Countries › Colombia › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Beaches, coastal zones and public land in Colombia: beaches and tidal land cannot be owned, DIMAR maritime concessions and their requirements, the ban on housing on beaches, and public land that cannot be acquired by prescription

Beaches, coastal zones and public land in Colombia: beaches and tidal land cannot be owned, DIMAR maritime concessions and their requirements, the ban on housing on beaches, and public land that cannot be acquired by prescription

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Beaches, tidal land and sea water are goods for public use: no private person can own them, and the maritime authority (DIMAR) grants only concessions, permits or licences that confer no title. DIMAR does not allow housing on beaches. Concessions need plans, technical studies, environmental and land use approvals and a certificate on ethnic communities. More broadly, goods for public use and public land are inalienable and cannot be acquired by long possession.

USD figures use the TRM of COP 3,157.94 per US dollar valid on 27 October 2026, certified by the Superintendencia Financiera and published on the national open data portal (datos.gov.co). UVT amounts use the 2026 UVT of COP 52,374 (DIAN Resolución 000238 de 2025) and minimum wage amounts use the 2026 monthly minimum wage of COP 1,750,905 (Decreto 1469 de 2025). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Private ownership of beaches and tidal land	Not allowed; concessions only textDecreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 166, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Width of the national coast zone from the highest tide line	2 kmDecreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 167, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Housing permits on maritime beaches	Not granted textDecreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 177, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum time for authorities to issue certificates in a maritime concession	60 calendar daysDecreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 169 par. 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Beaches, tidal land (terrenos de bajamar) and sea water are goods for public use and therefore cannot be transferred to private persons on any basis; private persons may obtain only concessions, permits or licences for their use, which confer no title over land or subsoil.Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984 (maritime authority), Art. 166, 1984-09-18 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The national coast is a strip two kilometres wide parallel to the highest tide line. A maritime beach runs from the lowest tide line inland to where the material or landform changes markedly or permanent vegetation begins.Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984, Art. 167 num. 1 and 2, 1984-09-18 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. A maritime concession requires an application to the port captaincy with georeferenced plans, hydrographic and oceanographic studies, a project description, an environmental licence or plan, a certificate that the project complies with land use rules, a tourism authority opinion, a transport ministry certificate that no port project exists there, a prior consultation office certificate on ethnic communities, and payment of the fee. Authorities have at most 60 calendar days to issue their certificates.Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984, as amended by Decreto Ley 2106 de 2019 art. 65, Art. 169 lit. a) to j) and par. 2, 2019-11-22 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. DIMAR does not grant permits to build housing on maritime beaches. Building concessions lose all value if works are not built in the set time, do not match approved plans, are used for another purpose, or required insurance policies are not kept.Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984, Art. 176 and 177, 1984-09-18 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Goods for public use, such as streets, squares, bridges and roads, belong to the State and their use to all inhabitants. Goods for public use are inalienable, imprescriptible and unattachable, so no possession, however long, gives ownership.Código Civil art. 674; Constitución Política art. 63, Código Civil art. 674; Constitución art. 63, 1991-07-04 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Providing tourism services on goods for public use without the required concession or permit leads to a six month suspension of the tourism register (RNT).Ley 2068 de 2020, Art. 30 num. 2, 2020-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Worked example

A hotel group buys a beachfront lot in San Andrés. The private title ends where the beach begins; the beach and tidal land in front are goods for public use that cannot be owned (Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 166). To build a pier and beach club it applies to the port captaincy for a maritime concession with plans, studies, environmental licence, land use certificate, tourism opinion and ethnic communities certificate (art. 169). Any plan for villas on the beach itself is dropped, because DIMAR grants no housing permits there (art. 177).

Step by step

1. Survey the lot against the beach line as defined by DIMAR (Decreto Ley 2324 de 1984 art. 167).
2. Treat anything seaward of the beach line as public: plan uses that need a concession, not ownership (art. 166).
3. Gather the art. 169 documents and track the 60 day deadline for third party certificates.
4. Comply with the concession's works schedule, plans, use and insurance to keep it valid (art. 176).

Common traps

Buying "beach land" from a private seller: beaches and tidal land cannot be privately owned (art. 166).
Planning homes on the beach: DIMAR does not grant such permits (art. 177).
Using public land for tourism without a concession: RNT suspension for six months (Ley 2068 de 2020 art. 30).

Sources

← Expropriation in Colombia: constitutional guarantee and prior compensation, public utility grounds, the 30 business day negotiation, administrative expropriation, payment terms, the four month court challenge and the transport infrastructure rulesWater rights in Colombia: water is public, use needs a concession from the environmental authority, terms of up to 10 or 50 years, extension in the last year and the order of priorities →