Sailing between Colombia and Panama can be an adventure of a lifetime and if you have planned to visit the Americas, Colombia and Panama may be on the route or if you are just considering going between these countries and are not sure about how to accomplish this travel then this post will be of help.
You have three main options.
- You can fly, how dull and boring is that?
- You could try overland through one of the most dangerous land border crossing in the world, The Darien Gap, full of paramilitary and drug smugglers, not to mention the jungle itself.
- You can book passage on a sailboat.
- There is a ferry but not going to the islands.
- You can take a fast boat then overland.
You may have heard about this from others and have explored the internet for information maybe finding out good details, maybe not, so here are a few links and bits of information to get the travel juices flowing.
First, there are really not too many ways to book ahead any sailboats that I am aware of with the exception of maybe the hostel web sites below. Most travelers usually arrive in either Cartagena or Panama City, Panama and start trying to locate information from there.
Secondly, the average size of the sail boats which you can book will be around 10 meters or 33 feet. However there are sailboats which are much larger that will sail these waters.
Typically the voyage will at one point stop for a few days at the San Blas islands which are beautiful coconut palm lined islands where the locals main source of income is the coconut trade.
The average price for a one way voyage will be close to $425 US dollars. There are some that may be a bit less and there are some that will be a lot more more. However, recently the costs have been increasing and it has been observer that the cost per person can now be as high as $550 US dollars.
These prices are a major increase from 2008 when the average cost was around $250 US dollars.
These prices are a major increase from 2008 when the average cost was around $250 US dollars.
When I was polling travelers who had completed the voyage, I received a mixed review of comments from, "it was excellent, "the captain smelled really bad", "the food was shite", "i was ready to get off an hour after we left" and a range of comments in between.
Now let's assume that you are still interested, how do you accomplish finding a boat.
Some wisdom says when in Cartagena that you go to the yacht clubs at the port and attempt to locate a captain with a sailboat. Other wisdom says that you go to one of the hostels in Cartagena, one being The Casa Vienna and start there. Still other wisdom says that you can book these trips from other hostels/hotels/guys who claim to have a boat or know of a boat.
Regardless of which option you choose, it is best that you go look at the boat if possible before paying, that way you can see what you are getting into, interview the captain, find out about his/her experience, what is included such as food and other details.
Some sailboats will also carry motorbikes. The usual passenger load is between 6-8 persons and you need to remember that the average overall length is 10 meters which will make for a somewhat tight sailing.
There is one sailboat, the SY Stahlratte which is 40 meters long, flagged out of Germany I believe and if they are sailing the Colombia to Panama route will cost about the same as the smaller boats. The only problem for this boat is their schedule as they also do long distance sailing to Jamaica and I believe Cuba was at one time on their list of destinations. Of course, for these longer sailings the costs are much higher.
Now for some links to help out the search.
The Casa Vienna Hostel - This is located physically on one of the main streets in the old part of Cartagena. I found that they were impersonal and viewed the bookings as no more than a commission exercise. Their web site gives some basic information but little else about the boats, costs or dates.
Hostel Wunderbar - This hostel is located in Panama and their web site actually provides photos of some of the sailboats, descriptions, costs and information about sailing dates and availability overall for passengers/motorbikes.
Mamallena Hostel - This hostel is also located in Panama. It provides a bit of information about the sailboats and if you scroll down it will also show photos of selected boats and give an email link which is to ask for information on sailings.
Happy and safe Sailing