What Do We Do All Day in the San Blas Islands?

There are cruisers who pass through the San Blas in a week or two and there are the ones who spend years in this region. Some of us move to a different island every so many days, others stay in the same anchorage for a month or longer at a time. Everybody loves being in the clear water with the ultimate picturesque view of sandy islands full of palm trees all around and while most visitors find exciting stuff to do all day, there are the ones who get bored of “doing nothing” and spending lots of time in the same environment. It is Mark's and my goal to do exactly that: stay in Kuna Yala until we are bored. So far, it’s not working…

After a week of being away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland and finding a slower pace in the islands again, Mark and I moved from the quite crowded Chichime Cays to the quieter and prettier East Lemmons, where we just “sat” for a few days, enjoying the peace and magnificent views; exploring some of the surrounding palmy islands. And then, it was time to finally meet up with our friends Michele and Mark from SV Reach, whom we hadn’t seen for one and a half years. It was great to catch up with them and to meet some of their other friends – all relatively young – who were also anchored near Miriadup in the Central Hollandes Cays.

This new to us area and its temporary boat residents offer a lot of activities and social gatherings, so Mark and I have been busy lately. We either go snorkeling, fishing from the dinghy, or exploring new shores and different beaches. There are a lot of little islands around and in the evenings, there are other cruisers to hang out with. We had a trash burn and sushi evening one day, did yoga another day. We watch our new friends kite board or take off for a spear fishing trip near the reefs almost every day and organize some kind of brunch or potluck on Irie to do something different. 

While we didn’t mind cooking for a group of people and sharing drinks in the Eastern Caribbean, here in the remote San Blas islands, where no good stores, alcohol, ice or food is available (and an event can’t be planned ahead of time), guests bring their own drinks and munchies/appetizer/dish to share to other boats upon invitation. The hosting cruisers offer some extra food and take care of the dirty dishes! In between all of these activities, there are the preparations of meals, bread, desserts and snacks, the usual boat chores, some random boat projects and the business and writing, of course. So, as you can see… Mark and I are keeping ourselves busy enough and there is no time for boredom, just yet!

Dinner party on SV Reach with some of the gang: Stefan, Frank, Liz, Charlie and dog Loki (Photo by Michele)

Brunch on Irie with Michele and Mark from SV Reach

During our explorations and on the way to snorkel spots, Mark and I fish in the deeper water

Underwater creatures during one of the many snorkel adventures

And, one of the many pretty fish. I guess I should start identifying them?

One of our kite boarding friends taking off from the beach on Miriadiadup

Local Kuna fishermen

Yoga on the Miriadiadup beach, under the palm trees...