Sailing Across The Darien Gap

Most travelers with lots of time and little money travel across Latin America overland, taking long distance buses and chicken buses. But to travel between Colombia to Panama overland is nearly impossible due to the thick jungle in the area and the rebel guerrilla presence there. That leaves two choices; by land and by air.

To go by air costs roughly 260USD which sounds a little bit cheaper than sailing, at just under 400USD. But factor the five days involved and the all inclusive package of sailing and consider this. It only takes five nights of accommodation at 12USD/night and a food budget of 16USD/day to make up the difference, nevermind the three day excursion in San Blas and the experience of a sea adventure.

The Route

From Cartagena, it is a straight two day sail to the San Blas Archipelagio. With a decent constant wind and waves behind us, we did it in an excellent 32 hours, arriving in San Blas at about midnight on the second day. The next two and a half days involved visiting some of the picture perfect islands, swimming, sunbathing, relaxing, whatever we wanted. On the afternoon of the fifth and final day, a small motor boat picked us up from the anchored sailboat and took us to land where SUVs were ready to drive us to Panama for an additional price. It took a couple of hours to get from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast on terrible roads, but the drive provided some nice scenery along the way.

From Panama to Cartagena, the route is reversed, though popular opinion has it that the Cartagena to Panama direction is more pleasant; you are not fighting against the waves this way.

How To Find A Boat

In Cartagena, it is convenient to just go to the yacht club and ask around. There are dozens of local and foreign boats who make the trip at similar prices. Just make sure that what they are charging you includes everything like enough food, water and immigration formalities. Also make sure that the number of passengers fits the boat, so that it is safe and comfortable. I found my boat through my hostel in Cartagena, Casa Viena, a comfortable and homely place which has a great chilled out atmosphere when the Colombian humidity saps all your energy and all you want to do is nothing.

In Panama, it is more complicated to talk to the captains since the ocean part of the trip begins on the other coast, but try the popular hostel in Panama, Luna's Castle, who also have connections with boats and even offer San Blas excursions without the sail to Colombia.

What You Do On The Boat

Some things may be asked of you, but this is never anything difficult or complicated. A little bit of cleaning, helping out in the kitchen or setting up tarps, that kind of thing. Most people will have the inclination to offer help anyway. We each learned how to steer the boat, following the compass, so that we could take shifts during the two day straight sailing. I don't think we ever ended up doing that; we just each had a go.

The Delfin Solo

I traveled with The Delfin Solo from Cartagena to San Blas. I found them through Casa Viena hostel and was glad to have gone with them. The owners are Tahsin and Rengin, a lovely European couple who live on The Delfin Solo with their cat, Gatito. The boat is a small sailboat with rooms that sleep five in total, two bathrooms, a kitchen and dining room. We were six passengers plus Tahsin and Rengin, though most nights everyone slept on the deck after watching the stars.

Food was simple during the sailing days as it was difficult to cook properly while the boat was rolling over waves... and most of the passengers didn't really feel up for anything big anyway. So breakfast was usually cereal, then there was fruit, sandwiches and noodles. When the boat was anchored behind the reef though, it was time for superb mashed potatoes, bread and dip, lobster, salad, meatballs, quesadillas, and the fish and crab that the boys caught while spearfishing.

I recommend this boat and this trip highly. If The Delfin Solo is still sailing this route, go find them and have a great time!