Urabá, A Colombian Caribbean Destination Committed to Sustainable Tourism

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Issue Sep 24-30 2025: Between rivers, drums, and beaches, the region is reinventing itself.

In El Tiempo of Bogotá, Angie Tatiana Rodríguez Bernal wrote that in many regions of Colombia, rivers are viewed by local communities as subjects of rights, as they represent identity, roots, and sustenance for riverside families. In 2016, this recognition was awarded to the Atrato River, the most voluminous in Colombia and one of the most abundant in the world.

The Atrato River rises on Cerro Plateado, in the municipality of El Carmen de Atrato, in the western Andes mountain range, and flows into the Gulf of Urabá, where it merges with the Caribbean Sea, near the border with Panama. It is believed that its name comes from the Citara communities, subgroups of the Embera people who shared distinct linguistic and cultural traits. One theory suggests that they replaced the old name “Darién.” Although illegal mining, armed conflict, and pollution have affected it for many years, the river remains a lifeline for those who live in the Urabá. For decades, the armed conflict ravaged this region of Colombia with a series of massacres that claimed the lives of numerous inhabitants of the territory. Today, memory is part of a healing process led by the communities themselves. The goal is not to re-victimize, but to commemorate their legacy.

One such effort is that of the Living Memories Collective, in Apartadó, which seeks to leave behind the image of the territory as a space of war and showcase it through stories of resistance, love, and solidarity. This is just one example of the initiatives promoted by the region’s communities to promote a new vision of Urabá, in which memory, nature, and adventure tourism take center stage. “Through all these memories, we are showing the beauty of the region, the lives of the leaders. In addition to memory tourism, we also have river and sea tourism. There are some truly beautiful places, comparable to those of other countries,” says María Cortés, a member of Living Memories.