My Trip to the San Blas Islands
Posted by Travel Editor
My vacation to the San Blas Islands began with the decision that instead of taking a flight from Panama City to the San Blas Islands, we would hire a driver for a change. Yes, you can also get to the San Blas Islands with a driver. It costs $25 US per person for the three hours, very bumpy trip for up to seven people. The driver will take you to the San Blas Islands and pick you up and take you back to Panama City when you wish to leave the Islands. Let’s say, driving is for the more adventurous among us.
A jeep took us to the San Blas Islands. It was a wild ride on very bumpy terrain. Luckily, the car is a four wheel drive jeep. The drive took about three hours, up hills, down hills and through a river. At the end of this wild journey, not for the faint of heart, we were met by a man who worked at the hostel. He took us by boat to the island we would be staying at.
We were very surprised though when we arrived at the island we were going to stay at and saw there was no beach. We had been expecting clear blue ocean, white sand beaches and palm trees as you see in all the photographs of the San Blas. This was not the San Blas Islands we had heard about, nor what we expected to find after our rough and rocky journey to the islands.
However, the next day after breakfast we were taken by boat to a small island with the white sand beaches and palm trees we had been looking for and were expecting to find on the San Blas Islands. Our time that days was spent walking around the island which was very small and took only about ten minutes to complete the walk around. The beach was marvelous and the water clear blue. We sunbathed, snorkeled. At lunch time, a man who had brought us our lunch which consisted of fish and rice. After lunch, we spent a few more hours on the beach and then the guy from the hotel came back in his boat to take us back to the hotel after this lovely day on the island all by ourselves.
The next day we were taken on a tour of a local Kuna village as a sort of cultural immersion into their way of life. They still live in their traditional ways, having won the right from the Panama government to own the San Blas Islands, maintain their traditional life and speak their own language. They are friendly people and very welcoming to us. They live in a village of bamboo, palm leaf houses with dirt floors. They don’t have a lot of money, electricity or running water. Coconuts used to be their currency. Now it seems, they are accepting American dollars. If you want to photograph them, you must pay them a dollar for the privilege. But that’s okay.
On another day, we went fishing with a Kuna guide on his boat. We caught some big ones and they were prepared and cooked for us that night – delicious! Nothing like fresh fish.
Another days we were taken by boat to other islands and one of the best was where there was a shipwreck off shore. We spent a lot of time snorkeling around the shipwreck and taking photos. Lunch was again dropped off for us – sometimes fish, sometime chicken.
Our stay on the San Blas Islands wasn’t glamorous, we were roughing it. The total cost was $35 a day for lodging, food, and our transport to the beaches on the islands. The price was a good deal and our hosts were attentive and very friendly. The food was really good, lots of freshly caught fish, crab and lobster, chicken, rice and lots of fruit. It was all we needed.
All in all, my trip to the San Blas Islands was an adventure, roughing it a bit and staying in very rustic basic accommodations. The food was really good. But we wanted to get away from it all and this was a great escape and being taken to other beautiful islands where we could spend the day in an island paradise was perfect.
A List of Hotels in the western San Blas Islands
Posted by Travel Editor
The western islands (the Comarca Kuna Yala) of the San Blas Islands is situated inside a coral reef that makes the water calmer and clearer and makes it an ideal location for snorkeling. The following article is a list of San Blas hotels located in the western part of the San Blas Islands. Most of the available San Blas Island lodging is rustic and quite basic but the surroundings of the islands make it a great tropical island escape adventure. The scenery of white sand beaches lined with palm trees, the sea and the mountains in the distance is tranquil and beautiful.
Access to the western San Blas Islands is by way of a flight from Panama City with either Air Panama or Aeroperlas airlines to the airport at El Porvenir. There is little public transportation, but there is a road to Carti Suitupo where you will then travel by boat the San Blas Islands. These hotels are owned and run by the Kuna people and many of the hotels offer trips out to other islands of the Kuna Yala where you can find excellent snorkeling, fishing, and visiting Kuna villages. The food available on the menus is fresh, and consists of lots of tropical fruits, rice, and freshly caught seafood such as lobsters and fish.
Cabanas Wailidup
Cabanas Wailidup consists of small cabins built on stilts with wooden floors and private bathrooms on Isla Wailidup. There is also a restaurant and bar.
Hotel San Blas
The Hotel San Blas is located on the island of Nalunega where there lives a community of about 300 Kuna people. It is not far from the El Porvenir airstrip. The 31 hotel rooms are very simple with few furnishings and electricity available only between 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Their telephone number is: 262-5410
Cabanas Coco Blanco
Located on Ogobsobudup Island or “Coco Blanco” Island, the Cabanas Coco Blanco is made up of four small cabins built of bamboo and thatched roofs and come with their own bathrooms. To make reservations, their phone number is 6700-9427 and their email is cocoblanco (at) centrodereservas (dot) net. I’ve put the email address this way so that they don’t get tons of spam emails.
Coral Lodge Eco Resort
The Coral Lodge Eco Resort is perhaps your most luxurious accommodations in the San Blas Islands. Consisting of six bungalows built over the water, this resort has a restaurant and bar. Each room has its own bathroom, nicely decorated with teak and rattan furniture, air conditioning and sun decks. Their website is at www.corallodge.com
Cabanas Ukuptupu
The Ukuptup Island (“Sand”) Island cabanas consists of cabanas resting on stilts over the sea, just 5 minutes from El Pouvenir. Their website is at www.ukuptupu.com
Cabanas Kuanidup
Located on the Isla Kuanidup, the Cabanas Kuanidup has simple cabins, shared bathrooms and no electricity. Kerosene lamps will light your way in the evening.
Cabanas Veronica
The Cabanas Veronica, formerly called Robinsons Cabanas, is closer to Rio Sidra airport than the airport at El Pouvenir. The Cabanas Veronica consist of simple cabins.
Kuna Niskua Lodge
Classified as a hostel on Wichub-Wala island, the Kuna Nishua Lodge is only five minutes from El Porvenir. The K Lodge is not on the beach, but it is clean with comfortable beds and private bathrooms. There is limited electricity which runs from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. They have a website at: www.kunaniskua.com
These San Blas Island hotels usually charge a price which includes your room and food and some activities. Some of these western San Blas hotels have websites where you can book online. Others have email addresses and phone numbers which will enable you to arrange your San Blas Island vacation.
Below is a map of the San Blas Panama islands.
Map of the San Blas Islands