Together with Jaume and Merce from our buddy boat, SY Ikaria, we checked into Panama at the border town of Obaldia, which is a small town in the Guna Yala / San Blas territory.
The San Blas territory consists of a long coastline on the Caribbean side of Panama, as well as 365 islands, of which 49 are uninhabited. The region is run by the Guna people, who call it Guna Yala.
The Gunas (also referred to as Kunas) are the indigenous people of the area, and live very much still in the traditional way. They live close to nature and are excellent seafarers. Most of their boats are hollowed tree trunks, and we were amazed to witness just how well they maneuver the canoes across great distances and often in quite big waves. It certainly demands a good balance!
As the anchorage in Obaldia is quite exposed to wind and swells, we headed about 18nm up the coast to our first anchorage called Puerto Escocés.
It was a very calm bay, with excellent shelter. There were a few fishermen huts built on stilts on the water, but otherwise there was no sign of life, except the animal sounds of the jungle. The jungle surrounding the bay reminded us of what you see in the Pacific, with lush green leaves trees mixed with palm trees.
We woke up the next morning to a beautiful sunrise and no wind. But, no wind and an anchorage amongst the mangroves means lots of mosquitoes… we were quick to get out of the anchorage together with our buddy boat, Ikaria.
Our next anchorage was the village of Achutupu, which is a small, traditional Guna village.
We were lucky to come during a key event, the regional basketball tournament. Basketball is very popular in Guna Yala, and it seems almost every town has a court. The young boys of the village were especially taken by the very tall captain, who seemed like the perfect basketball player to them. They came over to Bruse and measured their own height while looking admiringly up at Mr Hightower.
Provisioning in San Blas can be a challenge. We stocked up our boat well in Cartagena, but that is now 10 days ago. Fresh produce was shrinking on board, and we were expecting guests in about one week’s time. So, we kept our eyes open for any grocery stores with fresh produce. The stores are not easily spotted, with no signs outside.
We noticed two girls who walked up to a barred counter, and realized this was the shop. An interesting shopping experience, in deed, especially when you have no idea what they stock. A good thing the Admiral knows Spanish, and was able to ask about some of the groceries we were looking for. Which, it turned out, they did not have.
We found a lovely cake shop, after a lot of searching through the neighborhood. At last, one of their neighbors showed us the way, and the shop turned out to be located in the living room of a family’s home.
We were longing for pristine waters again, so we decided to aim for an anchorage at one of the islands that are scattered along the coast.
The following day we got up early and motored the few miles up to the island of Aridup. It is at the end of the rainy season, with little wind, and not much rain at all. The winds are expected to pick up in just a few days, as we get further into December. Most of the Caribbean experiences quite a steady flow of Northeastern winds from December to June, and San Blas is no exception.
Aridup is just a tiny island, with a reef surrounding it. A few fishermen have built a hut on the island, but otherwise there is not much there.
As we were there with no wind, it was a perfect setting for snorkeling and doing some boat chores.
We both hunted our own meal, and bought some excellent shellfish from the local fishermen. We ended up having both a crab and lobster feast onboard Noxoma, as well as a crab paella dinner onboard Ikaria. We are definitely loving this anchorage 🥰
There was lots of plastic on the island, so we decided to do a proper beach cleanup and at the same time get rid of as some of our own garbage as well. As there is no waste management in the San Blas Islands, it is recommended to sailors to burn what they can. It does not feel great, but the alternative is unfortunately that it goes into the ocean if we hand it over to the locals to administer.
Aridup was, without a doubt, our favorite anchorage along this coast. We stayed a total of four nights, before we headed further north towards the main group of islands.
We made a last stop along this coast at Isla Puyada, another tiny island off the coast. It is only advised as a day anchorage, however the weather was so calm, that there was no problem staying over night.
Many people skip sailing the Colombian and Panamanian coasts, and go straight from Cartagena to San Blas. We are really so happy that we hopped along both coasts. We have experienced very different islands and local cultures along the way, and feel that we have gotten a little closer to the daily life of the people living a little off the beaten path. We truly recommend other sailors to not rush past these areas.
Now we are ready to explore the more popular areas of the San Blas Islands as well having some friends over from Norway!