After a rough night on the boat, with waves as big as four meters, did we arrive in the San Blas archipelago early in the morning. The captain made a short stop at the Panama immigration office on one of the island and he made sure that we all got our exit stamp from Panama. After breakfast on the boat, as every morning, sailed we further south in the archipelago. The sea was calm around the islands that are protected from the open sea by a coral reef.

Paradise Island

The San Blas is a group of 340 islands (although the locals say it’s 365, one for every day of the year) just outside the coast of Panama. Most of the islands are uninhabited and the majority of the one with someone living on them are only occupied by one family. Since it’s part of the Kuna region are no one that isn’t Kuna allowed to live there. The islands have very much of a paradise feel to them. They all consists of white, fine sand beaches and palm trees. The water surrounding the islands are as clear and blue as any travel catalogue would show you.

We had two days, at two different islands, in the San Blas. The first day were we on an island we’re a Kuna family lived. They didn’t speak Spanish, only the Kuna language, so there wasn’t much communication going on. But all we backpackers enjoyed our time on the beach, or playing in the water. I also had a near death experience when a big coconut fell from a palm tree, just one meter from my head. Apparently falling coconuts are one of the most common causes of death in the tropics.

After a quiet and calm night went we to a new island the next day. This island was very much the same as the last one, but there was no people living there. We were now closer to the corals and anyone that wanted could borrow snorkeling gear from the boat and snorkel for a while. After nightfall we had a barbecue on the beach. The captain made some kebabs for us all and together with some beer and a beautiful full moon was it a very nice last evening in the San Blas and Panama.