San Blas Islands: 365 Caribbean paradise islands is written by Rikke Bank Egeberg.
San Blas has it all
Are you going to Caribbean islands and do you also like sailing? So read on.
San Blas Islands in the Caribbean Sea off Panama is for the adventurous who has the best of exploring in a nature that makes one feel that one is alone in the world.
San Blas is the place that has it all - except all-inclusive hotels, traffic jams and excessive tourism.
San Blas is something as lovely as an overlooked Caribbean tropical paradise.
Daríen: A border of rainforest
You cannot drive from North America to South America, for the legendary route Pan has never been taken through the densely vegetated and humid rainforest of the south Panama, called Daríen. The road simply stops in Yaviza in Panama, and then there is just a wild and mythical rainforest ahead.
The rainforest is only populated by a few native tribes, and has for many years been a dangerous place due to the massive drug smuggling from south to north.
You can therefore only cross the border by plane or boat, so we set out to find a boat trip from Panama to the San Blas Islands and on to Colombia.
Puerto Lindo, Panama
The sailing trip was booked through the local travel agency Bluesailing, which specializes in the sailing route to the San Blas Islands. We went from Puerto Lindo in Panama to San Blas and on to Cartagena in Colombia, and it can also be sailed the other way.
Goodbye to civilization and wi-fi
We chartered the ship from Puerto Lindo, which has a small harbor on the Caribbean side of Panama. Our Swedish captain picked us up on the pier in his rubber dinghy when the ship, Quest, was anchored out in the bay.
We were eight people to take on board, and it was a strange feeling to leave the mainland and know that we would first see civilization again in Cartagena.
We all handed in our shoes, which were collected in a bag. Like civilization, we would also only see shoes and wi-fi after five days. First there was an adventure in the San Blas Islands before us.
From the Sound to San Blas
The first night we sat and ate dinner before we sailed - we were all excited to get going. Our captain Göran, who strangely enough is from Malmo and have sailed the old Øresund ferries to and from Toldboden in Copenhagen, advised us to take a couple of seasickness pills before bedtime and before we set course for the islands. Because there could be some waves, a little depending on the season.
Göran wanted to sail during the night so that at dawn we could wake up to the sight of the first chalk-white sand islands, as well as one of the islands where the native Kuna Indians live. Here we should have stamped our passports so we were now officially on our way out of Panama.
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Freshly caught lobsters
The trip was with three meals a day, drinking water and accommodation, and snacks and alcohol you had to manage yourself. Private fishing is not allowed, but freshly caught lobsters are traded by the local fishermen and at a price of DKK 35, it is not to say no to.
Three days in total paradise on the San Blas Islands
We spent three days snorkeling and exploring the beautiful corals on the various San Blas islands. We compared how quickly it took us to go around the small islands we anchored at, and otherwise just enjoyed relaxing on the beach under the shade of the swaying palm trees, snorkelling and drinking coco locos (the famous whole coconut added rum) with the locals.
More guest than guest
I'm quite interested in sailing, so it was a dream to be on a ship as nice as the 62-foot-long Quest, and Göran was not shy about starting one to help on board, if you would.
Even though I was more of a guest than a guest, it was fun to be a part of.
Farewell to San Blas
The last leg of the journey started when we left the San Blas Islands and headed for Cartagena. It is a sailing in a full 30 hours. A few pods of dolphins bid us farewell as they played in the waves, and now we were ready Colombia!
Sunset over Cartagena
We arrived in Cartagena just at sunset and it was a huge experience to sail into this colorful and historic port city. An absolutely perfect way to say goodbye to the San Blas Islands and instead be welcomed in Cartagena.
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Boca Grande, Cartagena
The navy is based all the way down to the water at Boca Grande, and here you pass three large submarines that they have previously confiscated from drug smugglers.
Fortunately, Colombia today so much more than the old stories of the big drug cartels, and it's rightly one of the coolest destinations in South America.
Sail wiser
It was fascinating to be away with other nationalities and when we landed in Colombia, we had become closely linked and much wiser to new cultures and traditions - not just the Panamanian ones. And it was great to sail new experiences in meeting.
This will definitely not be the last time I go on a boat trip out in the blue.
Good wind out there and a really good trip to San Blas in Panama.
Here are 7 San Blas Islands you must visit
- Isla Perro (Dog Island)
- Isla Pelicano (Pelican Island)
- Isla de las Estrellas (Star Island)
- Isla Chichime
- Isla Ynadup
- Wailidup Island
- Isla Diablo (Devil's Island)
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