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| I cannot help but write this section in the first person. The San Blas Islands are hands down the most unique and remote place I've been in my life. Your experience there depends entirely on where you stay, so do some research and talk to travel agents in Panama for advice on what's best for you. Also: PLAN AHEAD. My friend and I thought we could just buy a ticket and cruise on out there, but since the planes are so small they book up quickly. Aeroperlas sells tickets from Panama City online or at their offices.
To get there, flying is the most practical choice. All flights leave at the crack of dawn from Panama City and touch down on several different islands (often making unplanned stops). Make SURE you ask the pilot which island you're on before getting off. Real adventurers may try to get there by a combination of bus and boat, but this is not advised during the months of Jan-May, when high waves make the boat journey rather treacherous.
The San Blas islands are part of the Comarca de Kuna Yala, a district in Panama owned and ruled by the indiginous Kuna Indians. Through perseverity and, well, actually having money (from selling molas), many Kuna in the Comarca have been able to hold on to their traditional ways. The Comarca consists of a long strip of jungle and beach along the Carribean coast, as well as the archipeligo of over 400 mostly tiny islands, protected by a barrier reef further out from shore. The islands are like out of a dream: many are the size of soccor fields or smaller, simply palm-covered bumps ringed with white sand barely sticking out above the warm, blue water.
The Kuna are extremeley community-oriented, so they crowd together on only a few of the islands rather than spread out. For this reason, most of the islands are uninhabited -- but all of them are owned by some Kuna or another. The inhabited islands can get very crowded with bamboo huts. You wouldn't want to arrive on one of these islands without a guide or a reservation somewhere, as the Kuna can be hostile to foreigners, and most of the islands don't have any places for tourists to stay.
There are several resort-style places to stay in the islands, where cabanas have been built for tourists on uninhabited islands and guides will take you on boat adventures to other islands, snorkeling or fishing. These tend to be pretty expensive -- one that I looked at wanted $150/person/night (with all meals and boat trips included). It can be very hard to get ahold of someone to make reservations, though, as most of the islands have one phone total, or no phone at all. You can call, ask for the hotel, and then make arrangements to call back in an hour. Also, many Kuna don't even speak Spanish, much less English.
I had a very frustrating experience trying to get reservations somewhere, but in an amazing stroke of luck, a friend of my brother's in Panama City knew of a great place, which I will now highly recommend to my readers!
The CABANAS WAICA on the island of MAMITUPU provided the perfect experience for me and my friend. More info here: http://www.geocities.com/mamitupu/. Mamitupu is a very traditional inhabited island, but a lovely man named Pablo Perez, who speaks Spanish and a little English, bought one end of the island to build a tourist destination. He has three sleeping cabanas and one larger restaurant hut, fenced off from the village on the other side of the island. The cabanas are right on the beach -- white sand and clear water, of course -- and surrounded by palm trees strung with hammocks. He charges $50/person/night, including all meals and boat trips. This arrangement is perfect -- Pablo meet you at the airport and take you on a tour of the village and introduce you to the important people on the island, and they will accept you with open arms since you have a native guide. His lovely wife and three daughters do all the cooking, and the food is great. Pablo will also take you out in his canoe to see other islands with beautiful beaches, to fish and to snorkel.
Read my VCarious journal entry about San Blas for more information: http://www.vcarious.com/Journal/Panama/Cassandra/Panamaniac.html?section=344225
To make a reservation for Mamitupu, your best bet is to go to or call Hotel Costa Azul in Panama City (on Calle 44 off of Via Espana) and talk to Benicio. He is a Kuna from Mamitupu, speaks good Spanish, and will make arrangements for you with Pablo.
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Ratings for San Blas Islands |
| Overall Recommendation: | | 63% |  |
| | Scenery: | | 88% | |
| | Popularity: | | 25% | |
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