After four months at Turtle Cay Marina and despite the rainy season still being in full swing, we finally push off the dock and sail towards the San Blas Islands. Puerto Obaldia, the southernmost town on Panama’s Caribbean coast, being our final destination so we can check out of Panama and continue our exploration of the Caribbean.
After finishing the replacement of the wire rope of the standing rigging and sewing various canvas covers, we take a day to load up on groceries in preparation for a few weeks out cruising.
We paid for our stay at Turtle Cay Marina and topped up our diesel tanks, said goodbye to new friends and cruisers and pushed off to sail southeast toward Puerto Obaldia where we plan to check out of Panama. But before we depart Panama, we need to explore the marvelous San Blas Archipelago and the homeland of the Guna people.
The San Blas Archipelago appear to be a postcard representation of the Caribbean with its many small piles of sand and coconut palms. Unfortunately the seasons here vary and during our visit the water was murky and the weather turbulent with frequent squalls and oh so many gnats that covered our bodies with little red welts and made us scratch for days.
One of our favorite stops wasn’t in the San Blas at all but further down the coast in the Bay of Escoces, which translates to Scottish Bay, a large, protected anchorage full of coral and the site of a long abandoned Scottish settlement from the 18th century. Today this bay shelters a small group of Guna Yala people living in huts on the water.
Our last stop in Panama: Puerto Obaldia
The little town of Puerto Obaldia is only reachable by plane or boat. It is a curious little town in a beautiful, remote location. After hearing many stories about bribes being requested on the Caribbean side of Panama, we decided to go far out of the typical cruiser’s way to see if Puerto Obaldia at the border to Colombia is easier to depart from than Portobelo. Turns out, we were charged only $12 for the entire checkout process. We were done after just about two hours!
That evening we said our final goodbye to Central America and Panama and settled in for a comfortable sail up the coast of Colombia with the goal of reaching Puerto Rico.
