Kuna Yala Comarca Travel Guide | San Blas Archipiélago Tips & Islands to Visit

Destination content © William Friar, used from Moon Handbooks Panama, 1st edition.

La Comarca de Kuna Yala o San Blas

For the Kunas, the land is the mother of all things. She is guardian of all that exists. She represents the spirit, the strength and the vigor of the Kuna culture and mantains the balance. The elders have taught the Kuna people that there are eight spiritual levels in which they can find themselves: gold, silver, iron and other minerals that mantain Mother Earth. If they allow these minerals to be exploited, their trees will dry up and production will decrease.

Welcome to paradise. Cartoonists who love to picture tropical islands as dots of soft sand with a few coconut palms could have gotten the idea from Kuna Yala, otherwise known as the San Blas Islands. That image fits countless idyllic spots in this archipelago of nearly 400 islands off the eastern Caribbean coast of Panama. When the sun hits the sea here you'll think of emeralds and sapphires.

The islands are part of the Comarca de Kuna Yala, a semiautonomous homeland of the Kuna people. Kuna territory also encompasses a mountainous strip of mostly virgin forest on the mainland, along the Caribbean slope of the Darién. It runs the length of the archipelago, ending at the Colombian border.

Most visitors prefer to hang out on the islands. Nearly all the estimated 40,000 Kuna who live in the comarca (district) inhabit just 40 of the islands, none of which is very large. As one might imagine, things get pretty crowded: On many islands, the thatch roofs of the Kunas' cane huts almost touch, making walking around a bit of a challenge. Visitors generally spend as much time as possible on the uninhabited islands, but be sure to visit a village. The chance to meet the Kuna, who have one of the most vibrant indigenous cultures in Latin America, is reason enough to visit the San Blas Islands.

A word of warning: If you're looking for Club Med, Kuna Yala is not for you. Even the most "exclusive" accommodations are quite simple, and there's little to do on the islands except swim, snorkel, laze in hammocks, and visit villages. The food is generally bland and basic.

More disturbing, any lingering romantic notions one has about indigenous people's harmonious relationship with nature gets a jolt upon realizing how severely the Kuna are overfishing their waters, or seeing the garbage and sewage they routinely dump into pristine blue waters.

On the other hand, there are still plenty of lovely, uninhabited islands in the archipelago, more than anyone could possibly see during a visit. A big part of the charm of these islands is their very simplicity: no timeshare condos or tacky T-shirt shops here. Nodding off in a hammock slung between coconut palms, watching a Kuna woman sewing a mola, and showering by the light of a kerosene lantern can soon seem like a pretty good way to spend the day.

Kuna Yala Islands

Achutupu

The idyllic uninhabited and semi-inhabited islands around the El Porvenir area are all east or northeast of this busy hub. The most popular with visitors is Achutupu, also known as Isla de Los Perros (Dog Island). It's a private island with just one small family living on it. (Note: Don't confuse this Achutupu with the large, crowded island of the same name much farther east.) Everything about this pristine speck of sand and palm trees is straight out of a postcard. The water is calm and crystalline, with great snorkeling visibility. And the snorkeling here is fun: There's an old shipwreck in shallow water just off the south side of the island. It's overgrown with brilliant coral and has become a playground for a variety of small and medium-sized tropical fish.

Achutupu is surrounded by other lovely islands, with rustic Kuna sailboats and the occasional sleek foreign yacht gliding around them. If Achutupu isn't perfect enough, ask the boatman to do some more exploring. Resist the urge to use up your entire stock of film in this area.

Cartí

South of the Porvenir area, about a 40-minute motorized boat ride away, is a cluster of islands and a bit of coast known collectively as Cartí (Gardi). There's a large, vibrant village on Cartí Suitupu (Gardi Sugdup), which makes it a popular cruise-ship destination. This place sees more foreigners than any other part of the archipelago, so it's perhaps not surprising it has an estimated two dozen bars/soda stands. There is generator-powered electricity 6 p.m.-midnight.

Especially noteworthy is a small Kuna museum (tel. 299-9002 or 299-9074, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, $2) housed in a thatch-roofed hut. It has its own dock, so small boats can go there directly. The displays are modest but include an interesting mix of traditional implements, exhibits on the Kuna puberty ritual (only girls go through this, and it's a huge, drunken party for the whole village), vintage molas, and so on. It gives a glimpse into the mythology, history, rituals, and daily life of the Kuna. A Kuna man named José Davis, who established the museum along with his father, gives guided tours of the exhibits in English and Spanish, with lots of intricate and sometimes hard-to-follow explanations of Kuna history and religion. One of the more interesting tidbits is a description of Kuna burials. (The cemeteries are on the mainland, where the Kunas dig underground rooms and string them with hammocks into which the deceased are placed.)

Visitors are welcome to stop by the other islands in the group as well, which are not quite as modernized or heavily touristed as Cartí Suitupu.

Isla Maquina

One island well worth a visit is Isla Maquina (Mormarketupo in Kuna), about a 10-minute boat ride from Río Sidra. It's the quietest and most purely traditional of the islands in the region and one of the most traditional in the archipelago. It's known for its mola makers. Huts aren't as squashed together, and it's quite tidy and significantly cleaner than other islands. There are a school and water supplied by an aqueduct, but very little else in the way of facilities-no hotel, no health center. It's pleasant to wander around the narrow paths lined with cane fences that border homes. There are a few places to buy sodas and snacks.

The Uninhabited Cays

The loveliest and most unspoiled islands in the archipelago are fairly remote, and they can be difficult to visit unless one has access to a yacht. There are no accommodations on these remote cays.

The Cayos Holandéses are the best-known of the many gorgeous uninhabited and lightly populated islands toward the western end of the archipelago. They are 15 kilometers north of the mainland, farther offshore than any others in the archipelago. Yachts like to hang out here, as do snorkelers. The coral in some areas is beautiful, though even out here the waters have been overfished and the coral damaged.

To the west of the Holandéses, and closer to the Porvenir area, are the also lovely Cayos Chichime, the Cayos Limónes, and, farther south, the Cayos Los Grullos.

About 40 minutes east of the Holandéses by large motorboat (the smallest thing one should be in this far out) are the Cayos Coco Bandero (Ordupuquip in Kuna). It's a pristine group of more than a half dozen islets that's rarely visited by anyone other than yachties. It's stunningly beautiful out here. A Spanish galleon supposedly sank around this area, but neither the ship nor the gold have ever been found. There's also a modern-day wreck, a cargo ship, that's lodged upright on the nearby reef. It makes for quite a haunting sight. The waters are calm, protected by the same reef that snagged the ship, making it an appealing spot for snorkelers.

The Cayos Holandéses are accessible by boat from the Porvenir, Río Sidra, and the Corazón de Jesús/Narganá areas, but it's quite a haul on open sea that can turn rough. Coco Bandero is much closer to Narganá/Corazón de Jesús. None of the hotels offers a visit to the more distant of these island groups as part of their standard packages, but they may be able to arrange a trip for an extra free. Do not attempt the trip without a life jacket. Most visitors will be content with exploring islands closer to where you're staying.

The cost of a boat trip, and the time it takes, obviously depend on where you're coming from and how many islands you want to explore. From Kuanidup, for instance, the trip to the Cayos Holandéses takes at least two hours each way and will cost $60 just for gas, plus a bit more for the boatman's time. From the Porvenir area it's about $50 per boatload. For those who can afford it, a far better way to explore this area is by private yacht.

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