds, so we just got s free table. Drinks and food we're probably a little more expensive than in the city, but we just had some snacks and brought our own water.

The highlight of the trip was when Darwin, our boat driver, tool us out late at night to swim in the ocean with bioluminescent plankton. This did cost a little extra ($35.000 Colombian pesos per person) but was totally worth it. I would recommend going to the beach later in the day if you want to do that, so that you get there closer to nightfall.

All in all, for about $55.000 Colombian pesos (less than $15 USD) we got a boat ride from the parking lot to a nice beach and back as well as an amazing excursion. The whole situation was completely stress free and we are so glad our taxi driver put us in contact with...

The beach is nice, the food was ok. The problem was the staff (yes the employees, not the beach beggars) asking for money for their family. You dont pay all that money to have staff pressure you for money all day. Also the only way to get here is by going through the access point parqueadero which is run by criminals and unless you pay someone to wait all day for you (and pay the criminals to let the person wait for you), they will blackmail and extort you (knowing they are the only ones who can drive you back). Taxi drivers wont come to pick you up there because the criminals threaten them. It happened to my taxi driver when we were arriving, they kicked his door in and he wouldnt take me further. To see a local driver so scared made me realise this is not a safe place. Go to tierra bomba and find a place there. You'll...

This tiny bit of Playa Bianca wasn't busy and service was good. I had a couple of beers and a burger, which together cost about 75k pesos in total. The lounger and boat to get there cost 110k pesos. The place was helpful, but I also had a tour guide who could help translate and kept my stuff safe while I swam. I wasn't bothered by hawkers too much. The downside (of the whole Playa Bianca) was the vast numbers of motorboats and jet skis. It was not safe to swim more than a few metres out, and the beach smelt of...