Picture this: white sandy beaches with coconut palm trees offering shade throughout the island, huts made of tree branches covered by palm leaves with a bed standing on a sandy floor, and you’ll most likely only have about 20 other tourists on the San Blas island you’re staying on beside the few local Kuna families who live there.

The nearly 400 little islands known as San Blas belong to the Kuna Yala people, who have maintained autonomy from the mainland of Panama since the revolution of 1925 against the government. Therefor they also control the tourism that comes and goes to their islands, which is a pretty amazing thing since you won’t find indigenous people handling the tourism business at most other places.

The port of the Kuna Yala at the mainland where you embark for the San Blas islands

Getting to the San Blas islands

While getting to the San Blas islands is not that simple it is definitely worth the hassle. The first thing you have to do is to get to Panama. Once you’re in Panama City the San Blas adventure can begin. A great place where you can start organizing your trip to the San Blas islands is the Mamallena hostal. They have dorms and private rooms if you need to spend the night in Panama City and you can leave the following morning at 5:30 with their 4×4 car and driver. The road is mostly paved, but will feel like a roller coaster due to the many curves and hills. The drive costs $60 USD (round trip) and takes about 4 hours. You can also organize your San Blas trip through a tour operator like lam Panama, but their services will be a bit more expensive. Once you reach the port after the 4×4 drive you’ll have to pay the Kuna taxes of $12 USD and board one of the speedboats. They will take you to the island where you booked your accommodation. The Kuna Yala only allows a certain amount of tourists to be in their area, so make sure to book a place to stay before arriving to the port. Some speedboats charge $10 USD to bring you to the island while some accommodations already have the speedboat costs included in the price. Cabanas Miro is one of those places that includes the speedboat.

If you’re arriving from Colombia then a sailboat may take you from Cartagena to Panama City with a stop-over at San Blas or the other way around. Another option would be to fly from Panama City to El Porvenir where you’ll also have to continue the trip by speedboat.

Cabanas Miro and Ina’s next to each other at the Robinson’s island

The inside of a hut at Cabanas Miro

What can you expect of San Blas

You will need to settle for the basics and understand that you’ll go to bed with sandy feet every night. Once your there you’ll notice that you’ll go with the local flow soon enough. On the other hand, it’s just not for everyone, meaning that if you really need some luxury then this place is not for you. Be ready to wake up and go to bed hearing the waves touching the beach and the geckos making that clicking sound somewhere in your hut, there is no running water so you will have to shower with a bucket of water that you throw on yourself (or your partner), and you will be fed by the Kuna people three times a day at the main hut with everybody else staying there. Going for a walk means that you will have seen the whole island in 15 minutes, but it also means that you can have that tiny island almost to yourself and integrate with the Kuna people. There is no WiFi so you will actually have to talk to each other more and charging electronics can only be done in the main hut.

What’s probably the best of all this is that you will live very simple and appreciate the beautiful place you’re staying at even more because of that. There’s really nothing going on at the islands and that’s also the point of staying there. Just relax, enjoy the beach and life will seem so much easier than you know it to be. If you really need to see something else while on one of the islands you can always get a speedboat to bring you to one of the other islands or you could do a snorkeling tour organized by Kunas.

As mentioned earlier the Kuna families will feed you three times a day and it’s really a proper lunch and dinner (usually with salad, rice or potatoes and chicken or fish). The breakfast is a bit small, but that works for some. Plenty of tourists carry loads of snacks and big bottles of water with them to the island because they’ve been warned that the local taxes makes buying things on the island to expensive. The price for a beer is $1,50 USD, a 1,5 liter of water costs $3,- USD and a little bag of chips costs $1,50 USD. It’s up to you to bring as much provision as you like, but if you can work with 3 meals a day than just carry some extra cash with you and buy things on the island a they are really not that extremely expensive after all.

At which accommodation should you stay

The accommodations are all very similar and one costs a few dollars more or less than the other depending on the families owning the huts. The average price – if organized though Mamallena hostal – will vary from $60 USD to $100 USD for the first night and then half price for the following night(s). Do note that this is the price per person as it also includes 3 meals per day.

The Kuna Yala are very friendly people and will do their very best to make your stay as comfortable as possible. If you would like to have a coconut you can ask one of the Kunas to bring you one for $1 USD as it is not allowed to pick one up from the beach yourself. Coconuts are very worthy to the Kunas and even used to function as their currency. If you want to take a picture of one of the pretty Kuna ladies wearing their traditional clothes it is good to ask them before you take the shot. It is also recommendable to converse and show interest in their culture before asking for a picture as you are still a stranger to them and they don’t know what you might do with their picture. In the past the media has misused the Kunas trust and therefore they might also ask you for a dollar or two to have their photo taken.

A Kuna lady dressed in traditional clothes

What to bring to the San Blas islands

While it’s best to pack light for a trip to the San Blas islands you might need to carry all your bags with you when you’re backpacking around Panama and the neighboring countries. If you wish to leave some of your belongings behind before traveling to the San Blas islands then you can do so at the Mamallena hostal if you book through them. You can basically bring as much luggage as you want, but do mind the speedboat trip from the mainland to the island that might not be completely water-resistant.

On the San Blas islands you don’t need much (you don’t even need flip-flops), but here are the essentials:

• swimwear
• a beach towel
• your passport (you need to show it to enter and leave the Kuna Yala area)
• some cash dollars (there are no cash machines)
• a camera
• mosquito repellent
• sunblock
• clothes for in the evening
• a torch

The sunrise at San Blas (picture by Thom Mattsson)

What does it cost to spend a few days at San Blas?

Let’s say your booking the trip from Panama City to and from San Blas through the Mamallena hostal and you also booked the Cabanas Miro via them. Here is a price calculation for one person for 3 nights at San Blas:

• 4×4 vehicle drive to and from San Blas/Panama City $80 USD
  
• Kuna taxes $12 USD
• Speedboat from the mainland port to your island $10 USD *included with Cabanas Miro*
• First night at Cabanas Miro with 3 meals and one free tour included $63 USD
• Second and third night at Cabanas Miro (33 dollar each night) with 3 meals included $66 USD
• consumption of 4 beers (1,50 dollar each) and 3 bottles of 1,5L water (3 dollar each) $15 USD

TOTAL: $236 USD

If you’re planning on traveling to the San Blas island you’re probably looking forward to getting away from the society for a while, to enjoy a piece of paradise that’s still natural where you can enjoy life with just the basics. It’s worth spending a few days at one of the pretty little Kuna islands and you’ll live this experience as a dream come true.

One last tip: don’t sit underneath a coconut tree! Falling coconuts kill more people than shark attacks.

Have you ever been to San Blas? How was your experience?

Read more about my personal experience at the San Blas islands by clicking here!

About Renate Rigters

Ever since I left my home country I felt at home at any other place I went to. I enjoy getting to know more cultures by talking to strangers and hearing their philosophy about life. Speaking with gestures when you can not find a shared language, finding places only the locals go to and learn about their customs and values. Hanging out with local people makes me happy. The experience of every new place is a step out of your comfort zone where I like to wander around until it feels like a second home.

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