OWNER REPORT
San Blas Islands in Panama We travelled 75 miles up wind in the Caribbean to get to the San Blas islands, which are east of the Panama Canal, this took us three days, as we didn’t want to get too badly beaten up. But the reward is great as San Blas is a unique and special cruising area. It is filled with gorgeous, tiny, sandy and palm tree covered islands. They are the classic image of tropical islands with clear, calm water all around. Many are at the edge of the archipelago so while you are anchored in a serene and calm anchorage, you can hear the Caribbean waves crashing on the outer edges of the reef – a bit unnerving, but you get used to it. The whole area is picture perfect and wonderful, but what is especially delightful are the Kuna Indians, who still live in traditional fashion and get around in dugout canoes with sails. While at anchor, they come to you in the dugouts and offer for sale molas, fish, and other goods. We also went ashore and visited Kuna villages on the islands of Carti Sugtupu and Isla Tigre. They live in grass huts with no furniture, and have only small hammocks in which to sit and sleep. The Kunas are not allowed to marry outsiders so the race is pure and they look like they just stepped out of a history book. This was my second visit to the San Blas and I would put it on a ‘must visit’ list for all cruisers, but do not expect to find any provisions there.
Western Caribbean For us, this comprised Panama’s Bocas del Toro region, the Colombian Island of Isla Providencia, Belize, and Mexico’s Yucatan. We skipped the Rio Dulce in Guatamala because I was concerned about security, and the sand bar at the entrance seemed to be just too shallow for Escapade. This is an area less travelled than the eastern Caribbean but is interesting in it’s own right. Bocas del Toro seemed like a modern day version of the Wild West with a lot of growth and potential but still very rough and basic. We stayed well off shore as we rounded the corner of Honduras as the local rumour was the government impounded cruising boats that got too close to shore. Belize, from my viewpoint, was not as good as I expected for cruising and many areas are very shallow. For example, if you wanted to anchor off Belize City you would be over a mile from shore. Other towns were not accessible without a lot of risk. Most of the small islands, or Cays, are covered with mangroves. These often have bugs at dusk and no protected anchorage, and you cannot land on them due to the mangroves. We stopped at Puerto Aventuras in Mexico, which was a good decision as it is a good place from which to explore the region. We also took a ferry to Cozumel as there are no good anchorages along the west coast of the island, and the whole area close to the town is covered with tourists, huge cruise ships, and many local snorkel tour boats. In short, it is bedlam. >
ABOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Chichime in San Blas, Panama Down-locking in Panama Canal Isla Mujeres, Mexico Kuna village, San Blas, Panama
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