San Blas
The San Blas Islands are something that we pre booked prior to travelling to Panama. They are a collections of several hundred islands off the North Coast of Panama. While only some of the islands are inhabited, from the pictures, they truly look like those “deserted tropical islands” that you see in movies. Many are stunning and all of us were excited to visit and check them out. To my knowledge, San Blas is also an autonomous region that is run by the Guna Yala people. Therefore access to the Islands can only be booked through them. In fact you actually need to bring your passport as they check at their “border” before you are allowed in.
The Drive to San Blas
With that, they picked us up at our hotel at the ungodly hour of 5AM. The drive takes a little under 3 hours to get there even though Google says its only 2. The reason is that once you get to El Llano, you leave the main highway and take a much smaller road (sometimes unpaved) up towards the North Coast of Panama. While a lot of it is paved, it is not very well maintained and there are parts where the road is littered with pot holes. In fact our driver had to take some very elaborate evasive manoeuvres in order to get us to the port.
As mentioned before San Blas is a autonomous region and after some twists and turns on the “pot holey” road we arrived at a border check point where they checked out our passports. While waiting for the checks, our driver showed us the Guna flag which actually has a Swastika on it. While in other places this may have a negative connotation, this is actually an ancestral symbol so it’s quite cool to see it in a different context.
Guna
Soon enough, we arrived at the port and were greeted by a large contingent of Guna women and children. They then proceeded to sit us down and tie a bead like bracelet on each of us. They are all homemade and described as traditional jewelry. And while I have no reason to suggest otherwise, I suspect that it is also a way for them to identify tourists out on the islands! Soon enough we all had our bracelets attached and were ushered onto the boat to take us to our first San Blas Island.
The First Island
The boats themselves are small motor boats that fit about 10-15 people each. The trip to the first island takes only 5-10 minutes. It’s a bit of a bumpy ride since you are such a small boat on the open water. We discovered this quickly as our boat would jump over ever wave and then slam back against the water surface. The seats themselves are not padded so it can be a bit of a bump if you’re ready or bracing for it. For us, after getting use to it, it turned more into a “ride” at an amusement park rather than something to complain about!
Our boat eventually arrives at the first Island which is beautiful! It really is like one of those post card type islands with white sandy beaches and clear blue water. It’s also small enough that you can walk the entire edge of the island in 5-10 minutes. So it’s super quaint but amazingly picturesque (which we learn, all the islands are like this). The four of us spend the next few hours swimming, snorkelling and generally enjoying the island vibe! It totally was an awesome time had by all!
The Second Island
After a little while, we were summoned back to the dock and onto the boat to the second island. This Island is smaller than the first! But in some ways, it’s prettier I think. The beaches feel a bit wider (well the whole island is essentially a beach). And there is a neat point on this island where two currents tend to meet causing a cool effect with opposing waves. More snorkelling and swimming ensued! While I never hope for it, I kind of imagine being stranded on a deserted island would look something like this!
The “Sand Bar”
Eventually, it was time to get back onto our boat again. However, this time our destination isn’t another island but rather a sand bar in the middle of the ocean. However while the other boat rides are a little “bumpy”. This one gets a little more “wet” depending on which side of the boat you’re on. Sadly, for yours truly, I picked the wrong side. So while Gimpy and the Sister’s side of the boat remained perfectly dry. I had to keep my mouth closed the entire ride as to not take a big gulp of ocean water as it continually splashed against my face.
As we neared our next stop, the absence of land is the first thing we all noticed. But there were several boats in the area and lots of people were about “waist” deep in the middle of the ocean. We learned that our next stop would be this cool sand bar in the middle of the ocean. Every direction you look is water, but you’re standing on ground and so its a very unique perspective and location to be in!
The Third and “Last” Island
After getting back into our boat, we are ferried to last island. The first thing in the cards for us is a late fish lunch which by this time we devoured! Then our Guna guides setup this cool tent thing on the beach for us to relax and enjoy the beach vibe! We also had the freedom to explore more of the water. Gimpy and I did some snorkeling while FunkyCat and the Sister ended up on paddle boards. A short while later, all of us were invited to the centre of the island where the Guna people performed a traditional dance for us. While its a bit long, I did enjoy the idea that this isn’t just a “fun in the sun” trip but also some sharing of culture as well. Throughout the day we got to interact with the different guides, drivers and captains and sometimes hearing their stories of this unique part of the world is pretty cool.
The Drive Home
Sadly though, it did eventually become time to go home and so after a quick ferry ride back to the port, we met back up with our driver for the three hour ride home. We did have to go through the “pot holey” road again, but at the time of day, we also had some great views of the landscapes around us. Eventually most of us nodded off on the drive back and in no time were back at our hotel.
Restaurante Costa Azul
After a quick clean up, all of us were pooped and we decided on dinner at this diner type restaurant near our hotel called Restaurante Costa Azul. It’s kind of neat because it really feels like a “Panamanian Denny’s” with a very large and diverse menu. I don’t know how authentic everything is, but it really hit the spot. There are some cool “comfort food” type offerings. And I ended up ordering a steak and onions dish with chicken soup. (I’m not sure what it is, but I’m really digging chicken soup here!)
After a quick dinner, all of us retreated back to our hotel. Tomorrow we are heading to the Panama Canal.