By Ramiro Del Rio

San Blas, Taboga or Contadora: Which Island for One Day

If you have one free day in Panama City and want a beach, you have three realistic options: San Blas, Taboga and Contadora. What they share is fitting into one day, and little else. Here is the comparison unvarnished, including the part where San Blas is not the best answer.

The comparison at a glance

San Blas: the postcard Caribbean, with a pre-dawn toll

This is the one with the water you have seen in photos: clear turquoise, white coral sand, islands with four palm trees and nothing else. The Natural Pool, a sandbank in the middle of the sea, has no equivalent on the other two.

The price is the day itself. Leaving at 5am, five hours of 4x4 there and back on a demanding mountain road, and getting home after dark. It is a full day and it tires you out.

It is for you if: you want the real Caribbean, you have the whole day free and you can handle the road. It is not for you if: you get seasick easily, have back problems, or want a relaxed outing.

Taboga: the easiest and the cheapest

Half an hour by ferry from the city. Known as “the Island of Flowers”, it has a village, restaurants, a colonial church and beaches with facilities.

The water is Pacific: greener, with a marked tide and less visibility for snorkelling. The sand is dark. It is not the postcard shot, but you get there in half an hour and it costs a fraction.

It is for you if: you have half a day, you are on a very tight budget, or you want a living village rather than a deserted island. It is not for you if: you are after turquoise water. You will not find it.

Contadora: the pretty Pacific, by small plane

In the Las Perlas archipelago, about twenty minutes by light aircraft. Here the Pacific water really is blue with good visibility, the beaches are pale sand and there are far fewer people than on Taboga.

Cost is the brake: between the flight and the day, you are over $200 per person.

It is for you if: you want a good beach without an early start or a mountain road, and the budget allows. It is not for you if: you are after the best ratio between what you see and what you pay.

How to decide in thirty seconds

• Do you want the turquoise water from the photos? San Blas. No debate: it is the only one of the three with Caribbean water.
• Half a day or a tight budget? Taboga.
• Hate early starts and money is not the issue? Contadora.
• Prone to motion sickness? Taboga or Contadora. San Blas has a mountain road and a boat.

What nobody tells you about all three

Do not compare them on “beach”. All three have a beach and that is where the similarity ends. San Blas is an indigenous archipelago with aquarium water; Taboga is a Pacific island village; Contadora is a quiet residential island. Three different experiences that happen to take place by the sea.

The Pacific and the Caribbean are nothing alike in Panama. The Pacific has tides of several metres that change the beach through the day, and the water carries sediment. The Panamanian Caribbean has minimal tide and clear water. That is why San Blas photos look edited and are not.

The San Blas day genuinely tires you. If it is your only free day and you landed yesterday off a long flight, think about it. It is worth it, but it is not a rest.

Our honest recommendation

If you have one day and you want the Caribbean that brought you here, San Blas. It costs more and lasts longer than the other two, and it is the one thing you will not see anywhere else in Panama.

If what you want is simply sea and a few hours of switching off, Taboga does that job for far less money and without the early start.

Going for the Caribbean? Pick your day trip — from $114, booked in a minute with the deposit.