Accommodation in the San Blas Islands
Posted by Travel Editor
This is a brief list of where to stay in the San Blas Islands of Panama. Although it is wisest to book your accommodation ahead of time, it is possible to just show up and look for a hotel room but you are taking your chances. Camping is also an option on some of the San Blas Islands, but you will still have to pay for transportation and you will have to obtain the permission of the local Kuna chief. If you have a hotel booking, the hotel usually provides transportation to the island where your hotel is located. Most of the hotels are pretty basic or rustic and sometimes bathrooms are shared.
The Hotel San Blas
The San Blas Hotel
The Hotel San Blas is located in a Kuna village on Isla Nalunega which is five minutes from El Pouvenir. A two-storey hotel, the Hotel San Blas has 30 rooms which will set you back about $35 a night – at the time of writing this article. Meals are included with your room. Bathrooms are shared. Also included are day excursions to other islands in the Comarca. The hotel’s tourist guide is very helpful and friendly and speaks English and French. There is a small beach in the front.
Nargana Lodge Hotel
A rustic hotel, the Nargana Lodge Hotel is accessed from Corazon de Jesus. The Nargana Lodge Hotel has a restaurant named El Caprichito which serves delicious crab dishes. Price ranges for a room are approximately $20.
Alberto Vasquez’s Homestay
For a unique experience, to experience the life of the Kuna people, try booking a room with a Kuna family. Alberto Vasquez is situated on Nalunega Island, five minutes from El Pouvenir, telephone 6772-5135 to book one of the two rooms available in his house. There is a shared basic bucket and barrel shower/bathroom. The cost of a room is reasonable but excursions to the islands are an extra charge. Alberto is friendly and is a good tourist guide for you.
Hotel El Pouvenir
To book a room at the Hotel El Pouvenir, email hotelelpouvenir@hotmail.com or telephone 6692-3542 or 221-1397 from Panama City. The Hotel El Pouvenir offers guests simple rooms with private bathrooms. It is located near the landing strip at El Pouvenir and a grocery store is next door. Meals are included in the daily rate which is approximately $35 – $40 dollars. If you are craving fresh lobster though, there is an extra charge for this.
Cabanas Wailidup
The Cabanas Wailidup on the private islands Isla Wailidup are located 25 miles from El Pouvenir which is the point of entry for staying at the Cabanas
Wailidup Cabanas, San Blas Islands
Wailidup. This is one of the closest thing to a luxury hotel in the San Blas Islands but it’s not and rooms cost between $95 – $125 per night. The Cabanas electricity and power comes from solar energy. Owned by Juan Antonio Martinez who also owns Kuna Niskua on Wichub-Huala Island. The rooms are small thatched cabins with private bathrooms, overlooking a beautiful white sand private beach with a pier and a restaurant and bar. At certain times of the year, sand flies can be a problem. Visit the Cabanas Wailidup website at kuna-niskua.com.
Sapibenega Kuna Lodge
The Sapibenega Kuna Lodge is the luxury hotel on the San Blas Islands, the most luxurious and expensive hotel on all the San Blas Islands. It is located five minutes from Playon Chico. Beautiful thatched cabins overlooking the sea, with hammocks on balconies and private bathrooms, it’s a wonderful place to stay on the San Blas Islands. The restaurant and bar offers a variety of drinks and serves up crab, lobster and fish daily. Guided tours are also available. Rates for lodging are approximately $150 per night and up.
Uaguinega Ecoresort, a.k.a The Dolphin Island Lodge
On Isla Uaguitupu you will find the Uaguinega Ecoresort or a.k.a. the Dolphin Island Lodge which you can reach by way of Mamitupo Island. A popular eco-resort consisting of cabanas made of the typical cane and thatch roofs and with wooden cabins. You’ll also find internet is available here if for strange some reason you get bored. (Internet is not available at other hotels in the San Blas Islands). Nice comforts at the Uaguinega Ecoresort/ Dolphin Island Lodge include volleyball, hammocks for relaxing and a bar-restaurant. Their website is at www.uaguinega.com.
Kwadule Lodge
Kwadule on Isla Kwadule is reached from Corazon de Jesus. The lodgings on this exclusive private island are nice cabanas on stilts overlooking the sea. Each cabana has its own private bathroom. Great snorkelling nearby in the coral reef and there is a restaurant bar for dining and drinks.
Cabanas Ukuptupu
The Cabanas Ukuptupu are located five minutes from El Pouvenir on Isla Ukuptupu. Their website is at www.ukuptupu.com. Reservations can be made from their website which has their phone numbers and email addresses. Accommodations consist of 17 wooden cabins/cabanas over the water. Walkways and hammocks for relaxation and great views of the boats arriving at Wichub-Huala. Primitive bucket and barrel showers. Bathrooms are shared. Beautiful white sand beaches and scenery. Tourists who have stayed here have highly recommended the Cabanas Ukuptupu.
Kuna Niskua Lodge
Owned by Sr. Juan Antonia Martinez, The Kuna Niskua Lodge is located on Isla Wichub-Huala which is five minutes from El Porvenir. It is located in the center of a Kuna community. Most rooms have a private bath, but the lowered priced rooms share bathrooms. Rooms are priced from $50 – $75 per night, but prices may have changed since the writing of this posting. Good recommendations from guests who have stayed here. Website for contacting and booking a room: www.kuna-niskua.com.
Kuanidup Lodge
Kuanidup Lodge on Isla Kuanidup – (accessible from El Pouvenir) is the perfect island escape, 25 minutes from Rio Sidra – white sand beaches, hammocks and attractive rustic cabanas. Telephone 6635-6737 or email kuani9@hotmail.com for booking a cabana vacation.
Cabanas Coco Blanco
The Cabanas Coco Blanco are found on Isla Ogobsibu and can be reached in 15 minutes from El Pouvenir. Your hotel room is a cane and thatched cabana located on a white sand beach on this secluded island. Telephone 6706-7316 or email cabanascocoblanco@yahoo.it. Italian food is on the menu. Meals are included in the price of your cabana.
The Islands of the Kuna Yala Archipelago
Posted by Travel Editor
There are some 365 small islands which form the archipelago known as the Kuna Yala or the San Blas Islands. The San Blas Islands are a collection of islands of pristine sun bleached sandy beaches, coconut plantations and palms and home to the Kuna people who govern the Islands. Most of the islands are unspoiled, the perfect place to kick back and forget the rest of the world. Accommodations are, for the most part, simple and rustic. But it’s the best thing in life to spend the day on your own tropical deserted island and be the first one to place your feet in the sand. You can book a day on a deserted island and a Kuna guide will take you by boat to the island and provide you with a simple lunch. It is possible to travel by road and boat to the islands, but the most convenient way is to fly by either Aeropuerlas or Air Panama. The following is an introduction to some of the major islands of the Archipelago de San Blas.
El Pouvenir
San Blas Islands Relaxation
El Pouvenir is the main island, the capital of the San Blas islands. It is a small island known by the name of Gaigirgordup to the native Kuna people. This is where many tourists will arrive when they travel to the San Blas Islands. There is not much here, but there is an airstrip where Aeropuerlas and Air Panama flights land in the early morning. You will find a small grocery store, a few small bamboo huts of the locals, the Museo de la Nacion Kuna, a museum which has some displays of Kuna Indian culture and artifacts. It is worth a visit as an introduction to the Kuna heritage. On El Pouvenir, there is a simple hotel (the Hotel El Pouvenir) and a small beach.
Islands close to El Pouvenir are Isla Nalunega and Isla Wichub-Huala – busier than El Pouvenir. Both islands have more of a selection of accommodations, local government buildings and a few shops which do not stock much in the way of merchandise. The Hotel San Blas is located on Isla Naluenga. Naluenga is cleaner but has no beach. A man named Alberto Vasquez rents out a couple of the rooms in his home to tourists. He also provides food if you arrange it with him. On these islands, you will experience the life of the Kuna villagers up close, especially by staying with a Kuna family.
Not far away from El Pouveir lies Ukuptupu Island between Isla Nalunega and Isla Wichub-Huala. The Cabanas Ukuptupu Hotel is located on Ukuptupu Island. This popular hotel consists of wooden cabins built on stilts over the water. Cruise ships stop at Isla Wichub-Huala and the island becomes full of tourists when the ships dock and Kuna women busy selling molas. The Smithsonian Institute was located on this island until until 1998. From the Cabanas Ukuptupu, you can watch the sun set, the canoes, the ships and yachts sail relaxing in a hammock.
Nearby lie some other popular small islands, worth taking a day trip to snorkel, relax and soak up the sun. These small islands include Isla de los Perros (Dog Island or also known as Achutupu) – are less crowded, with fantastic snorkeling about the shipwreck where underwater life is plentiful. The silence and the glorious beaches make it ideal for relaxation under the palm trees. Other nearby islands is Isla Pelicano – good for snorkeling on its coral reef and Isla Ogobsibu which is a private island.
Carti
At Carti, there is a landing strip for airplanes and some large villages of the Kuna people. There is also the Kuna Museum of Culture featuring Kuna mythology and culture, a medical center, a school, a library and post office. Many Kuna people dress in traditional clothes waiting for the cruise ships to arrive. Some of them then trade their traditional clothes for western dress. You will find many Kuna people here selling molas. It is polluted here with garbage littered on the beach and not as clean as one would like. There is basic hotel here, dormitory style accommodation on Carti.
Close by, there is the island which is less crowded and has beautiful beaches and palm trees – this island is called Isla Aguja of the San Blas Islands archipelago. You’ll like this island more if you like snorkeling and relaxing on white sand beaches under the palm trees.
Cayos Holandes
Cayos Holandes or the Dutch Keys are a group of remote islands, the furthest from the mainland of Panama, where a few Kuna people live. The Cayos Holandes are surrounded by clear water, coral reefs full of marine life and make a great location for snorkeling. If you are sailing near these reefs, careful navigation is required. You can hear the waves break against the coral reefs, most aptly named “Wreck Reef” because of the Spanish ships that got shipwrecked here.
I will write further of more of the San Blas Islands in another posting. There’s much to explore in the way of snorkeling in the coral reefs and observing shipwrecks and the stunning marine life, sunning on the white sandy beaches or under the palm trees and experiencing the culture of the Kuna people. If you are seeking a busy activity filled vacation doing anything more than boating, snorkeling and relaxing, this may not be the vacation for you. A San Blas Islands vacation is the perfect place to relax and escape from it all.