4 Days Comfort Adventure Island Hopping i San Blas Islands

Love, love, love all of Panama, Panama City, the canal, the indiginious communities, Boqutte and Guna Yala islands! Particularly loved Casco Viejo!

Great experience. Beautiful little islands, Caribbean feeling, great organization by the Guna Yalas. You can't expect luxury, but get to see a beautiful spot of earth. You always get exact times when you go from island to island, which are kept on time. You just have to wait until you are approached and picked up. Inexplicably, the Gunus always knew who we were. The food is simple. You can choose between fish (very delicious, as always freshly caught), chicken or vegetarian, always with rice or patacones and salad. For us it was sufficient (we didn't need our biscuit and chip bags). Water is available for eating (0.5 l), in between it can be bought. We still had some with us, as there was also no water on for washing from time to time. Beer, Coke etc. can be purchased. The accommodations are very basic. In the beds with good mattresses and bedding we slept well. Take towels with you, they are not always available. There was only electricity on some islands, take flashlights and power banks. It can rain and the boat crossings are sometimes very wet. We recommend bringing a rain jacket. Picking up and returning to the hotel in Panama City also worked very well, every hotel is approached, even those not on the list at Viator. We had a wonderful time and wish you this too.

We especially loved the beautiful white sand beaches, the turquise clear water; our favorite was the Pelican Island people, the hut was very basic, but located at the water front and the food was made with much love, the guide was very friendly, excellent hospitality. The Jadiel boot crew were always very helpful and punctual , with one or two hick ups waiting to be picked up. Sometimes a bit confusing where we were going next as the second guide the next day was not very informing. We slept in a nice hut , the hospitality was not very warm, after the leaving of many cruisers for lunch. The coordinator went out of his way to grant us a lovely stay and helped us to have our wishes for a private bathroom granted. Lovely trip!

The views were amazing. Clear Blue water. Snorkeling was good at some places. Food and rooms, well dont expect much and you will be fine. If you like your trip well organized its not for you. I never knew where and when I was going on a excursion. It was all good for me because I like going with the flow. You change islands every night and you move around 3-4 islands during the day. The one Island I dont recommand is Aroma. The food and cabin was below average.

The islands are beautiful and the Guna people are truly wonderful. Don’t judge their reserved nature. Saw so many different islands. The snorkelling was one of my favourite activities. Saw lots of starfish, manterays and a nurse shark and lots of beautiful fish. Travelled solo. Met lots of lovely people. Surprised at how many other solo travellers there were. Tour company was excellent. Great communication. The transfers with drivers were great. From the first moment to the last felt really well taken of.

It was true paradise! Had an amazing trip with a well-organized planning. It sure is worth the money. The road to the haven is quite bumpy, so of you get sick easily be prepared.

This is a terrible trip. No running water. No running toilets. No food choices Fish and rice for two meals a day for the whole four days. The showers that worked periodically were salt. No one speaks English. When the trip was booked we were told that there would be some English speaking guides. If it wasn’t for some kindly Spanish speaking tourists, we would have not known the itinerary. For money I paid 1000$. A huge huge disappointment. Don’t do this if you want any comforts of home. Like fresh water to brush my teeth. No towels provided Half the time the snorkels were not provided or in such poor shape that they could not be used. If you don’t want rice and fish with heads and eyes. I beg you. Don’t do it. Four days I’ll never get back!

The tour is a fantastic to start our journey. First something about the organization - everything worked out great, the pick-up was on time and everything was taken care of. A stop at the supermarket is also included. I have to take some points for the transport, although we had the best driver, who drove very well and fortunately was experienced. However, the 2nd part of the trail was really not for the faint of heart - some cars were parked at the edge because the tourists were throwing up. There was a traffic jam at the border to Guna Yana and we were on the road for a little over 3 hours. Once arrived we were compensated for everything... our guide Keneth was very accommodating and took great care of everything. On the first island you have time to arrive and realize this beauty... I recommend staying at least overnight, because when it was the most beautiful we unfortunately had to go back.

We had a fabulous time on the San Blas tour. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and spoke good English. The only downside was that we were spilt up from the rest of our group because we had been advised by the tour operator to avoid a stay on one of the islands due to poor hygiene standards. However, the other group members reported no issues. As we were split up we missed out on one of the day trips which was included in the price we paid. Disappointing as it is unlikely we will return and it would have been great to see some more of the San Blas islands.

What I thought would be a quiet experience in the San Blas Islands turned out to be a very disorganized mess in which no one know what was going on, which islands were going to be visited, who was taking who, where, and how. On the first day I visited three islands: Perros (where I spent the night), Pelícano (an isolated tiny island inhabited by two men and their grandmother), and "the pool" (an area of the ocean with shallow water and supposedly starfish). The second day nobody had a clue what was next, and I was taken to Isla Aguja for the day. Next day, same story: who is going to take me where? how? Finally someone figured it out and I was taken to Isla Franklin, where there was no record whatsoever of my arrival and the overseer (caretaker?) wanted me to pay again if I wanted to stay. Again, after many phone calls back and forth, they found my reservation. Then, in the afternoon, the "tour" included three islands, 10 minutes each at the most, because the purpose of the "tour" was to take pictures for the boat driver's web page. He charged $$ to some passengers, some went along for free. We couldn't even swim. When I confronted the Eleuterio (a.k.a Pichu), the boat driver, he said this tour had to be quick because he had to pick up other passengers that were arriving at the port. Accommodations were okay, island accommodations as expected. Bathrooms quite disgusting, safer and cleaner to pee in the sea. All in all, I encourage you to stay away from this tour and away from the tour operator San Blas Tours (facilitated by Viator.com). Viviana, who sent me the bill, washed her hands off the whole thing and referred me to another woman (Milagros?). Many intermediaries, low efficiency, and no solutions. No communication whatsoever with the customer -only to charge, of course-, and no communication with the boat drivers or the islands. If I ever come back, I will deal with the island operators directly. This was a ripoff.