The Kuna Yala (San Blas in Spanish) island group is a vast archipelago on Panama’s Caribbean coast, consisting of more than 340 islands. This vast island group is home to the Kuna Indians who have managed to preserve their culture and traditions the best out of all the tribes in the Americas. The Kuna govern the island group autonomously and have very strict rules to keep their culture intact, including a complete ban on foreigners settling there or intermarrying into their community. They welcome yachting visitors, but have rules around the interactions and what visitors are allowed to do. No gathering of lobsters or shellfish, no scuba diving, no gathering of coconuts, and the payment of fees if you want to set foot on the islands.
The islands are generally small, with sandy fringes and densely covered by coconut palms inland. The water is crystal clear and full of fish and turtles. We do an overnight sail from Shelter Bay Marina to the eastern part of Kuna Yala and anchor at Holandes Cays in a sandy bay amidst a group of small uninhabited islands.
The snorkelling here is great, with vast seagrass beds surrounding the small islands, and an outer coral reef lining the cays. Lukie, Sarah and I venture to the outer reef, but the current is swift making it almost impossible for Lukie and I to keep our ground. The more he clings to me, the greater our drag (he wants to sit on my back, which doesn’t really make us very hydrodynamically streamlined), the faster we are swept downcurrent. But we manage to see some pretty corals and nice fish before we give up and drift back to the boat. On the way back we see a large green turtle with two remoras attached, one on its head, one on its back. Pretty similar to my swimming experience with Lukie, only without the family connection and the unconditional love that comes with it. We also see a ray, with a fish shadowing it – wherever the ray goes, the fish swims too, hovering on top of the dark shape of the ray.
Matias has gotten the cold that Alex was getting over, and has a feverish first day in Kuna Yala, spending most of the day in bed. Poor thing – it is incredible how children pass these things on – they haven’t had a cold since we left the cousins in England, and as soon as they interact with a child that has the remnants of a cold, they get it.
When the local family come by in their little boat, we buy the beautiful molas they sell, fantastic embroidery that is the signature of the islands. We are pleased to support the local economy, and the molas will look great on the boat, cheering up the dark wooden walls of the cabins. When another boat comes by asking for water we fill up their tank. After months of speaking French, it is strange to now switch to Spanish – French words keep propping up in my head, and I have to make a real effort to suppress them and focus on the Spanish.
The next day we go to Dog Island to snorkel the wreck of a cargo ship that sunk just off the little island in the 1950s. In just 3 to 6 m of water, the wreck is beautiful, teeming with fish, corals and sparkling red and orange sponges. In the afternoon we head off to the nearby Chichime Cays, where we snorkel some more, spotting rays, cuttlefish and lots of groovy corals.
We are relieved to report that the fishing luck continues in Christophe’s absence. On the morning we arrive in San Blas we catch a black fin tuna first thing, and the next day we get a Spanish Mackerel on our way from Dog Island to the Chichime Cays. Lukie reels in the Spanish Mackerel, eagerly asking for ‘mushimi’, his word for the sashimi that we eat immediately after catching a fish. We feast on beautiful fish for dinner both nights, and feel lucky.
Early on Friday we set sail to go back to Shelter Bay, and we have a pleasant day sail back, with lots of flying fish, boobies, and a couple of strikes on the lure (but no catch). We arrive late afternoon, relaxed and ready for the canal.
SV Bob The Cat 