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All you need to know about San Blas Islands
Marisol Echeverria • Mar 25, 2020
Stay Connected in San Blas Islands
COMMUNICATION THE WHOLE TIME: “+Movil” and “Digicel” are the cell phone companies which works in San Blas Islands, in case you need to talk with us, please ask kindly to the island administration you would like to talk with Marisol or Florenza from Panama San Blas Tours. Also in case of an emergency there is a new hospital at the entry in San Blas, or if you need further assistance, please give us a call. Whatsapp +507 6485-2841 or contact your Island Host.
All the services are basic and rustic, only kuna people are in charge of all tourist’s services such as food, ground and water transportation, lodging, etc. Please take this into consideration, the services are not as in the city, the waiting time can be long, and kunas are more informal. We have provided hospitality train to them, but they are still working on it, their culture is different, they are never in a rush, this is part of the adventure to San Blas. Food is basic such as fresh fried fish with salad and rice, and if you come during the season, you can ask for lobster or crab with an additional cost of 15usd per person.
What to bring to San Blas Islands.
Always bring a 2nd change of clothes even if you will spend 1 day only, since it is very probably you will get wet at the boat!
Basics are:
- Sun protection as hats and sunscreen, mosquito repellent.
- Money in cash, there are no ATMs in the islands. You need to pay also many taxes (Entry fee, port usage and entry to each island to visit in cash).
- You can buy drinks there as beers, coke, but you want any special drink such as wine etc, it is better to bring your own. Coolers are allowed.
- Snacks: You can find some chips, and cookies but there is a lack of variety, we recommend also to bring your own snacks, if you are taking our day tours we always make a stop in a Big supermarket so you can buy all you need.
- Also important to know, there is no power electricity in the huts, only light. If you want to charge your cellphone you can ask to the Island administration, some of the islands charge 2-3USd to charge your cellphone.
Transport to San Blas Islands
You will travel with other 6 passengers plus the driver in a 4x4 vehicle, we manage to have the biggest cars available in the market (Toyota Prado or similar). If you want to have even more comfort you can rent a private car for 150usd each way, only for you and your family. If not, you will split cost with the other passengers, this is why you pay 50usd per people both ways.
During your journey, you will have around 2.5 hours driving from Pacific Ocean to the Caribe, you will cross Panama from one side to the other one, you will get deep in the jungle, to arrive to the GUna Ayala lands.
We will make a stop before we went out of the city to a supermarket, so you can buy all type of dirnks, snacks, disposable coolers, ice, fruits, and all you need to spend a great time at the beach. At the island they sell some products but they don’t have much variety, and it will be more expensive. Drinks can cost around 2usd each.
Our drivers are very professionals and approved by the Transport Authorities in Panama. They travel everyday to San Blas from the city, and they know the route by heart. They any moment should use their cellphone while driving or make a call, please let us know if this happens.
As explained, you will enter to a zone proctected by the kunas, they have their own rules, and they charge 20usd per foreign to get it and 5 Usd for locals and residents. Please be prepared with your original passport or Panamean ID, with out it you will not be able to access to Guna ayala.
Private Helicopter or Airplane.
If you have a small group or a special occasion, we have available Private airplanes or Helicopters, you cannot arrive directly to one island, but to the port (Carti or Tupile).
San Blas Ports Schedules and organization (Carti -Niga Kantule), Barsukum, and Tupile.
The port usage cost 2usd per person to be paid in cash. There are 3 different points ports in total in San Blas. Depending on the island, you will be assigned to one of the ports, they split the port by community.
Waily Lodge departs from Tupile
Aguja Island from Nigga kantule port. (Main port)
Narasgandup, Guanidup, Obeg Nega, Diablo and Nubesidup island from Barkun port. (the port in the river)
There are 2 schedules to pick up or leave the clients at the port, normally during the morning between 8-10am is the first round and 2nd round drop off happens in the afternoon between 3-4pm. After 4pm, the kuna congress don’t allow to any boat to leave passengers for security reason. The road as you experience is not very safe to drive when it gets dark.
There are 2 types of boat. The boats from the islands, this boat fee is included with your night stayed at the different islands, and the independent boats, which charge you an additional fee between 20-40usd to take you to any island you want.
The boat from the islands needs to arrive between 8-9am to the port, so the new passengers don’t need to wait, but they also depend on how fast the clients have spend the night before are ready to leave the island.
The ports have their own organization, there is one person inside the main cabin which is in charge to register every person with their passport or panamean id, and indicate to which island they are travelling and which boat will take them. Normally, they should let you know once your boat arrives, but there is so many people, that he is not able to communicate to everyone.
Important to know, all the kunas who work with tourism know each other’s by name, so feel free to ask anyone about your driver or your boat guy. The communities are not very close one from the other one, they know each other, but they regularly work within their own community.
Our agency has arranged with our drivers to leave you directly with your boat, so you don’t feel lost. Sometimes they will leave you with a responsible people at the port, so they can let you know when your boat arrives.
Living like a local in the Islands
You should be at the boat right now, you are ready to move forward to our island!!
Your boat is called "Panga", it is the official marine transport of all kunas...
There are more than 300 islands in San Blas, but not all of them are habited or receive tourists. The kuna congress has to give a family permission with certain requirement on minimum services such as bathrooms, restaurant etc. to receive tourists.
The first Island only 15minutes from the port is Aguja. You will also pass very near by to the community islands, which are the most crowded ones, if you would like to visit one community, please let us know and we can arrange it for you. All the kunas communities are in the first big islands more close to the land, but there no one single community which lives at the bay. The Panama goverment is working with them to move to the lands in the following 10-15 years, since the sea increases they level each year. Its hard to think this paradaise will not exist in the future! You are making history by traveling here.
Then there are 4 group of islands:
Provenir: Wailidub Island (30min)
Lemon Cays: Perro Island, Diablo Island, Chichime Island, Obeg Nega Island. (30minutes from the port)
Dutch Cays (2 hours).
Grullos Cays: Narasgandup island, Guanidup Island (45Minutes).
There are some islands which are recommended for making day tours, or visit for a couple of hours. Island Perro Chico is the first one, it is always crowded, their main attraction is a sunken boat nowadays a reef with fishes where you can swim and make snorkel all around.
Other must visit is the Natural swimming pool which is a island 1 meter depth, where you can walk all around and also make some snorkel to find starfishes.
Another islands are Island Banedup or Fragata (where all the Catamarans are around). Island Pelicano, which is a tiny island with just a bar and a couple of palmiers.
For the more adventurous there are some islands at 1 hour or even more, called ”Cayos Holandeses”, those are big islands, inhabited, with no services, but you can spot turtles, rails and it’s a nice place to make snorkel. These islands for the moment are “closed” by the kuna congress per lack of services, but you can only arrive there by sailing in a Catamaran or Monohull.
The food in San Blas is normally: Fresh fried fish, with rice and salad, they sometimes prepare octopus or sea snails. FOr 10-15USD more you can ask for Lobster or Crab during the season (July- February). The lobster are plenty in Cayos Lemon, so the islands such as Chichime island, Obeg Nega Island, Diablo, are cheaper, they even give you free meals of baby lobsters during the season (not everyday).
Its important to say, you will only recieve 1 main dish per person, there are no desserts, fruits or chesses for the french people. We recommend to bring snacks from the city.
The breakfast depends on the island, there are some "high quality " islands which provide fruits in the morning such as Island Narasgandup, but most of the others only have eggs, panama tortilla or hojaldre and coffee. A pineapple can cost 4USD in the islands.
The best restaurant in San Blas is the one in Waily Lodge, which has a restaurant over the sea with a great view to the ocean and sunsets, also the food is tasty. My brother said he had the best fried fish of Panama.
Low quality restaurant is in Perro Island, given that they receive a lot of people, and sometimes the fishes are too small or burned.
San Blas was the name of the Kuna Yala zone, the name was changed in October 2011 to "Guna Yala" when the Government of Panama recognized the claim of the people that "Guna" was a closer representation of the name in their mother tongue than "Kuna".
It is one of he few tribus with matriarchy, where the women is the leader of the family. The Kuna have maintained their cultural identity and integrity, and have complete control of economic matters such as tourism. Othe way of income are the agriculture, fishing, handicraft production such as “molas” the favorite souvenir of all tourists. There are an estimated 50,000 Kuna spread across 49 communities in the region, most of them speaks their own language and Spanish, only a few of them speaks a little of English. They understand the basic needs in English words such as food, boat, water etc.
Feel free also to make hands signs to communicate!
Good bye!
Its time to say goodbye to this little paradaise. We hope you have enjoy your self and relax at these incredible beaches. We hope you travel with us next time, each one of us work very hard to make your trip a whole experience, full of happiness. We loved to have feedback in anything we will need to improve and keep working on. Your words and reviews are also very valuable for all the kunas working with us, we let them know how you feel about at having great rating is what make us proud to work everyday.
Once you arrive at the port, please ask the boat guy to point to your driver, which is named on your reservation sheet. If the driver is not there, please wait some time so they can arrive, they are probably leaving clients at other port, so they should last no more than 30minutes to pick you up. In the meantime you can wait sited at the restaurant or at the main house in the port.
Still in case there is any inconvenient with your driver, please reach the port administrator so he can assign you other car. All drivers in Kuna Ayala work for the same group of “TransportKuna”, they all help each other in case of need. You should not pay more to the new driver, if you have already paid both ways.
There are 2.5 hours driving to arrive to the city, you will arrive around 6-7pm if you leave at 4pm, or midday or 1pm if you have left at 9am. The driver will leave you at your hotel.
It was a pleasure to have you here!!
Many thanks for trusting in us! See you next time.
Panama San Blas Tours committed with our local families.
It has been more than 3 months of closure due to the coronavirus, and things have not improved, the positive cases in Guna Yala, one of Panama's most poverty regions have skyrocketed, compared to other regions of the country. with an increase of 23%, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health (Minsa). Guna Ayala is a community that lives in the mayority from tourism and these has been difficult times for everyone, but specially for the most poor families in this region. How can we help? They make one of the most amazing handcrafted art in Panama, called the "molas", and right now it the new accesory for everyone, what better to be able to use this art for a couple of weeks and at the same time support local families incomes and improve their day to day during this crisis. Price: $20 USD including shipping to your country. Delivery time: Aprox. 4weeks, we are still subject to goverment restrictions and logistics delays. 100% handcrafted by local women in Guna Ayala - Carti Community.
Island Pelicano was the Island used to film the famous Netflix Serie Money Hesit, in Spanish known as "La casa de papel", where Rio and Tokio escaped. It is a tiny Island which just a few palmiers and coconouts waiting for you to be explored!! If you want to Visit this Island, we can take you when you book your Day tour visit 4 Islands in One day, or any of our nights tours in San Blas Islands (Aguja and Perro chico island) Please contact us for more information!
Monthly Scores: January in San Blas Islands - Good February in San Blas Islands - Careful many waves (no babies and people with back problems) March in San Blas Islands - Good April in San Blas Islands - Good May in San Blas Islands- Good June in San Blas Islands - Good July in San Blas Islands - Great August in San Blas Islands - Great September in San Blas Islands - Great October in San Blas Islands - Great November in San Blas Islands - Great December in San Blas Islands - Great In Panama city there are 2 seasons. Dry and Wet Season. The dry season starts on Dec to May and the Wet season from June to November. This is how the people makes plans in Panama City, the wet season you will have really heavy rain for many hours, and the streets get flooded. However, in San Blas Islands during the rain season, you will not necessarily find rain every day in San Blas, there are complete weeks with no rain at all, and most importantly the sea is super calmed. So, its actually better to travel to San bLas during the rainy season! Worst you will get a little wet during max. 1 hour. The rain in San Blas last much less than in the city. Now, which month you should be careful to go to San Blas? Just February, you will have big waves. In this month, we only recommend visiting the nearest Island, for example Aguja Island is only 15minutes form the port.
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