The classic postcard view of San Blas: the Cayos Limones, with white sand and turquoise water, on the most popular snorkeling route.
The Cayos Limones are the image almost everyone has in mind when they think of San Blas: tiny islets of white sand ringed by turquoise water, with reef close enough to snorkel among colourful fish. This is a panoramic route, built to see several cays in one day.
Because they sit relatively close to the port, there is little sailing between stops, which leaves more time ashore and less in the boat — the reason this route works best when you're travelling with a mix of ages. Arrival around 8:30, lunch at 12:30 and the Natural Pool at 15:30.
Pickup from 5:00 am at your hotel, door-to-door 4x4 and about two and a half hours of mountain road. Includes boat with life jackets, a typical lunch and a local guide. The comarca entrance fee is paid on the day of the tour, in cash or by card to the driver.
Great if you want several islands in a day and little boat time between them.
Maybe not your tour if you are after untouched cays: the Limones are the busiest part of the archipelago.
4x4 tour departing from Panama City.
Panoramic tour of the keys and snorkeling on the reef.
Fresh food on the island.
One last swim, then back to the city.
There are no shops in the archipelago, and whatever is missing waits until you are back on the mainland. See the full list →
Free cancellation up to 72 hours before; after that the deposit is held, because your place is already blocked. Cancellation policy →
$135 per traveller. That covers transport from Panama City, the sailing, the meals of the format and the guide. Outside it sits the comarca entry, $22 for foreigners and $7 for residents, paid in cash on the way in.
This format sells an area, not a named island: what you'll see is Cayos Limones, Piscina Natural. In the remote cays you anchor where the sea allows that day, so the skipper picks the exact spot in the morning.
Departure is always before dawn, around 5:00, because the mountain pass and the tide impose it. The return depends on the format: single-day trips come back that afternoon, multi-night ones on the last day.
Because there is little sailing between stops. The hops are short, so nobody spends the day gripping the boat bench and the hours are spent on land. With grandparents, children or someone who cannot take the engine, that settles the day more than the scenery does.
No, and it is worth saying so. The Cayos Limones are the busiest area of the archipelago, and that is precisely the trade-off for having it close to the port. If you want sand with nobody around, some routes go far out; you pay for it in hours at sea.
You can: there is reef a short way off the shore on several of the cays, enough to see fish without taking a separate boat. It is not the richest bottom in the archipelago — that one is much further out — but you reach it walking from the sand, which for most people is what settles it.
The rest — document, comarca fee, route changes — is answered separately. Go to the frequently asked questions →
