A Full Guide to the Boat from Panama to Colombia

There are various ways to get from Panama to Colombia by boat. The two main ways are by speedboat and by sailboat, but there are various options within these two main routes. There’s a lot to consider when you’re deciding how to get from Panama to Colombia, and there’s a lot of information to take in, so hopefully this guide will help you.

To begin with, I should clarify that I’ve only done this journey once. I took a speedboat trip through the San Blas Islands with San Blas Adventures. I plan to go back to South America and do the trip again by sailboat so I can compare the two, but until then we’ll have to go off of all the research I did before my trip (and what I heard from fellow travellers once I’d reached Colombia).

One of the biggest differences between the sailboat and the speedboat from Panama to Colombia (or vice versa) is the drop-off point. Whichever option you take, you’re likely to be offered transport from Panama City. However the speedboat arrives in Capurgana, a small town just next to the Colombia-Panama border, whereas the sailboat takes you all the way to Cartagena. These two places are pretty far from each other, and Capurgana is kind of in the middle of nowhere and difficult to travel onwards from. Cartagena, on the other hand, is a lively city and a key stop on most people’s itineraries.

I’ll run through the various options so you can compare them, but either way, travelling from Central America to South America by boat is sure to be an adventure!

Read more about Colombia: How to Get from Capurgana to Necocli

Taking the San Blas Adventures Speed Boat Tour from Panama to Colombia

If you want to read my full review/account of the San Blas Adventures speed boat tour, go ahead and click the link. I was brutally honest in that article, and although some of the issues we had were due to the people on our trip, I still left unsure if I would recommend it or not. Many of the friends I made on that trip felt the same way.

I’ve heard of some people having a great time with San Blas Adventures, as well as a lot of “horror stories” similar to mine, so I suppose it is a bit of a gamble. As it stands, I don’t regret going.

The trip through the San Blas Islands with San Blas Adventures will pick you up from Panama City and leave you in Capurgana, Colombia. From Capurgana, it’s another full day’s travel to arrive in Medellin, Cartagena, or basically anywhere else in Colombia. 

They’ll help you with the border crossing from Panama to Colombia, including having your passport stamped. They’re also pretty good at recommending where to stay before and after the trip. It’s basically a full-service package, which takes a lot of the stress out of travelling as border crossings can be a bit stressful, especially doing it in such an unconventional way.

The main issue I had was that they advertise a dreamy island paradise of palm trees, turquoise waters, reading on the beach and snorkelling the coral reefs. Whilst this seems to be true for some percentage of the trips they run, stories like mine seem to be more common.

My fellow passengers and I had more of a “rain, wind, and waters too turbulent to swim in never mind snorkel the coral reefs” kind of trip. Obviously a lot of this is not the fault of San Blas Adventures, but they’d do well to be a bit more honest about how common bad weather is.

The guides also didn’t seem to know what they were doing. They seemed more like hostel volunteers than real guides, and did absolutely nothing when some people on our trip were disrespectful towards the local people. The speedboat trip is supposed to be more party vibes than the sailboat trip, but if you heard some of the things people did on this trip you would be feeling my second hand embarrassment, I promise you. 

What I really loved about San Blas Adventures was that we got to spend time with many different communities of local Kuna people, and see the southern side of San Blas (you usually don’t get to see southern islands on the San Blas tours that take you back to Panama City). We got to see the full archipelago of islands, and experience how the culture changes from the northern side to the southern side of San Blas. 

We also got to visit some completely uninhabited islands, eat food, fish and fresh fruit prepared by the locals, and learn a lot about their culture. 

We did have an early morning (I’m talking wake up call at 4.30am) every day, but again, this depends on the weather; we had to set off early to avoid the worst of the waves.

Read more about Colombia: How to Get from Capurgana to Medellin

Taking Private Tours from Panama to Colombia

San Blas Adventures has a serious monopoly on speed boat tours through the San Blas Islands between Panama and Colombia. So much so that when I was sat here in Europe doing research online, I very much believed the self-reported claim that they are the only company to offer this service. And, of course, that’s why I booked with them.

Now, I don’t want to say that one is a better option than the other, but if I’d known there were more ways to do it, I probably would have done it a bit more DIY. Whilst you will need a guide and/or permission to be in Kuna Yala (the San Blas Islands), there are plenty of locals around who run tours in much smaller groups, and you may have more flexibility to choose your timings and visit different islands. 

Some things to remember. You really must respect the local community, and you can’t really turn up without a guide or without prior permission. You must make sure to visit the immigration office both before you leave Panama and after you enter Colombia to have your passport stamped. (This was the great thing about San Blas Adventures; you did the border crossing as a group and they’d be there to help if you got stuck with something.) Also remember that the boat rides can be pretty rough! 

Read more about Colombia: How to Create a 3 Day Itinerary for Medellin

Taking the Sailboat from Panama to Colombia

I feel like I must remind you that I have not (yet) taken the sailing boat from Panama to Colombia, so this is based on my own research and what I heard from other travellers. In my opinion, the biggest benefits to taking the sailboat are that it’s cheaper and that it takes you straight to Cartagena, so there’s no faffing about with onward travel like there was for us after we arrived in Capurgana (although I actually loved visiting Capurgana).

The cons are that you cross the open ocean, which means the water can be quite turbulent, and I have heard that this makes for some interesting moments! The sailboat often doesn’t run during the windy season (the season during which I took the speedboat) because of the rough open sea. 

The sailboat is supposed to be the more relaxed way to travel, there tends to be more couples travelling this way, and the vibes are generally more solitary. This is opposed to the speedboat trip which is generally more social and party vibes. Of course, this isn’t a given for every trip, it’s just the generally accepted assumption amongst travellers.

The sailboat takes a couple of days to cross from Panama to Colombia, stopping in some of the more northern San Blas Islands before beginning the crossing. So, you don’t get to see the southern side of San Blas like you do on the speedboat. Whilst this is the cheapest way to take the boat from Panama to Colombia, going by speedboat is probably a better option if you’re on the adventurous side…