Snorkel among living coral reefs and almost pristine, idyllic cays.
The Coco Bandero Cays are a small archipelago of tiny islands ringed by coral reef in good condition — one of the best snorkelling spots in all of San Blas. The tour visits the main cays along with Ogopuki and Isla Iguana, quiet islets where you will often have the beach almost to yourself.
This is a water tour more than a walking one: the cays are minute — some you can circle on foot in a few minutes — and the point is to get in the sea. The reef sits close to shore, so you don't need to be a strong swimmer to see it. You arrive around 8:30, eat on the island and close in the Natural Pool at 15:30.
Pickup at 5:00 am at your hotel and about two and a half hours of road to the port. Includes 4x4 transport, boat with life jackets, a typical lunch and a local guide. The comarca entrance fee is paid on the day, in cash or by card to the driver.
Great if you came for the snorkelling and want real coral without the long Holandés crossing.
Maybe not your tour if you need shade and facilities: these are very small cays with the bare minimum.
4x4 trip from Panama City to Guna Yala.
Sailing to the coral archipelago.
Coco Bandero, Ogopuki, and Iguana, with lunch on the island.
Last stop at the sandbar, then back to the city.
You leave before dawn and there is nowhere to buy anything all day. The full packing list, and what happens if you forget each thing →
With 72 hours or more of notice you get 100 % of the deposit back, or you change the date at no cost. Inside those 72 hours the deposit is no longer refundable, because by then your seat in the 4x4 and the boat is held and nobody else can use it; even so, if you tell us, we try to reschedule. And if we are the ones who cancel, which only happens for real sea safety, you choose between another date at no cost or 100 % of what you paid.
$135 per person, with the door-to-door 4x4, the boat, lunch and the guide included. The comarca entrance fee is paid separately, once: $22 for foreigners and $7 for residents, in cash.
3: Cayos Coco Bandero, Ogopuki, Isla Iguana. The order is set by the tide and the sea that day, not by a fixed schedule.
Pickup at your Panama City hotel is around 5:00 am, and you are back in the city late in the afternoon. The early start is set by the mountain crossing and the tide, not by preference.
You do not: the reef is close to shore and in shallow water, so you see it without going far out. This is a tour about being in the sea — you can walk around these cays in a couple of minutes.
The bare minimum: these are tiny cays with nothing set up. If you need guaranteed cover, there are routes in the catalogue with bigger, wooded islands.
What does not depend on this tour — your ID, the comarca fee, route changes forced by the sea — is answered in one place instead of on every tour page. See all the frequently asked questions →
