Panama City, Panama | 14 Essential Travel Tips — ALONG DUSTY ROADS

It’s The Start & Endpoint for San Blas Trips (and Colombia Boats)

You may already have heard of the paradise islands off the east coast, and they may even be your primary reason for visiting Panama!

The San Blas, also known as Guna Yala, are a self-governed comarca of more than 350 white sand and palm tree dotted islands. They’re protected by the indigenous Guna people, who have maintained political autonomy here for generations. They are also responsible for regulating tourism: access, boat tours, accommodation, and even day-trips all operate under their rules.

This means visiting them isn’t simply a case of booking a flight or hopping on a ferry.

Almost every traveller – regardless of budget or style – will begin their San Blas in Panama City, and it’s essential to have this sorted a few days before you plan to be on the islands! This is because of the popularity, limited number of tour providers, regulations and, for anyone who is doing them as an out-and-back from Panama City, the need to sort out somewhere to securely store your luggage.

For backpackers, visits to the San Blas are often taken as a multi-day island-hopping trip to skip the Darien Gap and arrive in Colombia (or vice-versa).

Travel Tip // Now, we 100% recommend against visiting the San Blas archipelago as a day trip. Most of your time will be spent driving to the coast and then speeding to the more crowded islands, leaving little chance to appreciate what makes the San Blas so unique. It will also be a very long day.

That said, you’ll see plenty of day trips widely advertised in the city and online (like this one).

We did a lot of research for our decision and, for the best experience, chose to spend two nights across two different islands, with excursions to several others.

However, we appreciate that not everyone will have three full days in their itinerary to dedicate to the San Blas, but the good news is that one-night/two-day excursions are also super popular and will still offer a rewarding experience.