San Blas Islands of Guna Yala: Caribbean Paradise

Today you experience the highlights of Panama City before the islands. In the morning you visit the Miraflores Locks, standing beside the mighty Panama Canal as giant container ships are raised and lowered between the oceans, an awe-inspiring spectacle, and learn the epic story of its construction in the excellent museum and film. Later you wander Casco Viejo, the atmospheric colonial old town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a maze of cobbled streets, leafy plazas and pastel colonial buildings framed by the gleaming skyline, admiring baroque churches, the golden altar of San Jose and the rooftop views, and soaking up the boutiques and cafes. The great engineering and colonial charm are captivating. As the day ends, you return to your hotel. This evening, savour Panamanian cuisine and the vibrant city. Rest well, for tomorrow you journey to the idyllic San Blas islands.

Today you journey to the idyllic San Blas islands of Guna Yala. You leave the city early and transfer by 4x4 over the forested mountains of the continental divide, a scenic drive through lush rainforest, and down to the Caribbean coast, where a boat carries you out across turquoise seas to the archipelago. Scattered with hundreds of tiny palm-fringed islets ringed by white sand and coral, governed autonomously by the indigenous Guna, this is a remote, unspoiled vision of paradise. You settle into simple, characterful island accommodation, swim in the warm, clear sea, laze beneath the palms, and relax on a postcard-perfect beach as the sun sets over the water. As the day ends, you savour the barefoot, unplugged beauty of island life. This evening, enjoy fresh Caribbean seafood beneath a canopy of stars. Rest well amid the islands, lulled by the sea.

Today you savour a full day among the idyllic San Blas islands. You spend the day island-hopping by boat across the turquoise archipelago, sailing between deserted sandbank islets crowned with a few leaning palms, where your footprints may be the only ones, and stepping ashore to swim and laze in paradise. You snorkel over vivid coral reefs bright with tropical fish, explore a picturesque shipwreck now home to shoals of fish, and swim in a natural sea pool of astonishing turquoise clarity where starfish dot the sandy shallows. Between swims you relax on postcard-perfect beaches, savouring the beauty and calm. The colour, clarity and serenity are wonderful. As the day ends, you return to your island. This evening, enjoy fresh seafood and a spectacular sunset over the sea. Rest well amid the islands, unplugged from the world.

Today you deepen your experience of San Blas and Guna Yala. You visit a Guna community island, meeting this proud, self-governing indigenous people, admiring the women in their colourful traditional dress, gold nose rings and beaded arms, and discovering the mola, the intricate hand-stitched textile panels for which the Guna are world-famous, watching them being made and perhaps choosing one to take home. You learn about their history, fishing and coconut economy and fierce independence. Then you sail on to more hidden islands and sandbanks, snorkelling, swimming and relaxing on deserted beaches, savouring the endless turquoise beauty. The culture and beauty together are captivating. As the day ends, you return to your island. This evening, enjoy fresh seafood and the star-filled sky over the water. Rest well amid the islands, for tomorrow you return to the mainland.

This morning you savour a final swim and breakfast in paradise, perhaps a last snorkel or a laze beneath the palms, before boarding a boat back across the turquoise sea to the coast and transferring by 4x4 over the forested mountains to Panama City. The scenic drive through rainforest brings you back to the cosmopolitan capital by afternoon. You settle into your hotel and enjoy a relaxed evening, perhaps a final stroll in Casco Viejo, some souvenir shopping for a mola or Panama hat, or a cocktail on a rooftop terrace overlooking the skyline, reflecting on the idyllic islands you have experienced. As the day ends, you savour the contrast of the vibrant city after the barefoot calm of the islands. This evening, enjoy a fine farewell dinner in the capital. Rest well ahead of your departure tomorrow, carrying warm memories of San Blas.

After a final morning in cosmopolitan Panama City, perhaps a last stroll along the causeway or some souvenir shopping, you are transferred to Tocumen International Airport for your onward international departure. You leave having experienced one of the world's most beautiful and unusual island destinations, the idyllic San Blas islands of Guna Yala, alongside the great canal and colonial charm of Panama City. The images stay vivid long after you land, the deserted palm-fringed sandbanks, the turquoise sea and vivid reefs, the colourful mola textiles of the Guna, the fresh seafood beneath the stars, and the giant ships rising in the canal locks. Panama offers Caribbean paradise, rich indigenous culture and fascinating history in abundance, and you depart already dreaming of a return to the idyllic islands of Guna Yala and the fascinating isthmus of Panama.