Snorkel at one of the most colorful reefs in San Blas: Chichime Island, crystal-clear waters, and the Natural Pool—all in one day.
Chichime is a byword for healthy reef and clear water: one of the best snorkelling spots in Guna Yala, with colourful fish and coral close to the surface, easy even if it's your first time with mask and snorkel. After the reef, you close the day in the Natural Pool.
What makes Chichime easy is the depth: the coral sits near the surface and you reach it swimming from shore, with no support boat and no experience required. It is also two twin islands joined by a sandbar, with the most photographed leaning palms in the comarca. Arrival around 8:30, lunch and free time at 12:30, 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 road. Includes boat with life jackets, a typical lunch and a local guide; the comarca fee is separate, paid the same day, in cash or by card to the driver.
Great if you have never snorkelled and want to start somewhere easy and beautiful.
Maybe not your tour if you are after solitude: Chichime is among the busiest islands in the west.
4x4 trip from Panama City to Guna Yala.
Snorkeling on the reef: healthy coral and colorful fish in shallow waters.
A traditional island lunch, followed by time to swim and relax.
One last swim at the sandbar, 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 route names 1: Isla Chichime. Some formats sell an area rather than a single island, because in the remote cays you anchor where the sea allows that day.
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.
Yes, and that is why this route exists. Here the coral sits at shallow depth and is reached swimming from the shore, with no jump off the boat and no technical escort. You go in with a life vest and come out when you want, which is the best way to start.
In difficulty and in the journey, not in beauty. The expensive route reaches richer reefs but demands a long crossing in open sea. Here the bottom is more modest and getting there is easy: same sea, different demand. That is why one suits beginners and the other does not.
Yes: the leaning palms that appear in every photograph of this island are also what gives shade by mid-morning. Sunscreen still matters, because the glare off the sandbank burns even under a palm, and even when the water feels cool.
The rest — document, comarca fee, route changes — is answered separately. Go to the frequently asked questions →
