What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• San blas Island was quite good

  Chornyy88,

  Apr 17, 2024

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  3.00

  So this is a totally mixed bag. There is no way you can experience over the water cabins than this. It was so amazing, little islands around us, fish at our dock, swimming, snorkeling, sail boats anchored close by, as close to paradise as you can get. The food was nothing spectacular but was quite decent. Chicken and rice, fresh fish, common for a tiny island. The cabins could use some work, if you are going with the website pics they are not up to date. They need quite a bit of work and cleaning. Beds weren't great, I would bring your own sheets, we did and were happier. I would say if you can get past campground type lodging you will be perfectly happy, we were. The island really could use some cleaning quite a bit of garbage as well. The crew need to tighten it up and clean more and put it up.

• Quiet tropical paradise!

  Larry C,

  Feb 1, 2024

  - Review from Viator

  4.00

  A very incredible and beautiful Island with very friendly hosts. It was much quieter and had better accommodations then some of the other islands we saw. If your looking to relax this is the place. Only negative was that you had to pay for drinking water as well as other beverages.

• Not as advertised and sorry we went

  Getaway442297,

  Oct 30, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  1.00

  First the positives: Our driver picked us up on time at our hotel. Our drive was uneventful, and more pleasant than expected as the road is now mostly paved, making what was once a four hour trip a two-hour trip. This must be a recent addition, as everything we heard and read said it was a very bumpy and arduous drive. We had internet and phone service the entire time which was a surprise. And finally, even though the food was simple, it was very good. We even had lobster one night, and our host, Orlando only charged us $10 per person. Now onto the realities: The motorboats hauling people from island to island are not inspected for safety. We got on the boat and as we were heading out, one of the guides grabbed the stanchion to the boat canopy to hoist himself to the front of the boat. The stanchion broke free because the screws holding it in place had come out, and it came crashing down on our daughters’ legs. It cut her leg, thank goodness, not severely, but the next day she had a huge bruise. And it was painful for the rest of our trip. The boats are not easy to get onto or off of. The one review I read said the San Blas Islands were for anyone from 1-99 years old. Not true. I would never take a child. It’s too dangerous. And I am a healthy active 67-year-old, but I have double knee replacements. It was low tide when we arrived, so getting on the boat required us to fold ourselves in half like Gumby, while leaping onto the boat, which got more difficult as the boat filled with people. When we arrived at our island, exiting the boat required some unsightly acrobatics somewhere between a full split and a lunge in conjunction with two people pulling us up. There isn’t a ladder on the boat and there isn’t one on the dock. Those should be minimum safety requirements. We choose the over-water cabins because of the online picture and the Tao Travel website stated that the over-the-water cabins on Wailidup island were newly constructed. The website also advertised a clubhouse that served cocktails. Ok. These cabins are NOT newly built. In fact, they are falling apart. I sat on a bench in the dining area, and it fell apart. The owner switched it for another one for me. Our bed had a huge crack in it and felt like it was going to break every time we turned over. Only one bed had mosquito netting. The sheets were not clean and there was no telling when the last time was they were washed. The planks on the dock were coming un-nailed, with rusty nails sticking up. It was very shaky walking, and I was afraid we were going to fall through or pierce our foot with a nail. There was no gorgeous beach. It was full of trash. This was not trash that had washed up on shore from Columbia. It was trash from day to day living by the Guna residents. There was no clubhouse. There certainly were no cocktails, and we had to walk across a cesspool to the other side of the island to get a lukewarm soda. In between some coconut palm trees on the beach were some hammocks. You laid in these at your own risk. The hammocks were full of coconuts that had fallen from the tree above, and looking up there were plenty more in the trees still to fall. So that was a concussion or a subdural hematoma waiting to happen, depending on if your head was harder than a coconut or not. If there are going to be hammocks, the coconuts need to be removed. There were no other chairs or seating on the beach, and since the beach was so filthy, I was not going to lay one of my towels on it. Inside our cabin, there were rusty nails sticking out of the wall, and my husband cut his arm on one. The sink fell of the wall when my husband leaned against it, so he had to re-attach it. We were not expecting hot water, but the water we showered in was gray in color, so I really did not feel clean after a shower. You need to bring water shoes for even the shower, as it is a very rough concrete base which will cut your feet, and it is filthy, so the risk of infection would be high. Then one day our host ran out of gasoline. So that meant there was no water at all, because the water pump is gasoline powered. We could not go in the water because there was human excrement floating in it. The sewer line leading from the cabin toilets to the cesspool in the center of the island was broken under the dock, and the toilets were flushing directly into the ocean. The owner finally noticed it too and fixed it the second day we were there. But by that time, we had no desire to go in the water anywhere near these cabins. And good thing. One morning we got up to an 8-foot crocodile swimming a few yards from our cabin. No one mentioned those. The Tao Travel website regarding this trip talks about the trash seen on the beaches, since this seems to be a major complaint of tourists. They even claim they have been actively involved in educating the Guna people in recycling. The $2 every tourist pays to enter the San Blas is supposed to help the Guna people clear the beaches of the trash. I have no problem paying $2-5 to help the Guna people keep the beaches clean. But they need to keep the beaches clean. Our host sat on the dock most of the day and his son was in one of the cabins playing video games on his phone. They threw more trash on the beach but no one was picking any up. The trash is a health hazard and attracts vermin. We left no trash and took everything we brought back with us. There are no trash bins for recycling as claimed, and the one bin that I put my food waste in was overflowing. With all the motorboats coming and going to these islands, some boats need to be dedicated to helping remove trash from these islands and take it back to the mainland where it can be disposed of in a more sanitary fashion. Maybe Tao Travel and any other tour companies sending tourists to these islands need to be even more proactive in helping the Guna dispose of this trash, since much of the trash is being generated from servicing tourists. The trash we saw is not washing up on the beach from Columbia as Tao Travel wants you to think. And the bane of our existence for the entire 3 days, was the sand fleas on this island. There is nothing being done to control them and with all the trash they are taking over. The second we stepped off the boat they descended on us. We had bug repellent wrist bracelets on both wrists and on our ankles. No help. We tried Eucalyptus/Lemon bug repellent. No help. Then we put on Precaridin, the heavy-duty stuff, which worked if we kept reapplying it every couple of hours. It was misery. There is no reason the sand fleas had to be that bad on Walidup. They were not a problem on any of the other islands we were taken to on our third day. My husband and daughter were allergic to the bites and ended up with huge, migrating, itching rashes that took a full two weeks to go away. Sand fleas do carry a disease called Tungiasis. It is caused by adult female sand fleas that burrow into the skin mostly of the feet. It occurs in poor and marginalized areas of the Caribbean. And once again, this is a safety issue. If companies are going to run tours to these areas, they should assist the Guna population, so they are not so poor and marginalized, and their islands are not bug infested. Sand fleas are controllable. On our return boat ride back to the mainland, one of the guides was putting a wood rod in between the stanchions to hold the canopy, and it slipped and hit my husband’s hand, cutting it. It would not stop bleeding, so I am trying to reach my pack in the front of the boat which has bandages in it while the boat is bumping along at high speed on the water. No one seemed to really care that my husband’s hand was dripping blood all over the boat. I finally got a bandage on it, but he also still had to hold pressure on it. This made it difficult for him to get off the boat. While we were going from island to island, one woman stepped on a sea urchin, and another was stung by a stingray. There was no one around with medical knowledge, and medical treatment was non-existent. I am truly shocked no one has gotten seriously injured. Or maybe they have and we just haven’t heard about it. I enjoyed talking with our host. I speak Spanish so we had some enjoyable conversations, and he was lonely, so I did not mind spending time with him. And we enjoyed learning about the Guna culture. However, the trip was far from enjoyable, and we were perplexed at the reviews describing this wonderful tropical island paradise, when it was so far from our experience. We are hikers and backpackers, and we are used to “rustic” experiences. This was not rustic. It was dangerous and a health hazard. I was never so happy to put my feet on shore back on the mainland and get back to our hotel in Panama City to shower and wash twenty layers of bug repellent off our skin. We were on this trip, celebrating my husband’s 70th birthday. I was hoping to give him a relaxing three days away from the hustle and bustle of the big City on a beautiful Caribbean Island. Instead, we were literally trapped on an island for two days. We ended up feeling like we had just filmed a segment of a survival series and we were lucky to make it to the end of the show. We were in Panama almost two weeks. We took several other tours with three different companies, and they were all wonderful and exactly as advertised. This trip was nothing like advertised and where we stayed looked nothing like the online photos. We were very disappointed, and sadly wish we had not done it. I wrote a letter to Tao Travel directly and got no response. So they are not available while on your trip or afterward.

• Beautiful, picturesque and perfectly organised trip to Isla Wailidup

  Molly H,

  Apr 12, 2023

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  I came to Isla Wailidup with my parents and family friend for 2 nights and 3 days over the Easter bank holiday weekend. It was one of, if not the most beautiful place I have travelled to. As the information provides said the cabin was basic however the sheets were clean and soft, and the bed was so comfy! We had an en-suite bathroom in our cabin which we were not expecting. There was a mosquito net that covered one bed (we had 2 doubles in our cabin) so it might be worth taking one with you as that area has yellow fever risk. The food was served on time, if not early each day and they remembered that I was vegetarian at each meal without me reminding them. We took a large bottle of water with us and some snacks, which I’d recommend doing - there is a stop on the way where you can purchase some snacks to take with you. Our island had both soft and alcoholic drinks to purchase (2$ for a beer, 2$ for a coffee - there was wine, spirit and mixer to have however I don’t know the prices of these as we didn’t buy them). Everyone on the Island was so kind and accommodating, they made us feel at home with their hospitality. We spoke a little Spanish and they spoke a little English so we were able to communicate our needs perfectly. They went above and beyond our expectations. Tao Travel 365 was organised to perfection. They were really easy to contact, kept us up to date with everything and responded quickly. We were collected from our AirBnB at the exact time we were told by our driver Adrian and taken to the port where Adrian got us onto our boat who took us directly from there to our over the water cabin arriving at 10am for a full day of relaxing on the beach and in the crystal clear water. Our full day was spent doing more relaxing, lazing in hammocks, swimming and lots of reading our books. The final day, we had breakfast then checked out at 8am and we were collected from the Island to go on a tour of 2 other islands and some natural pools. The boat driver and his crew were on time, kept us informed as to what we were doing and the time we had to spend at each place. Lunch was provided along with a drink. We were then taken back to the port where Adrian met us and took us back to Panama City. I cannot recommend this trip enough!!! I will be dreaming of it for months to come. One little tip, towels aren’t provided so you will be using the same towel for beach/swims and showering so if you can it might be worth taking 2 towels if you want to.

  

  

  

  

• VIATOR SHOULD HAVE REFUNDED MORE

  Edward V,

  Mar 25, 2023

  - Review from Viator

  2.00

  Everything was good until the last day when VIATOR FORGOT to pick us up. Then ONLY REFUNDS US $60. Will NEVER use VIATOR OR RECOMMEND. $60 for a lost day what a JOKE ON VIATOR'S PART.

• Amazing experience!

  Braeden4,

  Dec 5, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Truly an amazing experience. If you are able to let go and relax and enjoy the time for what it is- you will be very rewarded.

• Paradise on a budget! The poor man's version of Maldives.

  Jason N,

  Nov 18, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  If you are looking for paradise on a budget this is it! My wife and i visited the Maldives earlier this year and spent over $15,000 on that trip. However, we found pictures of San Blas online and were amazed when we realized it's not as widely spoken of as The Maldives. We ended up taking a multi-country trip with our first stop in Panama city. We booked a 3 day 2 night trip to San Blas for around $650 for two. The reservation includes pick up from your hotel at 5am. You will likely be in a 4x4 with a total of 7 people. 2 hours later you will make a stop at one of the largest supermarkets ever. Then, you will make your way into the bumpiest 1.5 hr drive of your life. This 1.5 hour drive will lead you to the port where all of the boats are dock. Be prepared, because once you get there, you will be rushed to and loaded onto a boat with all of your things—no time for a restroom break. Then, it will take approximately 20 to 25 minutes to get to your island (we stayed at Walidub island). The entire length of the trip (from pick up to drop off) took about 5 hours. Once on the island, you will be met by the Kuna Yala employees/natives that take care of the island and the guests within it. Now, to the island experience: If you are going here thinking you will be in luxurious accommodations, you will be sorely disappointed. The cabanas on the island are like cabins you would find at a Campground. The beds did not all have sheets, the electricity only runs from 6p to 6a, the water from the faucet and shower smell like feces, the toilet will not flush properly (yes, your poop will just float in the toilet bowl), you will get stung by a gazillion mosquitoes, the walls are paper thin, it may be extremely windy at night and you might have a hard time sleeping, it will either be too cold or too hot at night and the wall fans don't all work, and you might not be provided with a detailed itinerary of your stay. But, with all of that said, if you keep all of that in mind, you will have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Kuna people are always happy and very accommodating. Expect to be fed 3 times a day. The food is great, but don't expect a Michelin Star restaurant. The price of your stay also includes an island hopping tour with a free lunch! My wife and I honestly couldn't believe we only paid $650 for a pickup, drop off (they will even drop you off at a different location if you need them to), 3 meals per day, an island hopping tour, and free lunch on our tour! If you are not someone who is nitpicky about every tiny detail when you travel, then I highly recommend this tour!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• A paradise: deserted beaches, snorkeling, full board

  miguelangelpK7768JS,

  Nov 13, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  The best thing: sleep in the cabins on the sand, have the whole island to walk, Kayak, sunbathe. Excellent the contracted tourism in Panama.

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