Panama Islands Kayaking and Camping

Subject to change based on weather or other unforeseen circumstances

Day 1 – Welcome to Tropical Panama! Upon your arrival at Panama City Airport, you will be met and brought to your hotel for the night in Panama City (30-minute drive), right on the banks of the entrance of the Panama Canal.
By early evening you will be meeting your guide who will take you to a nice restaurant for a local dish and the trip briefing.

Day 2 – Early this morning right after breakfast, we’ll leave the city and cross the Continental Divide to San Blas (2.5-hour drive). You are now in the semi-autonomous territory of the Kuna People; the remoteness of the location and authentic culture will give you the feel of a National Geographic expedition. From there we will hop into our support boat for a drive to our first island. The remainder of the day, you will become familiarized with your kayak by paddling along the rainforest mainland, and perhaps we’ll enter a river if time and water level allow. This way we get the opportunity to test and adjust our boats and make sure we feel comfortable before we commit to any long stretches of paddling on the days to come. In the later afternoon, we’ll walk into the Kuna village for an introduction to their culture, and get to meet the women who will be showing their traditional outfits called ‘Molas’. During our walk we’ll be greeted by the many cute, ever-smiling Kuna children.
In the evening we’ll have our first Kuna dish where after they’ll perform a local dance in the moonlight. Surely we’ll all be ready for our first night sleep in the cozy tents with comfortable mattresses.

Day 3 – This morning after packing our camp, we begin a 4-5 hour paddle to the uninhabited island of Diadup. The paddling includes two open channel crossings. Our motorized support boat will carry our dry bags (luggage) and camping equipment, so our kayaks will be light and maneuverable. Additionally, our support boat can assist paddlers in need or if tired.
We’ll stop on a pleasant island somewhere along the way for lunch whereafter we’ll continue to today’s destination: a marvelous little island with just a local family living on it.
The afternoon will be at leisure to relax in your hammock or play in the ocean. We provide a hammock for each of the participants.

Day 4 – Today we break camp and paddle along sand cays and across open channels to the magical uninhabited white-sand island of Sichirdup. This small island will be our home for the next 2 nights. The coral reef surrounding the island offers amazing snorkeling opportunities. Be sure to bring your snorkel and
mask! (We have masks and snorkel available, however, we encourage you to bring your own).

Day 5 – Layovers are great!! This morning sleep-in, you do not need to pack your tent and your belongings, instead relax! At midmorning, we take a day trip to the nearby mainland, where we will paddle our kayaks upstream through the gentle Rio Paloma looking for wildlife and the best swimming holes. This is a wonderful opportunity to bathe in the fresh clean river water. Once we can’t paddle any further upstream, we will continue our exploration on foot on the trails parallel to the river. On our way back we will stop for a picnic lunch at the shore of the river!
After lunch we’ll paddle back to Sichirdup for an afternoon snorkeling session along the ‘wall’; a drop outside the reef offering spectacular marine life sightings!

Day 6 – Today we set off on another amazing stretch of tropical sea kayaking to reach the amazing Island of Bidirdup. The 3-4 hour paddle necessary to get there will have our initially island hopping and eventually making one open crossing. Bidirdup is a small island, perhaps with the acreage of a football field, and with only one native family being the only inhabitants and caretakers of the island, so the fine white sands, turquoise water and picture-perfect setting will likely be yours, and yours alone during your visit. Great snorkeling here too!

Day 7 – This morning we will jump in our kayaks and head west with the predominant wind and current, for approximately 3 hours, island hopping our way to Nube Sibu Dup (or Dove Island), another tropical atoll paradise. This beautiful island is the transition from the remote areas of the Guna Yala Archipelago, to the areas slightly tainted by the recent growth of tourism spurred by the paving of the road leading to the area. Formerly a footpath, and for many years a 4×4 challenge, this paved road provides the only vehicle access to Guna Yala.

Day 8 – Early morning, we will leave our kayaks and hop on a motorboat and motor to the road access to meet our comfortable 4×4 vehicle, which will drive us back to civilization (a.k.a. Panama City), where we should arrive by midafternoon. Once we get to your hotel you can relax until our last dinner together in the old city of Casco Viejo.

​Day 9 – All good things must come to an end, and this day we have arranged for your transportation to the international airport in Panama City to catch your flight home. You will leave Panama with a new understanding of the tropics and with a unique insight into the simple lifestyle and worldview of the Kuna People.