Adventure travel sailing charters in San Blas and offers for December, 2019! San Blas adventure travel destinations are a fabulous thing right now. One of the very few places in Panama where you can watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, the Sunset Coast is an undiscovered area with small towns, wide open beaches, and a small number of lodges where you can get away from the tourist scene. This is rural Panama, home to rolling hills, small villages, family farms, and huge beaches lined by palms and forest. Foreign tourists are not plentiful the way they are in other areas of the country, and many of the visitors are Panamanian. The road down to the Sunset Coast from the Pan-American Highway is twisty and has a few potholes to dodge, but every mile takes you further off the beaten track. This area is also popular with surfers. The wide-open beaches take the brunt of the Pacific Ocean rollers, and it’s rare that you’ll need to share a wave. If you want a beach all to yourself, this is the place to come.
Arriving at your first destination you will be greeted by a tropical palm-fringed island paradise and calm waters with various shades of blue and green inviting you to dive in and play with the multitude of colorful fish surrounding you, while snorkeling on the sunken shipwreck reef located close to the beach. You will have plenty of time to relax in the shade of a palm tree, to explore the island, to meet the amazing Kuna population or to bath in the crystal clear ocean, surrounding yourself with the iridescent turquoise water colors allowing for postcard perfect photo shots. We provide all of our guests with free snorkel equipment to marvel at the colorful reef and the multitude of fish species surrounding the wreck. On our second stop, a typical San Blas paradise island, you will be served a tasty and freshly prepared lunch, with a choice of fresh fish, mixed seafood or chicken (note: we also offer alternatives, if you have diet restrictions). Spend time exploring this beautiful island, meet the friendly Kuna family that inhabits it and learn about their culture, or just relax in the shade of a palm tree.
To get to San Blas you’ve got four options. You can fly from Panama straight into the San Blas Islands, take a sailing boat from Cartagena, take a speedboat from Capurganá, or take the bus from Panama City. Most backpackers travelling between Colombia and Panama choose one of these options. For a good reason: Travelling over the land border, known as the ‘Darien Gap’, can be very dangerous . This is a popular drug trafficking route out of Colombia to Panama and is not safe (plus it’s just untamed jungle the whole way!). See additional info at San Blas day tour.
The 360 or so tropical islands off Panama’s northern coast are home to the Kuna people, who since a revolution against the Panamanian government in 1925 have maintained political autonomy from the mainland. As such, they control tourism on their own terms – a very rare thing for an indigenous group. They know how many visitors are coming to their islands on a given day, where they will be staying, and they benefit directly from most of the tourist dollars spent. Aside from fuel for their motorboats, much of it goes on education, health or permaculture.
With 365 islands in total, island hopping is a must during a visit to the San Blas Islands. Companies like Cacique Cruiser specialize in adventures through the archipelago. You can opt to stay as long as you would like in the islands, as most of them have family-run casitas, which are open to travelers to the area.
Few locations include Sendero Los Quetzales near the small town of Cerro Punto is one of Panama’s most beautiful trails. The 9 km (5 miles) route starts east of town and takes between four and seven hours. The trail winds through the cloud forest of Parque Nacional Volcan Baru and follows the Río Caldera, crossing it several times en route. It ends in the mountains above Boquete. The trail can also be hiked in reverse, but it’s entirely uphill from Boquete. Because the trail is not well marked it is recommend to hire a guide or join an organized tour. Discover additional details on taotravel365.com.