Trip and guides were excellent very respectful punctual friendly, explain in detail everything always making sure we all were good. This team was ex Elle t from when I was pick up to the guides
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Private Car only for your group.
- Private Boat from 1 people in advance. You can choose your time in each island.
- Life jacket
- Umbrella, beach chair and towels.
- Visit to 3 Islands (Wailidub, Perro Chico and Natural Swimming pool)
- 1 Drink (Soda, beer or bottled water)
- Snorkel Mask
- Kayaks and paddel board to share.
Excludes
- Lobster lunch (+$20USD)
- Fees to the islands to visit
- San Blas Islands
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Traveler pick up offered
Itinerary
Start your journey with pick up around 5:20am in your hotel in one of our best cars 4x4 only for your group. Make a stop in the supermarket if you need to buy drinks (wine, beers, water, and snacks). Around 1 hour and a half after pick up you will enter to the San Blas hills, the roads are bumpy so please take medicine if you suffer of nauseas. Around 8:30am arrive to Carti port, a very rustic port with lot of pangas around. You guide Naidi will introduce him self and help you with your luggage. Time to ride some waves!! Arrive to your first island Perro Grande after 30 minutes of boat, where we will welcome you with fruits, chairs, kayak and paddle boards exclusive for our clients.
Visit the tiny but beautiful Pelicano chico island, known by their hammocks in the ocean and great place to take a selfie! There is bar in this area if you want to order a drink.
Then Arrive to the famous Perro chico island where you will have a delicious lunch fish with patacones and rice or chicken, or any other catch of the day available (octopus, sea snails, shrimps etc). Once you finish luch ask for your snorkel gear and jump in to the ocean to find the sunken boat. The best spot to make snorkelling in san blas, full of tiny colored fishes.
Visit natural swimming pool. Where water arrive just to your chest or hip, just walk all round and try to find your starfish! Enjoy the beauty of this place, also very famous!
Back to the port around :330p - 4pm
Back to your hotel in Panama city
Language Offered
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
Private is the way to go. Visited the Natural Pool and 3 other islands. Snorkeled, kayaked, swam, and relaxed on the beaches. Never felt rushed. Beat the crowds. Highly recommend! Many thanks to the Kuna community for sharing their beautiful islands with us!
San Blas Islands Tour Review TLDR - Amazing! Would do it again! Private is the way to go, can choose when to move on to the next island. Weekends there are more people. Not for the easily motion/seasick to get to the islands. The facilities were fine. The people were friendly and welcoming. It is a really long day but worth it. We started at 5:00 am. The ride from Panama City is 2.5 hours and the road can be curvy. You will have the best time on this trip if you read the entire description! They tell you everything you need to know. If you are looking for a five star resort, this is not the trip for you. If you are looking for a beautiful environment with breathtaking views and lovely people along with modest facilities and a bumpy boat ride to get there, you will love it! Be sure to support the Guna/Kuna women by purchasing molas. The only thing we would do differently is try going during the week. There were more people on the weekend. We just moved to a different island and got a prime spot before others arrived. The beauty of a private tour. Otherwise, I cannot recommend it enough.
The car ride is long and at the end bumpy. Make sure to bring your passports as you’ll need them at the border. The day we went the weather was rough so that made for a very painful non relaxing boat ride. Once we got to the islands it was calmer and weather was a little better. We were given fruit immediately and our own table and chairs in the shade. The water was perfect. Lunch was good and a drink included. We went to two other islands and the swimming pool. It would have been nice just to stay at one location though. Our guide was great, so kind to help carry our drinks and bags at each stop. We headed back early cuz it started getting windy and we were just done at that point. The ride back was smoother. Try not to have to use the restrooms at the dock. They are not very nice and yell at you to pay them.
I was quite nervous about this trip due to the reviews about the roads and boat ride. I believe thise reviews are exaggerated. The last hour of the car ride was through the mountains so yes it was winding but the roads were paved and I felt extremely safe. If you get motion sickness so I would recommend taking a Dramamine. The boat ride was fine and sooo worth it once you get to the islands. We visited white sands where we had a tasty lunch and the clearest waters I’ve ever seen. We visited the natural pool island which was a sand bar in the middle of the ocean where we saw starfish. We visited two other islands which were just as beautiful. San Blas is a must do when visiting Panama. Our group did a few excursions during our 7 day visit and this was everyone’s favourite.
A truly unique experience touring various islands of San Blas and getting to see and learn more about the Cuna indigenous culture. The private tour actually got us to the islands to have them all by ourselves for a bit, and the islands and water are stunning! Definitely worth the effort to get out there. (Given the rudimentary cabins for rent out there, I am glad we only did a day tour vs. spending the night out there.)
The private San Blas tour was epic. We were picked up at our apartment by a private driver. He did a great job of getting ahead of the other tours for an early start and left the gas station as soon as we finished eating to get us there sooner. Once we got to the port we had our own boat, guide, captain and first mate. It was great. We were 5 people. We were alone on our first island for about an hour before others arrived. Eddie brought fresh pineapples for our family and brought our drinks to where we sat swam and snorkeled. The natural pool was pretty cool. A perfectly white sandbar about 2-4 feet deep surrounded by deeper water. Again - only ones there and stayed until we wanted to go. We went to have lunch. That food was OK. I had bones in my fish fillet, the whole fish by brother got was better and interestingly I think the chicken was the best meal. That island was cool with a sunken ship. Last we went to pelican island and relaxed in hammocks in the water and on the beach. The crew shared drinks with us and taught us what they could about their culture and even some of their words. I felt both immersed in their culture while having a first class experience. Seeing other boats with 10-15 people on them this is the way to go for sure.
Great experience from the word go. Be aware it takes time to get there from Panama City. Took 4 hours from 5:00AM hotel pick-up before your toes hit island sands. 3 1/4 to get to the Marina. However, the SUV we travelled in was newish and clean. The driver only had rudimentary English skills, which made for limited discussion during a long trip. But he was pleasant and accommodating. The last hour's drive is in the mountains before you hit the sea. Twisty-turny, uppy-downy you go. If you have a modicum of being subject to car sickness, take a Gravol. If you are on a tour where you might get stuck in the back seats of an old Honda CRV, take several. Frankly, i think a lot has to do with the temperment of the driver. This private tour vehicle and its driver were terrific. I watched and he seldom went over 40kph in the mountains and he wasn't offended or challenged by several other vehicles taking risks to pass him. He calmly drove on, for which i was appreciative. We have taken six tours this trip and note that every single tour guide and driver are male. Brings to mind that a high school boy's locker room, after the game, with various air-clouded AXE body spray assaults confronting you, the impact has nothing on some of these guys. If you have scent sensitivity, i would suggest requesting a scent free driver. I had to ride with the window open all the way. The islands were wonderful but you have to be aware that while the boat and guides are private to you, the places you go are not. One aspect of this excursion that was unique to the private tour was the guides stopped say a hundred meters or so off one of the islands, dropped the anchor, and we snorkeled with them looking at sting rays, etc. Apparently i saw a shark, as proven by the video the guide took during our swim, but i didn't realize i saw it. Ha. The shark was the same colour as the coral. Terrific tour, worth every penny. enjoy.
It was downright stunning! We had a great time and you did a good job preparing us for what was in store. Our tour team was friendly and helpful. My only issue, and this is minor, is if you have customers who are senior citizens, it's a bit hard to get in and out of the boat. Our tour team was very helpful ensuring my parents had support getting in and out, but it was difficult. Regardless, I can't wait to go again! It was magical!
Islands were nice. Lunch was not good. Drive was ok. The stop was crowded with lot of people. Bathrooms were bad everywhere.
Great experience. Very well prepared and good level of service l. Nice people with how have a day of tour.
A truly amazing experience and highly recommend! The second half of the car ride is extremely bumpy due to torn up roads so be prepared. The guides are amazing and the islands are beautiful. Great snorkeling and great food.
We booked and paid for a private day tour for Tuesday Aug 6, 2019. My wife (who is Panamanian) and I took the tour to San Blas after seeing the ad stating Private Tour. We thus assumed it would be so. We understood that transportation to San Blas and back to Panama was in a shared transport, which was no problem with us, but they neglected to tell us that they would cram 7 people in a 4x4 car meant for 5 passengers, Arriving at the port to go to San Blas, they informed us that we had to wait for other people coming in other cars to be able to take the boat. So what part of our tour was private? We were then told we would have to pay an additional $ 60 to take a private boat. Seemed like a classic switch and bait. The return trip was extremely uncomfortable and the driver drove at reckless speeds to try and get back to Panama City after a long delay from one of the passengers. We emailed Panama San Blas Tours on August 15, 2019 but never received a response. While San Blas itself was beautiful, Panama an Blas Tours was disappointing. Tourists beware of this company,.
This private tour is an excellent option to the group tours that are available. You share a 4x4 ride with another couple and then get into your own private boat. You follow the same itinerary, but are not part of a larger group, so you have a bit more flexibility to set your own pace.
Picked up on time, long long drive out there, but it’s the only way to see San Blas. Will stop on the way out at a nice gas station for your only chance for a restroom, snacks, and supplies. Could possibly change into bathing suit there, if your not already in yours. Then it’s up into the mountains for a crazy drive. I’m ok with that kind of drive, if your not take precautions, like Dramamine, ginger ale, and eating a very light non greasy breakfast. Check point in the mountains is next, have your passport and a $20 bill ready. Once at the marina, there is a check in process, and a chance to use a 25 cent pay toilet (no toilet paper) I would recommend you be in your bathing suit and have a water proof area for your phone. We did everything described, breakfast, beach time, used restrooms at Walli and Dog islands, kayaked, lunch, natural pool, snorkeled sunken boat, Ect Ect Highly recommend
To complete your experience in Panama, you have to go to San Blas, you are speechless when you arrive and see the Archipelago , they receive you very friendly and to know the islands in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, much peace and tranquility . The only detail is the road with many bumps but nothing that cannot be overcome
Se você não conhece o Caribe Panamenho não sabe o que está perdendo! Preferi fazer o tour privativo para ter mais liberdade de ficar o tempo que queriamos em cada ilha e valeu muito a pena. Tanto o carro quanto o barco foram reservados somente para nossa família. Todo o passeio é feito pelos indios Kunas (Gunas) que administram o território. Nosso motorista Tote nos deu uma aula de história sobre os indios e o seu território, foi excelente e a equipe do guia Arsênio e o capitao e marinheiro do nosso barco foi muito educados e nos ajudaram muito! Super recomendo!! As ilhas foram inesquecíveis!!! Quero voltar!!!
Spectacular everything! From the hotel departure to the return. The islands are amazing, the people's attention spectacular!! They fulfilled 100% what the package mentions
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