Cruising the Caribbean to Panama

Hola everyone! Kenzi here.

We heard that a cool way to get from Colombia to Panama was via sailboat, so we signed up for a 5-day sail from Cartagena, Colombia to Panama. The sailing portion was supposed to take two days and then we'd have three days to explore the San Blas islands on the Caribbean side of Panama.

Paradise. The San Blas Islands, Panama. 

So we boarded our catamaran, the Nacar II, at 8:00pm on a Sunday night. We were supposed to pack a small bag for the boat and our main luggage would be stored below deck and be unreachable. We were stocked up with plenty of Dramamine because the boat ride had the potential to be pretty gnarly with strong winds and high seas, especially at this time of year. We'd read plenty of reviews to that effect. So our fingers were crossed that the passage would be smooth and that the we'd have good people on our boat since we'd be stuck with them for five days.

Our trusty sailboat, the Nacar II. 

We met our fellow passengers right away as we were all boarding the boat with our luggage and extra snacks and drinks (although all meals were provided). There were a total of 12 passengers and five crew members on the catamaran. We were squeezed into every available sleeping quarters, with two of the crew sleeping in the dining area.

Our sleeping quarters on the boat, not bad at all! 

Our fellow passengers were from New Zealand, Canada, the UK and Germany, and our crew was from Colombia. We were the oldest passengers, and therefore did not imbibe or inhale all that the "kids" did, but they were an incredible group of people, many very well traveled and on long-term trips like us. We had four very fluent Spanish speakers and a bunch of us with varying Spanish skills. Our crew took excellent care of us and even let us stay an additional day on the boat for free(!) and still cooked for us(!!). Apparently, they liked us.

Our fabulous group of fellow travelers (photo by me):
Back row, L-R, James (UK), Jewel (Canada), Jono (NZ/Canada), Mitch (NZ/Canada), Bill, Mattias (Germany), Daniel (Germany)
Front row, L-R, Ben (UK), Cesar (Colombia), Emily (UK), Brooke (NZ), Cole (NZ)

So we met everyone and got familiar with the boat and headed to bed on our first night, rocking and swaying a bit while motoring away from Cartagena, but not too badly. The entire next day we were motoring because there simply was NO wind. Apparently, calm winds are very rare at this time of year, but there were times when it was so calm that the sea was actually glassy. All you could see that day was the sea, no land in sight. It was crazy flat, which made for a very smooth ride, so nobody got even remotely seasick.

Day 1 of motoring (no wind), very calm and only the sea and sky to look at. 

Day 2 of motoring, SO calm that the sea was glassy. 

On Day 2 of motoring at about 1:00pm, we finally spotted our first islands of the San Blas group, and boy were they picturesque. Turquoise waters, white sand beaches, and palm trees. Simply stunning! The kind of place I've been dreaming about my whole life (this was my first time in the Caribbean). There are 365 San Blas islands and about 50 of them are inhabited, mostly by the indigenous Kuna people. Some have accommodations, usually pretty primitive, but the scenery makes up for it.

First sighting of San Blas islands in the distance.

First island stop for swimming.

We stopped at a variety of the islands and got to explore, snorkel, relax, and do plenty of hanging out on the boat and beaches. Bill attempted to kitesurf a couple of times, but it wasn't great because there just wasn't enough wind. The best snorkeling spot was near a shipwreck off of Pelican island. We saw a lionfish, lots of multicolored fish, an eel, some rays, and what looked like mini barracudas. Another day we saw some very large starfish. Some of the people on our boat saw a hammerhead jumping out of the water to catch a ray, but it was in the dark with headlamps and they'd been drinking heavily, so we weren't sure whether to believe them or not. Our crew and some of the passengers did some fishing and also bought fish from the locals, so we feasted on fresh fish: ceviche, delicious grilled fish, lobster, and even octopus (too bad Bill is a vegetarian and couldn't partake!).

Snorkel faces!

Large starfish, about the size of a platter. 

Lunchtime on the boat. 

Our days in the San Blas islands were basically full of lots of swimming, talking, snorkeling, napping, reading. Layer of sunscreen, layer of salt, layer of sunscreen, layer of salt, repeat again and again. No showering needed!

Bill, Mitch, and Jono working hard to open a coconut on one of the San Blas islands. 

Sunset from one of the San Blas islands.

Local Kuna people selling us fresh seafood from their dug out canoe. Check out the size and color of that conch shell. 

Strangers tend to be kind of enamored with Bill because of his intelligence and interesting hobbies. I mean, he built his own plane for goodness sake! And our fellow passengers were no exception. I kept telling him to keep his ego in check after each instance of them learning something cool about him and telling him how awesome he is. It became a running joke that if something bad happened, Bill would fix it. Super Bill! And that came true when a fellow passenger dropped her GoPro in the water. She dove in to the water to retrieve it but wasn't having any luck. So Bill jumped in, spotted the GoPro laying on the bottom, and free dove 10 meters (~30 feet) to get it. On his first try. The whole boat started cheering. Later we learned that the woman who dropped the GoPro had already lost two other devices with the photos from her and her husband's 9 months of traveling, so the GoPro was their last remaining camera and held their only travel photos. They kept telling Bill that he saved their marriage, like they wouldn't have survived losing any more photos/cameras.

San Blas views. 

More incredible San Blas vies.

Since we ended up staying an extra day on the catamaran, we arranged a small wobbly boat to take us to mainland Panama, and then we got into Jeeps that drove us through the jungle and into Panama City. We were so sad to say goodbye to our fellow passengers and the incredible crew that took such good care of us. We got incredibly lucky with the weather and the people. This trip to paradise will definitely be one of the big highlights of our year of travel, which is really saying a lot considering all that we've seen.

Next up: Panama!