San Blas Islands of Panama

We left Cartagena on Wednesday morning and had a very nice 24 hour sail to San Blas. Actually, at the start there was no wind, but I knew within a few hours we would catch up to some wind. We headed out through the Boca Grande passage (which is the one we passed up on our way into Cartagena due to the weather condidtions). Since there was no wind, the seas were flat this time, so we had no problem passing through the narrow port exit.

It seemed we were going slower than normal as we motored out, so we stopped when we got to some clearer waters about 2 miles from shore. I dove over to check the bottom – and, sure enough, we had some slime and a few barnacles and other growth. The port waters in Cartagena are a melting pot of growth. David jumped in with me and we spent about an hour cleaning off the growth. Once we resumed motion though, it appeared we only regained about .5 knots.

By 1:30, we had picked up some wind and started motor sailing. By 2PM we were under full sail and we sailed the rest of the way. David and Edel really enjoyed the sail and even took a night-time watch for a couple of hours. We had a few rain showers during the early morning hours the next day, but the wind stayed steady. We averaged 8-9 knots in the evening, and 9-10 knots during the morning hours. So, we completed the 200 nm run to San Blas in right at 24 hours. We first saw a couple of other boats headed in as well, and then spotted the coconut trees of these little tropical islands.

The San Blas islands are an archipelago of, supposedly, 365 islands (one for each day of the year). The islands are occupied by the Kuna Indians who still live a simple life with little influence from modern technologies. They trade in coconuts, fish the islands, and take care of their environment. As a result, these islands look much like they did hundreds of years ago when the Europeans first set sight of them.

We arrived at the East Holandes Cays and were stunned by the beauty. A thousand shades of blue and turquoise water colors. White sand, and coconut lined, beaches. A smattering of sailboats at anchor. We were in heaven!

We have been exploring the area, swimming in the super clear water, and walking the beaches. This is what cruising is all about! It’s too bad that none of the online mapping sites have high resolution aerial photos of the San Blas islands. But, do a search on Panoramio, Flickr, or Google Images and you’ll find many photos of these awesome islands.