Capurganá is a town of the municipality of

Acandí Acandí is a town in Colombia at the northern extremity of the department of Chocó in the northwest of Colombia, bordering Panama and the Caribbean Sea. It is from the department's capital, Quibdó. Its average temperature is . It was founded ar ...

on the northwestern coast of the

Gulf of Urabá The Gulf of Urabá is a gulf on the northern coast of Colombia. It is part of the Caribbean Sea. It is a long, wide inlet located on the coast of Colombia, close to the connection of the continent to the Isthmus of Panama. The town of Turbo, Co ...

in the Colombian department of Chocó, adjacent to the border between Colombia and Panama. Previously a base site for eco-tourists, since 2010 the town's main source of income has been migrants preparing to hike into Panama, across the

Darién Gap The Darién Gap (, , ) is a geographic region that connects the Americas, American continents, stretching across southern Panama's Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department. Consisting of a large drainage basin, ...

. In 2019 it was described as a "smugglers' town".

History

This region of Colombia was inhabited by the

Guna people The Guna (also spelled Kuna or Cuna) are an Indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. Guna people live in three politically autonomous '' comarcas'' or autonomous reservations in Panama, and in a few small villages in Colombia. There are also co ...

and the name Capurganá translates to the "land of chili" in their language. The Guna inhabited the area until the early twentieth century when they were displaced by mostly mulatto settlers from Cartagena. The natives migrated to the archipelago of San Blas (Region

Kuna Yala Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * Kuna Pelješka, a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle mun ...

) in the neighboring country of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. The Guna maintain a semiautonomous region where they exercise a degree of self governance. Capurganá remained unnoticed on the map until the 1970s when Mrs. Narcisa Navas, a community leader, convinced her neighbours to donate land and help to build a small airstrip. Narcisa Navas and the pilot, Jorge Mario Uribe, took the first tourists to Capurganá in a small

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

aircraft. Today the

Capurganá Airport Capurganá Airport is an airport serving the Caribbean coastal town of Capurganá in the Chocó Department of Colombia. No roads go to Capurganá, so boats and aircraft are the primary means in and out. The runway is east of Colombia's border ...

remains, although there are no scheduled flights. Most tourists arrive by ferry from

Necoclí Necoclí is a town and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Located on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Urabá, it is part of the Urabá Antioquia sub-region. The population is predominantly Afro-Colombian. ...

. Initially families from neighbouring

Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

arrived to build small summer houses: the Mora, Uribe, Arango, and Isaza families, as well as Samuel Isaacs, a relative of the Colombian writer Don Jorge Isaacs. The Palacio family established the first hotel in 1975, small log cabins and an iraca palm roof (

Carludovica palmata ''Carludovica palmata'' (also known as Panama hat plant, toquilla palm, calá, palmilla, palmero, pojom, jiraca, junco, soyacal, tepejilote, and jipijapa) is a species of flowering plant in the family '' Cyclanthaceae''. It is not a true palm, ...

). After the cabins (now the renewed Tacarcuna Lodge) were established, similar hotels followed, such as the Almar and Calypso. Tourist infrastructure had grown to more than 20 hotels, inns and hostels by 1990. The small town, with no paved streets and no cars, gradually became a destination for the emerging Colombian eco-tourists. As of 2021, Capurganá has public electricity and water systems, telephones connected to the Colombian phone network, and a permanent doctor. There are no banking facilities and no cars, though motorcycle taxis are available.

Migrants about to cross Darién

Since about 2010 the town's main industry is housing, provisioning, and guiding the many thousands of migrants, primarily Haitians but also from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, and other countries. In Capurganá they conclude their preparations and provisioning for the arduous hike to Panamá through the jungle of the

. Since end of 2024, the migrants are not crossing anymore from Capurgana, they are using other toutes.

Diving

Although Colombia has a very extensive coastline in the Caribbean Sea, many coastal waters are turbid due to sediment from large rivers that flow into the sea. One exception is the short length of 30 km that starts from the border with Panamá (Cape Tiburón) to the Acandí municipality. This stretch of coastline is bathed by crystal clear waters suitable for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

and

snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...

. Beyond the Acandí Township, and bordering half of the Caribbean Colombian coast to the archipelago of San Bernardo in the Gulf of Morrosquillo, the sea is dark by the action of the mighty

Atrato river The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the Ch ...

and

Sinú river Sinú River (), is a river in northwestern Colombia that flows mostly through the Córdoba Department and into the Caribbean. It is the third most important river in the Caribbean Region, after the Magdalena River and the Cauca River. It is ...

. The best time for diving is in the middle of the winter season from April to November when the waves practically disappear. During the summer from January to March the wave action becomes intense, making navigation difficult and not appropriate for tourists unaccustomed to sea life. Capurganá dive operators have certified PADI international agencies that highlight that work to international standards.

Biodiversity

The Choco department has many different animal species, some endangered. Local boats visit "The Playona" beach where Cana ( Dermochelys coriacea) and Carey (

Eretmochelys imbricata The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution that is largel ...

) turtles nest during the months of March and April. It is also possible to observe the famous Choco poison frogs. The dark green frog,

Dendrobates auratus The green-and-black poison dart frog (''Dendrobates auratus''), also known as the green-and-black poison arrow frog and green poison frog (among others), is a brightly-colored member of the order Anura native to southern Central America and Colo ...

, is also common in the region.

Tourism

The late twentieth century was a golden age of tourism in Capurganá. Thousands of tourists traveled from several Colombian cities for its natural environment. The increased activities of illegal armed groups impacted tourist numbers. On December 12 of 1999 Capurganá was the victim of a

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

attack that ended the tourist flow for several years. The Colombian government eventually established a permanent military presence in the border area with the help of the United States

Plan Colombia Plan Colombia was a United States foreign aid, military aid, and diplomatic initiative aimed at combating Colombian drug cartels and left-wing insurgent groups. The plan was originally conceived in 1999 by the administrations of Colombian Presid ...

. Increased security also ended the "cajeteros" or arms smugglers who used the airport as its hub. Until mid-1980 the area had two contiguous coral sand beaches visited by tourists. The beach of the Virgin of Uvita was subsequently invaded by the sea by removing all the sand exposing the coral cliff. Today only the beach of "La Caleta" remains. Today many tourists and businessmen traveling between Colombia and Panama use the Turbo-Capurganá route. A boat leaves at 8:00 am daily with a capacity of 25 passengers between Turbo (Antioquia) and Capurganá. The trip takes about 2 to 3 hours depending on sea conditions. It was announced that by the end of 2012 a new Catamaran ferry service will run between the Antonio Roldán Airport (Apartadó Town) and Capurganá. The nearest city of Panama is

Puerto Obaldía Puerto Obaldía is the smallest and easternmost of the four ''corregimientos'' of the Kuna Yala indigenous region of Panama, located on the border with Colombia. This is a mainland area that does not contain any islands. It has an aerodrome ...

, about 45 minutes by boat.

Transport

Currently all transport of goods is by sea from Turbo (Colombia) and

Cartagena (Colombia) Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...

. Most visitors arrive by boat, primarily from

, the closest point with a paved road, from which there are regular ferries. In 2021 the ferries were inadequate to transport the quantities of migrants, whose accumulation led to the collapse of the water system in Necoclí and the mayor proclaiming a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

. Tourists with means can fly via chartered plane (

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

) to Capurganá or to the nearby town of Acandí.

Geography

Climate

Capurgana has a Köppen Climate Classification subtype of "Aw". (

Tropical Savanna Climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

). The average temperature for the year in Turbo is 81.0 °F (27.2 °C). The warmest month, on average, is May with an average temperature of 82.0 °F (27.8 °C). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 80.0 °F (26.7 °C).

References

External links

Capurganá, a small paradise
blog with useful information. {{DEFAULTSORT:Capurgana Populated places in the Chocó Department Underwater diving sites in the Caribbean Underwater diving sites in Colombia Colombia–Panama border crossings