Bay of Islands by boat and helicopter

We planned on doing a speed boat trip around the Bay of Islands as it had been well recommended. We had paid and booked the trip but they called us to say that the skipper had called in sick. We needed to get south for the Irish game so we didn't have time to wait another day. As an alternative we decided to hire our own boat and do a short tour of the islands.

Alternative to a jet boat

This was fun even if a little slow but after it we felt that we hadn't really seen the islands nor the hole in the rock. We'd never been in a helicopter before either so a 20 minute helicopter ride around the islands seemed like a good option. 

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

View from the back seat

The 20 minute ride took us around the islands and our pilot give a brief history of the islands and the area in general. We did a loop around the islands going out as far as the hole in the rock and then returning.

Hole in the Rock

Aerial view of the Bay of Islands

Panama to Colombia by boat

At Luna's Castle hostel in Panama we met Bob, the captain of Viva, a catamaran that was sailing to Colombia via the San Blas Islands. We also met an Irish couple who had just sailed from Colombia to Panama with Bob and they highly recommended it. Two days later we took a bus to Sabanita and from there a taxi to Portobello from where we would sail to Colombia.

Chicken Bus in Panama

Well taking a taxi wasn't as easy as it sounds, we were a group of 5 so we needed two taxis but we couldn't even find one taxi to take us. We made two attempts at taking the bus but the they were so full they had people hanging outside of the doors. No way 5 of us with our rucksacks could fit. Eventually we convinced a guy in a pickup truck to take us for 35USD the going rate was 20 so he was making 15 extra and we were saving 5. Only problem was 2 of the guys had to sit in the back of the pickup for 45 minutes during the midday sun, this resulted in some sunburnt knees. Luckily I was inside.

Stuart and Cristian in the back of the taxi

We checked into the only hostel in Portobello and soon met up with our captain Bob. We would set sail the following day at 11am first stopping for lunch on the Panama coast in Puerta Linda and then sailing to the San Blas Islands. The San Blas Islands consist of over 340 islands on Panama's Caribbean coast and are home to indigenous Kuna Indians. The islands and the associated mainlan territory are called the Kina Yala by the autonomous Kuna Indians who control this area of Panama. The Kunas allow visitors but they prohibit any non-Kuna from permanently settling or intermarrying. Also foreigners cannot buy or invest in land in Kuna Yala.


There are lots of boats catering for backpackers doing the trip Panama to Colombia. The going rate for the 5 day trip is between 300 and 500 USD but the quality of the boats, the number of passengers and the food tends to vary a lot. I've heard some horror stories of overcrowded small boats with little or no food. Bob's catamaran was the most expensive option that we had come across but it came highly recommended and once we were on board we could understand why. Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice living area, a large kitchen and a massive cockpit. The deck of the catamaran was quite large also so plently of space for hanging out for the 5 day trip.

Catamaran Viva

The wind was surprisingly calm so we used the engine all the way to the San Blas islands. We arrived at 3am and anchored in between 4 islands only one of which is inhabited with two families. At sunrise we could see that Bob was correct when he said we'd arrive in Paradise in the morning. Clear blue caribbean sea, white sand, palm trees and blue skies.

Caribbean Paradise

Our day consisted of eating, drinking, sleeping, swimming to the islands, snorkeling on the reef, fishing although we didn't manage to catch any fish. After about an hour snorkeling around a reef Seamus and I swam to a small island that was a small mound of white sand with 2 palm trees. Obviously we didn't have our camera with us but here is a photo we took later in the day from the dingy.

Palm Island

Throughout our 3 days in the San Blas the kunas would sail over to us offering us lobster, mangos and fish. Their boats are dugout canoes called "ulu" and in some cases their sail was a bed sheet with some patches on it yet they moved surprisingly fast through the water.

Kunas sailing in the San Blas

The next morning we sailed to an area of San Blas where there are 2 inhabited islands connected by a foot bridge. We took the dingy to the island and walked around for a few hours.

The group that sailed to Colombia on the Kuna Bridge

It was an interesting mix of new and old on the two islands, for example their toilets are a hole in the floor at the edge of the island yet many of the houses we passed had satellites and one shop/house that we entered had a 40 inch plasma TV. Not the first time I've come across this, I saw similar in a yurt tent in Mongolia! We bought some bread in the town bakery and also some drinks in a shop. A small bottle of water cost 1 dollar yet a bottle of coke cost 65 cent. Strange.

Kuna Toilets

The afternoon we went to another part of the San Blas Islands for more swimming and snorkeling and then the same again the following day, slowly moving south. Whenever we weren't anchored we were fishing and we managed to catch three fish on the Friday. One of which was a shark but Bob our captain was a wary about taking the shark onto the boat as it could be quite dangerous. While we were deciding what to do the shark managed to slip away, luckily Arnold managed to get a photos before this happened.

The one that got away.

The one that didn't get away.

At 5pm on Friday we left the San Blas islands and started our journey towards Colombia expecting to arrive early Sunday morning. The sea was surprisingly calm. Bob has been making this trip for a number of years and he said this was the calmest journey he's had on this route. All of Friday night, Saturday and Saturday night was spent on the boat in the middle of the ocean sailing towards Colombia. At this point we really appreciated the size and stability of the catamaran. Plenty of room for hanging out, reading, sunbathing, watching movies on laptops, writing blog posts and listening to music.

The sailing trip that almost didn't happen and then didn't happen

After Cuba I returned to Cancun and took a ferry to Isla Mujeres. The reason was to meet up with Ivo, an Austrian guy that I met through couchsurfing. He has been sailing around the Caribbean for over 2 years and 6 months ago he bought his own boat, 'Imago'. He sailed solo from Miami to Cuba and then onto Mexico. Now he was planning a 2-3 week trip from Mexico to Belize and finishing in Rio Dulce in Guatemala. He was looking for some crew for this trip, well i think more so for some company as he was perfectly capable of doing the trip solo. I randomly met a welsh guy from couchsurfing in Cancun so both of us went to meet Ivo to see if he thought we were suitable candidates for crew. After a few days getting to know each other and Imago we decided we'd make the trip together. The next few days we spent preparing for the trip, getting to know Imago, cooking dinner on board and generally just hanging out.

Dinner on Imago

Sailing 101

There were 3 other boats at the marina planning a similar trip so the plan was to sail south together. Then we encountered a problem, the weather forecast predicted a change in the winds over the next few days. Generally this wouldn't be a problem but we only had a 3 week time slot to make this trip. Ivo was due to fly to Cuba in April where he would sail another boat to Guatemala for its owner. He couldn't risk being stuck at sea and missing this flight so to our disappointment we had to cancel the trip.

Sunset at the Marina

Two days later I was on the ferry to Cancun from where I planned to go north to Holbox when I got an email from Ivo saying that the trip was back on if I was still interested. So back to Isla Mujeres, more preparations, checking maps, checking GPS, checking the weather forecast and buying supplies.

Map Time

On the morning the March 22nd we set sail hoping to reach Cozumel that night. Sailing was smooth even though we were going against the tide and against the wind but the problem was we were going at about 3 knots where we needed to be at 4-5. Otherwise we'd be night sailing to Cozumel. Then disaster struck, our sail ripped. This sounds worse that it was, it wasn't that bad more so the consequences for our trip were bad. There was a part of the sail that had previously been repaired and now it had ripped. The problem for us was that now we couldn't use the full sail so we were now down to 2 knots which meant we'd never make it to Guatemala in time, plus not a great omen for a sailing trip to rip the sail 3 hours into a 3 week trip!


So once again we decided to abandon the trip and make our way back to Isla Mujeres. We cooked some burgers and played the German version of settlers. My sailing career had ended before it started. Yo no soy marinero.

Imago minus her sail