Experience the best of San Blas Islands

The San Blas Islands lie off the Caribbean coast of Panama, about 100 km north-east of Panama City, and form part of Guna Yala, a self-governing territory of the Guna people. More than 300 small coral islands, a few dozen of them inhabited, are scattered along the coast, many no bigger than a football pitch and edged with palms, white sand and clear shallow water.

Guna women are known for molas, bright layered textiles sewn in reverse appliqué, worn on blouses and sold across the islands. Communities live in villages of thatched huts built close together on islands such as Carti and El Porvenir, and travel by dugout canoe. Reefs offshore are good for snorkelling, and sailing boats run between the islands and the coast of Colombia.

Meals are simple and based on the sea: grilled fish, crab, lobster in season, rice, plantain and coconut. The dry season from December to April brings the clearest skies and calmest seas, while May to November is wetter and more humid. The islands lie south of the main Caribbean hurricane belt.