1- eller 2-nætters oplevelse på San Blas-øerne

If you have low expectations, this is the trip for you. The car ride was very squishy. The sleeping accommodations are extremely rustic and dirty. Expect Third World or worse for the bathrooms. The excursion from island to island was boring and useless.

Very rarely will I go out of my way to give a very bad review; however getting stranded on a tiny remote island for seven hours warrants it, and anyone who books with this agency should be warned because they could be next. I did a two night tour package June 16-18 with this agency with my lady friend. On June 16 this agency picked us up at Riu Plaza hotel, and we had around a three to three in a half hour drive to the port where we boarded the boat to start to see the islands. The tiny islands of San Blas can be as close as 10 to 15 minutes where I stayed on Icodub Island or over 45 minutes to an hour out. Unfortunately on this day it was raining very hard, so we had to take cover for the rain to pass. We ended up going to two or three islands that day. They dropped us off at Icodub Island, and I paid extra money to have a Cabana which is like a cabin room which included a personal bathroom. I was glad to have my own bathroom in the evening because the toilets were very filthy and poorly maintained on the other islands. Icodub is a very tiny Island with cabins and just one restaurant with a limited menu and hours. You can walk around the island in a matter of minutes. On June 17 we got picked up in the morning to have a tour of the other islands and on this day it was clear. The views were very pretty. I got to go snorkeling on a couple of the islands, I got to have some nice drinks, and they took us to see what the locals were selling as well. This was a very good day. So far everything went as advertised. In the later afternoon and early evening we talked to the lady in charge of making the phone calls at Icodub about pick up times. There were two pick up times at 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM. We told her we wanted the 8:30 AM pick up time. The lady who was with me, her grandfather got hospitalized in Colombia and the signal was poor and she wasn’t able to make contact with her family in Colombia. Additionally she was going through her period and ran out of tampons, and we needed to go back to Panama City earlier to address her needs. Also, we hoped to have a nice evening out in Panama City before heading out to Taboga Island the next four days. On the morning of June 18 we were packed and ready for the 8:30am boat to pick us up to take us back. We went to the restaurant at 7:30 AM to have morning breakfast. Then we saw the lady who makes the phone calls to the operator to confirm our morning pick up time. She broke the news that the boat would not be coming until 3:30pm to Icodub Island for pick up even though the scheduled pick up times are 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM. The lady who was with me had been communicating with this agency since I don’t speak Spanish. She contacted the agency to tell them the morning the boat never came to pick us up. She pleaded with the agency to please come pick us up, because it was very urgent as mention earlier as her grandfather was hospitalized and she wasn’t able to make contact with her family in Colombia, and she was going though her period and ran out of tampons. The agency was not immediately responsive. About two hours later the agency replied, and said they would look into the matter. The agency got back to her to let her know that it was too inconvenient and they would not get us before the 3:30 PM pick up time. Icodub is a very tiny island, and there are no activities to keep you occupied for seven hours. As a foreigner who came to visit there was nothing more terrifying than trusting an agency on Trip Advisor only to have the agency strand us in a very remote tiny island where you can only get back to land by boat and a three to three in a half hour drive to Panama City. We did not get back to our city hotel until later that night. By the time we were able to get ready to go to a restaurant, the restaurant closed and we had to make a last minute scramble to get back the hotel for dinner before they closed at 11:00 PM. To conclude, after you book nights with the agency, and spend the nights on the island and it’s time to get back to the city, you are at high risk of getting stranded on a tiny remote island all day. Even though they say pick up time is 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM, there is a good chance they don’t feel like showing up at 8:30AM to pick you up and consider your tour as being finished. When you contact the operator they are very unlikely get back to you for a couple hours. Then when they do, they will tell you it’s too inconvenient to come get you earlier despite not coming at the stated 8:30 AM time. If you have a tour booked with agency I strongly recommend canceling and finding an alternative agency for San Blas, or go to Taboga Island (I wrote great reviews about it), or consider going to Bocas Del Toro as an alternative option. It you do an overnight outing with this agency there is a high probability you too will get stranded for seven hours. If you stick with agency and end up getting stranded all day on a tiny remote island, you can’t say someone didn’t take the time to warn you.

This should have been our highlight of our Panama trip. Instead, it was the worst experience here. We started with the transport where after the car drive we had to wait 1.5 hours for our boat (we were the only one still waiting there). When we arrived on the island, nothing was ready, we had to put on the sheets of the bed together with the guide and had to wait more than 1 hour for lunch (they told us 10 minutes). For a snack in-between we got pineapple with a dead ant on it. The toilet was dirty and the "shower" only a pipe with seawater coming out of it. We made a trip to another island, it was ok but not really different than our island. Both islands had a loooot of trash on it! Our cottage had no window glasses and a huge gap between wall and roof, resulting in every insect visiting us at night. I woke up with a cockroach on my leg and in the morning I had 45 bites on my body (my friend around 20), we don't know from what but they are not usual mosquito bites. We put mosquito repellent before going to bed and 2x during the night, it didn't help. We fled from the island the next morning after breakfast. I don't give a 1 star review because the guides were very nice and helpful and we saw a nice sunrise and during the night the milky way. I don't recommend going to San Blas, go to Bocas del Toro instead!

Everything was great, the tour at the beginning was amazing. The food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was all delicious. The Guna people are so very sweet! It was amazing sitting down and talking to the natives. My daughter even made a friend! Only issue was that the tour says you will visit Pelican Island where some scenes for Money Heist were filmed. The exact reason why I booked this specific tour and lo and behold we did not go to that island because it’s been closed for months. So just be aware that if you are looking forward to that island, you will NOT see it. We spent one night and I will say, as adults we could handle the heat and humidity, but my young daughter was miserable trying to sleep in the heat. Still worth the experience!

3 days in Paradise, the guys running the island were lovely and I was well looked after, everybody was friendly and the food was really yummy. However my actual experience did not match my itinerary. On day 1 I was dropped off on the island I'd be staying on and told to just relax for the day. On day 2 I was then picked up for a 'tour' which was consisted of visiting 2 similar islands and a natural pool, which was really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, and met lots of lovely people. Then Day 3 was another day chilling on the island. We didn't visit the guna village as advertised, nor where there activities each day. I thoroughly enjoyed my time relaxing on the beach reading my book, but it wasn't quite what I had expected. Most people I met on the tour moved islands each night, and I was told to bring my bags with me for the tour on day 2, however was dropped back at the same island I had left that morning, and they weren't expecting me as my bed had been stripped. It was overall an amazing experience, and I would recommend it to anyone, but don't set expectations, you have to just sit back and let the tour guides do their thing (even if it doesn't match your itinerary).

Nice island tour. Good services from tour company. Horrible lodge. Don’t stay overnight there. Got back pain from old mattress springs. Dirty room, bedsheets, and pillow cases with stains. Lousy food. Should be informed that no soap, shampoo, towels are available. Common bath facilitiies for everyone.

Stayed one night at isla Aguilar, a quiet island with few people but good snorkeling, all islands are incredibly beautiful places, definitely recommend spending more than a day trip so you have time to enjoy and relax and not only see the crowded islands. Guide was nice, really well organized, safe and friendly driver - would recommend it!

We were most impressed by how the exceptionally friendly island population allowed us into their lives. Bring large bin liners to take away your trash - (they come in handy to protect your luggage on the boat transfer, too). Finally on the second day you will regret not being able to stay one more night, it is advisable to book one day more than you are prepared for. Bring a good, fat, paperback.

It is a small island very nice , far from tourists around , very summary in terms of accommodation and equipment , one night was enough for us even if the moment will be unforgettable. The day trip is complicated, however, because there is a lot of road and boat.