San Blas — its proper name is Guna Yala — is an archipelago on the Caribbean coast of Panama, hugging the country's northeast shore, opposite the province of Colón. From Panama City it is about 2 h 30 by road to Cartí port, and from there by boat to the islands: twenty to forty minutes depending which one.
It is not a tourist province or a park: it is an autonomous indigenous comarca, governed by the Guna people. That is why there is an entry fee, and why there are no chain hotels and no roads between islands.
These are real travel times, with the road in its usual state. The climb over the range is tight switchbacks and the last stretch to the port is unpaved: that is why it is done in a 4x4 and not in a normal car.
| From | Time to the port | How |
|---|---|---|
| Panama City (centre and hotels) | 2 h 30 | Door-to-door 4x4, leaving around 5:00 a.m. |
| Tocumen airport | 2 h 45 | By 4x4; better to spend a night in the city first |
| Colón | 3 h | By road, heading down to the Panamericana first |
| Cartí port to your island | 20–40 min | By boat, with a life jacket |
The archipelago has around 365 islands spread along 200 kilometres of Caribbean coast. Most are patches of sand with a handful of palm trees; only about fifty are inhabited, and fewer still take visitors.
Administratively it is the comarca of Guna Yala, an autonomous territory within Panama. The Guna people decide who enters, what gets built and how it is visited. That explains almost everything that surprises people on arrival: no resorts, electricity on a schedule, and accommodation in cane and palm cabins.
It also explains what people come to see: a Caribbean that never got developed. Turquoise water over sand, living reefs a swim from shore, and islands with room for a football match and not much else.
It is the name of the whole archipelago. When someone says "I am going to San Blas" they are going to one of its islands, and which one depends on the tour: Perro Chico, Isla Diablo, Chichime, the Cayos Holandeses… There is no town called San Blas to arrive at.
The road ends at Cartí port, on the mainland. From there everything is by boat. Anyone looking on a map for a route to an island will not find one, because it does not exist.
You can go all year. The dry season runs December to April, with the best sea and the most people; from May to November it rains, almost always hard and short, at dawn or late afternoon, and the islands are far quieter.
The only thing that genuinely cancels a tour is rough sea: if the port authority closes the port, no boat goes out. In that case the date is changed or the money returned.
The transfer from your hotel is included in all our tours. You pick the format and the date; we handle the road and the boat.
On the Caribbean coast of northeastern Panama, in the comarca of Guna Yala, opposite the province of Colón and stretching towards the Colombian border. The land entry point is Cartí port.
About two and a half hours by 4x4 to Cartí port, plus 20 to 40 minutes by boat to the island. You leave before dawn, around 5:00 a.m., to make the most of the day on the islands.
You can, but three things need solving: a 4x4 (normal cars do not make the last stretch), the permit and entry payment for the comarca, and a boat to take you and pick you up. Most people go with a tour because it works out similar in price and without surprises.
There are small strips on some islands and at Cartí for light aircraft, but flights are limited, expensive and weather-dependent. The normal way, and the one we use, is the road to Cartí.
Around 365 in total. Only about fifty are inhabited and a fraction take visitors: the rest are islets of sand and palm trees, many without a name on the map.
You need ID or a passport, because you cross the comarca entry checkpoint. It is not an international border: San Blas is in Panama.