Sailing from Colombia to Panama has become one of the great backpacker journeys of the world. Where else can you spend 3 tranquil days sailing through the beautiful white sand islands of San Blas by yacht or catamaran, covered in palm trees and amazing beaches, after 2 days on a boat to Panama from the amazing colonial fortress city of Cartagena. There is only one way to do this, and that is by taking a Boat to Panama with Hostel Mamallena from Cartagena to San Blas.
Making a booking through us will not cost you anything extra and you will have the peace of mind about your safety as we have been dealing with these trips for over 8 years now and were the original agency to start booking these trips.
We deal directly with the captain and don’t go through third parties. We make a point of only working with the boats to Panama that we trust and that are recommended by other travellers, we have no special deals with captains and will give you our honest opinion on what each boat has to offer and what we, and others, think of it.
About the trip:
If you decide to take a boat from Colombia to Panama you’ll enjoy 3 days sailing in the beautiful San Blas islands of Panama. This is an opportunity not to be missed. White sand tropical islands are waiting to be explored. Snorkeling, swimming and just relaxing on the deck of your yacht. If you can, catch your own seafood. Also experience the traditional lifestyle of the Kuna Islanders.
Prices have been steadily increasing and prices currently range from $480 to $550, depending on the boat. The quality of boats can vary, but we feel that most of the boats we deal with are some of the best operating between Colombia and Panama. The price may also seem high, but consider what you’re receiving. The price of one way flights to Panama can range between $300 and $500, and thats for a 1 hour flight! Sailing to San Blas from Cartagena over 5 days just seems like a better deal!
The traditional route sailing fromColombia to Panama is from Cartagena via the San Blas islands. Some captains also offer a trip from the Panama/Colombia border. It’s still a 4-5 day trip but you’ll sail through the entire group of islands and you start in the Colombian town of Sapzurro. To Get there you’ll take a boat from Turbo which is reachable by bus from Cartagena. Most prices for this sailing experience are between $450 and $500. The area around Carpurgana is beautiful and known as a Colombian beach resort town. There are hotels and hostels there and transport tfrom Turbo leaves at around 7.30am each morning($25).
Few of these yachts travel to a strict schedule so it’s never sure that a boat will be ready to leave when you are. We maintain a list of yachts that are ready to leave for Panama and when we hear from you we’ll send you our current list. It can be an idea to ask for the departures list in advance as more boats are starting to set departure dates in advance. We do take reservations in advance as well and they can sometimes fill fast. The list of sailings will have the name of the boat, the date of departure, the port of departure, cost etc etc.
Please remember, these aren’t our trips. We help both you and the captains arrange the trip but each captain is independent and operates as they wish. That said we do limit the boats that we work with and over the years have weeded out the ones that we feel don’t met up to our standards. We’re not in the business of our clients having a bad time so we actually care about who you go with.
And remember, we want to know how your trip goes. If it’s bad, we’ll know not to use that captain again. If it’s good we want to tell others so they can have the same great time you did. But no matter who you go with we know you’ll love sailing to Panama.
How to make a booking from Colombia to Panama
There are two ways to make a booking on one of the sailing boats between San Blas and Cartagena. You can either contact us by email tours@mamallena.com and we’ll send you out a fact sheet, or you can come directly into the office or to the hostel and we can tell you all you need to know. Hope we hear from you soon!
Over 8 years ago Hostel Mamallena was the first hostel to start booking the boats to Panama. In that time we’ve gained a lot of experience and you can be assured that we’ll give you first hand, unbiased information about each of these boats.
Contact us for a more detailed list of the Captains we work with and an updated departure schedule.
More useful information:
Weather warning:
The months from around December to March can be reasonably rough compared to other times of the year. Please bear in mind that this may cause delays in departures or increase the travel time of trips. Remember that this is a sailing trip on the open sea, there are many variables that may cause delays, please bear this in mind when booking hostels and onward travel. Remember your seasick tablets………..
Very Important Arrival Port Info
Most boats do not include any transport fees in getting to Panama City from the arrival point in Panama, when they do it will be explained in their respective write up below. Please remember we do not control these prices and neither do the captains, they may change without warning, but it is unlikely.
1.Arriving at Carti and El Porvenir (San blas) costs are approx $45-$50pp to reach Panama City by licensed 4×4 transport (There is no other way of getting to Panama City from the San Blas). Departure from the islands could be anytime between 9am and 4pm. Costs are ( $25-$30pp 4×4, $2pp Kuna Taxes, $5-10pp Lancha fee). The Captain will organize this for you. Most often people leave in the morning of the final day and are often in Panama City around 1pm.
2.Arriving into Portobelo or Puerto Lindo is around $10pp in travel costs by public bus to Panama City. The journey is approx 3-4hrs with a change of bus in Sabanitas or Colon. Sometimes a shuttle may be organised if theres enough interest. Just remember that getting from San Blas itself to Portobelo is around 12 hours of extra sailing time, within the normal trip time, and the seas can be rough.
3. Arriving into Turtle Cay marina is $30pp by shuttle to Panama City that is organized by the Captain. The shuttle will drop off at Hostel Mamallena and Casco Viejo. Turtle Cay is in Colon Province much further along the coast from Puerto Lindo and is approx 3-3.5hrs by shuttle bus.
NEWS FLASH
The Panamanian government has recently introduced a tax of $105 charged to all those people arriving by boat. This is a pretty new tax(4/7/13). If you have a plane ticket leaving Panama within 3 days of arrival you do not have to pay. Please expect to pay this tax when you calculate the price. If you have, or “pretend to have” a ticket (you make one up on Expedia, do everything but pay and print out the itinerary), it may work but no promises. There are a few ways that people seem to be using to get around paying this. There are some boats that are currently exempt from this tax and thats the Jacqueline, the Independence, the Luka and the African Queen. Travelling with these boats means you have no risk of paying the $105.