I have photographed on most of the Colombian Pacific between Bahia Solano and Nuqui, and the locations I keep returning to are the ones where the forest and the water create something that no staging or lighting can replicate. This is a list of the places I actually use, with the specific details that make each one work as an elopement setting.
El Almejal Beach, Bahia Solano
El Almejal is my first choice on the north coast. The reserve sits fifteen minutes from the Bahia Solano airstrip and the beach is owned by the lodge, which means no day-trippers. The Mecana River crossing is the signature image of this location, but the whole stretch of sand from the river to the headland is usable in any light. I have shot pre-dawn sessions here when the bioluminescence in the water was visible, which is something I had not encountered anywhere else before this coast.
Termales Beach, Nuqui
Termales is a forty-minute panga ride from Nuqui town. Geothermal springs emerge from the base of the cliff and pool on the sand at low tide before draining into the Pacific. I have used the spring pools as a foreground element while the couple stands in the surf behind them. The steam that rises from the water in the morning adds a layer of atmosphere that I cannot recreate anywhere else. The beach is accessible only by boat, which means on most mornings it belongs entirely to whoever hired the panga.
Playa Cocalito
Cocalito is around an hour south of Nuqui by panga and requires a permit to access. The beach is backed by primary forest with no lodges visible anywhere on the shoreline. I have shot at Cocalito twice and both times the solitude was complete. Logistics require coordination with the local guides who know the permit system, but for a couple who wants the most remote setting on this entire coast, Cocalito is the answer. Nothing I have photographed here looks like it was made within reach of civilization.
Destination Wedding Photographer
Vancouver · Medellín · Worldwide
