Sailing Through The San Blas Islands – Our Experience!

There are many things to say about the San Blas islands, but the first thing to say might be that if you visit this place, it will be difficult to go anywhere else in the Caribbean. 

Stumbling out of our small hotel at 4am in Casco Viejo, an old colonial district of Panama City, it was hard to imagine how different our surroundings would be in 12 hours. We were picked up in a minibus by the sailing outfit, and after collecting the other members of our party in Panama City we were finally on our way to cross the Panamanian Isthmus to reach the blue waters of the Caribbean. I was filled with anticipation; we had a few family friends who were experienced sailors, and all of them had raved about the San Blas.

After a 7 hour trip from the port, the first islands finally came into view. Initially no more than smudges on the horizon, as they came into focus we were able to see the silhouettes of palm trees and eventually white sand. We dropped anchor about 50m from the island and swam to shore. There was nothing more than a cabin selling beers, a couple of benches and a beach volleyball court; it probably would have taken 10 minutes to walk around the island. It was a stunning setting for a drink and a game of beach volleyball, followed by a dip in the sea as the sun went down. It was one of those moments you truly felt lucky to experience.

The San Blas archipelago is part of the Guna Yala province of Panama, a self-governing district with their own language and culture. The archipelago is made up of approximately 365 islands, although this changes constantly as they rise from and sink into the sea. When a new island emerges, it can be claimed by planting a coconut tree – this confers ownership to the lucky local. Some islands have significant populations (the most populated has nearly 1000 people) but we stayed among the smaller islands in the north of the archipelago. We visited seven islands over the course of four days; the most infrastructure we saw was a restaurant with wifi. Somehow, they all had beach volleyball courts.

We spent four amazing days relaxing on the beach, snorkelling, playing beach volleyball and of course eating and drinking. I think it’s fair to say everyone on the boat found this quite an easy routine to adjust to. The setting of small, unspoiled tropical islands with pristine white sand and palm trees, surrounded by the turquoise water of the Caribbean Sea was idyllic. It made me question where else I could go in the Caribbean that could possibly live up to the San Blas Islands.

The snorkelling was excellent, with an abundance of coral and reef fish; we also saw rays, lobsters, squid and the occasional shark (there are also sea turtles but we didn’t get lucky there). The water was very clear and the temperature was pleasantly warm. Meals were usually provided on the boat, a 50 foot catamaran ably manned by a crew of three. The highlights were a large fish that had been caught by trailing a line behind the boat overnight and an enormous platter of freshly grilled lobster, bought for cheap from the locals on an island (apparently lobster is like chicken for them). The Guna Yala also sold vibrant molas – a piece of cloth that the matriarchs fashion into the centrepiece of their outfits – and cheap, cold beers (always welcome when the temperature climbed well into the 30s). On one island, there was the option to buy coconuts. For $2 a local would shimmy up a coconut tree and hack one down with a machete, and then they would open it with three or four expert strokes of the machete – not as easy as it looks, as one of our party found out when they attempted to open their own coconut!

We finished our trip with an open water crossing to Cartagena, Colombia. This took two days, and if I was to visit again I would start and finish the trip in Panama as it turns out there isn’t much to do when you’re in the open sea!

Experiencing the San Blas islands from a sailing boat was a once-in-a-lifetime trip; I’ll never forget the collective sense of awe at our surroundings while we were there. 

Fancy crafting your own aventure to San Blas? Get in touch!