Our Experience Staying on Chichime Island (San Blas Islands)

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Chichime Island is one of the 365 islands in the Guna Yala (San Blas) Islands archipelago in Panama. 

The San Blas Islands were high on our Panama bucket list, but when it came time to actually choose which island to visit, we were stuck! 

While debating over which island to stay on, I searched high and low for blog posts just like this one, where people shared their experience on a specific island, rather than the archipelago as a whole. 

I couldn’t find any, but using the information we had, we decided to stay on Chichime Island. It turned out to be a fantastic choice, so I wanted to write this post and share all about our experience on the island, in the hopes it helps someone else in the decision-making process! 

This is not a guide to the San Blas Islands as a whole (I do have one of those!). This post will detail our time specifically staying on Chichime Island, including info about the island, its amenities, our accommodation, meals and activities. 

About the San Blas Islands

The San Blas Islands are a collection of 365 islands and cayes in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Panama. 

Although they are most commonly known as the ‘San Blas Islands’, the correct name for the islands is the Guna Yala Islands, as the archipelago is populated by the Guna people.

The archipelago is part of the Guna Yala autonomous Indigenous region, and the Guna have total ownership and control over their land and society, living life in line with their culture and traditions. 

The islands are a true paradise. Some of them are no bigger than a football field, with dreamy turquoise waters, white sand beaches and palm trees. Better than a postcard!

However, visiting the islands is not necessarily straightforward, due to their location inside the comarca, the very basic amenities and remote location. 

Before you read about our experience on Chichime Island, you should read our San Blas Islands travel guide first. 

It lays out all the options you have for visiting these islands (day tours, overnight stays, sailing tours en route to Colombia), and provides valuable context to the Guna people, their way of life on the islands and essential travel logistics like the best time to visit, how long to stay etc.. 

Finished? Okay, now you can continue reading about our time specifically on Chichime Island with some context on how we ended up here! 

Our trip to the San Blas Islands

The San Blas Islands were the final piece of our Panama itinerary and the last thing we did on our 6-month trip through Central America. 

We weren’t continuing on to South America this time, so we skipped the sail to Colombia, although it looked incredible. 

We knew we wanted to spend a few days in the San Blas Islands, but depart from and return to Panama City. 

We narrowed down to three options for visiting the islands:

• ⛵️ Sailing tours (a round-trip, not to Colombia)
• 🏝️ Island hopping tours that stayed on multiple different islands
• 🛖 Staying in an accommodation on one island

Eventually, we decided to choose one island to stay on for a few nights. Mostly due to the cost of the sailing and island hopping tours. Also because the weather was getting a bit dicey (it was late June by this point, the start of the rainy season), we felt being on one island was probably better if it was rainy. 

I researched accommodations on Booking.com and Airbnb, but in the end, we chose to book a package through a specialised tour operator, San Blas Dreams. 

We usually like to do things as independently as we can, but that’s not really possible in San Blas. We decided booking with one operator, that had experience with the islands and good relationships and communications with the Guna locals was going to give us the best experience, so that’s what we did! 

Choosing which island to stay on was a process, but we eventually landed on Chichime Island (for the reasons I’ve outlined below).

We booked a 2-night package with San Blas Dreams that included: 

• 🛻 Round-trip 4×4 transport from Panama City to the port in Carti and back
• 🚤 Return boat transfers from Carti to Chichime Island
• 🛖 Accommodation in a private hut with a shared bathroom
• 🍽️ Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily 
• 🤿 One boat tour to neighbouring islands and attractions (on a day of our choosing)
• ⏰ Optional add-on for late checkout at 3:00 pm on our final day, instead of 8:00 am ($25 per person)

We paid $600 in total for both of us, $300 per person. On top of this, we had to pay $23 each ($46 total) to enter the Comarca Guna Yala and the Carti port fee. 

Why we chose Chichime Island

Of the 365 islands in Guna Yala, 49 are inhabited. They’re not all open to tourism, but there are at least a dozen islands tourists can visit and stay on. We had no idea which one to choose!

We didn’t know it at the time, but Chichime Island was the best choice we could have made! Here’s why.

🏝️ Chichime Island’s Guna name is Wissudub Bibbi

It has a beautiful beach 🏖️

Swimming in crystal clear, calm sandy waters was a priority for us in San Blas, more so than snorkelling. 

A lot of the photos we had seen of the islands showed a rocky reef running right to the shore, which isn’t great for swimming, especially at low tide. 

We wanted a big sandy beach to laze on and a big area of sandy ocean where we could swim and float. 

Chichime delivered! The section of the island where the accommodation is located was rimmed by a long beach and the water here was perfection. It was bright and turquoise and perfect for floating on your back like a starfish but dropped off quickly if you wanted to go and snorkel (although the reef wasn’t amazing here). 

It’s a bigger island 🌴

This didn’t really matter to us before we visited, but now that we’ve been, it was nice to have a bigger island. We were able to go for a stroll around the island through the palm grove and there was enough space for visitors to spread out. 

Chichime Island is not often visited on day trips 😌

This turned out to be the biggest, unexpected bonus to choosing Chichime Island. 

Some of the more popular islands closer to the mainland, like Diablo and Perro Chico, get so busy with day trippers. They’re the most common stops for day tours from Panama City, and also on the tours that most islands offer their guests. 

We visited both these islands on our included day tour, and they were both noisy, hectic and busy. I’m sure they would be relaxing in the evenings when everyone had left, but we barely had any visitors on Chichime Island! 

There was a group who came over from one of the sailboats, but they only stayed a few hours, played some volleyball and then left. The rest of the time it was blissfully quiet, with just the guests staying on the island and the local family. 

I’ve since had a reader tell me they did have a day trip visit while they were on the island, and I think as a whole, Chichime is becoming a more popular destination for single and multi-day visits. But I don’t think it’s anywhere near the scale of the other islands I mentioned above.

The accommodation looked good 🛖

Accommodation everywhere on San Blas is basic, but from all the photos we looked at, we thought the rooms on Chichime Island looked pretty good.

They were. 

The huts were made of wood and a tin roof, and if you paid for the premium option, you had a wooden floor and a private bathroom – luxury!

A lot of people said it was their favourite island 🏝️

We did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs and tour operators’ websites, and asked the staff at San Blas Dreams what their favourite island was, and time and time again people mentioned Chichime. For its beaches, size, and remote location. 

How long we stayed

We booked 2 nights on Chichime Island but opted for a late check-out on our final day. 

We arrived on the island before 10:00 am on day 1 and didn’t leave until 3:00 pm on day 3, so we essentially had three full days on the island. 

I think I could have easily stayed one more night and another full day, but that would have been enough for me. 

Our experience on Chichime Island

Our itinerary

• 🌞 Day 1: pick up from Panama City at 5:30 am, transfer to Carti Port, boat ride to Chichime Island, arrival at 10:00 am, check-in and relax on the island (lunch and dinner included)

• 🌞 Day 2: full day on Chichime Island with breakfast, lunch and dinner included. We took our included day tour today to visit neighbouring islands and sites

• 🌞 Day 3: late check-out, departure from the island at 3:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch included, with free time on the island, before the boat and car transfer back to Panama City, arrive at 7:00 pm

Getting there

San Blas Dreams communicated with us via WhatsApp the night before our trip and confirmed our driver would pick us up from the front of our hotel at 5:45 am. 

He arrived bang on 5:45 am in a Toyota Prado. We were the last guests to get picked up, and there were already 4 other people in the car. We had to climb into the very back seats which was a little squishy, but after watching a gorgeous sunrise over the outskirts of the city, we both promptly fell back to sleep for an hour! 

About an hour and a half into the drive, we pulled into a service station. It was the last stop before the road into the comarca, and the car park was full of other 4x4s with tourists heading to the islands. 

We used the bathroom and grabbed another coffee, a hot, fried snack of some description and some extra chips for the islands.

Our driver used the stop to take care of the payment. We were instructed to pay $50 each of our balance to the driver directly for the trip. We also gave him our additional fee of $23 to enter the comarca. This all has to be paid in cash, so you need to have withdrawn money in Panama City the night prior.

We climbed back in and started down the road into Guna Yala. It’s a windy, mostly paved but heavily potholed road through the comarca. The scenery is stunning, and the monotonous highway was replaced with a jungle-clad road, that winds and climbs through the mountains. 

Our driver pulled up at a lookout with panoramic views over the bay and the islands and the jungle that stretched on for miles. Much to my dismay, we had woken to a grey and overcast day, but the mist hanging over the mountains was gorgeous. 

We eventually reached an official checkpoint to enter the comarca. The officials looked like proper immigration officers, and they checked all of our passports and took our payment from the driver. 

Eventually, we got to the port at Carti. It was a bit chaotic, with different boats everywhere going to different islands. The drivers and guides obviously do this regularly and quickly shuffle all their tourists to the right place. 

We had read we should be prepared for a bumpy trip, but we must have been lucky with a calm day! Our captain was flooring it, so we were going pretty fast, but we were lightly skimming the top of the water.

It took about 45 minutes to reach Chichime Island. We had passed dozens of islands on the way, but as we pulled into the secluded bay in front of our accommodation, I knew we’d picked a winner!

About Chichime Island

Chichime Island, known as Wissudub Bibbi in the Guna language, is one of the bigger San Blas Islands. 

Our accommodation was confined to the northeast corner of the island, but we were allowed to walk on a path around the island, which is covered in a huge grove of palm trees. There were a few other structures on the island, most abandoned and dilapidated when we visited. 

The Guna family who runs the accommodation (also called ‘Cabañas Wissudub’) were kind and very well-organised. They run a good operation and everything was always clearly explained to us (in Spanish). We always knew what was going on and it didn’t feel chaotic or disorganised like we had read some islands do. 

The multi-generation family were friendly but not overly open or talkative, which we didn’t expect and completely respected. There were a few young kids running around who were very cute and we played with them a little bit. 

They had two adorable dogs, Dobi (who we called Gili, short for Gilligan as he liked coming on the kayak with us) and Peluche (who we called Scruff, for obvious reasons!). 

There is a central, covered restaurant area which is the hub of activity on the island. This was surrounded by small huts and cabins where the family lived. They had a display of molas and hand-made jewellery for sale here. 

Our accommodation

Chichime Island has three levels of accommodation available: 

• Shared rooms with shared bathrooms
• Private rooms with shared bathrooms
• Private rooms with private bathrooms 

The cabins are lined up in a row along the beach, all painted in bright, rainbow colours with beautiful murals of ocean life. 

We had booked a private cabin with a shared bathroom, which was the mid-range option. 

We could see the difference between ours and the more premium cabins. They were built on stilts with a wooden floor and balcony, whereas our cabin had a sandy floor. 

There was a double and a single bed inside with one mosquito net, bedding and two bath towels. There was a small table to put our things and to our surprise a shelf above the bed with a power point and a light switch. There were three windows with wooden shutters that we could open or close. There was also a string strung on our patio to hang wet clothes and towels. 

The bathrooms were a short walk behind the cabins and there were separate stalls for showers and toilets. They were very basic but clean. The showers were cold, with water coming out of a pipe and the toilets were normal, flush toilets (luxury!). 

Meals on Chichime Island

Three meals a day were included in our stay. 

• 🍳 Breakfast: breakfast was usually served between 7:00 – 7:30 am and was my favourite meal of the day. There was black coffee, and we had a different dish each day. On the first morning, we had scrambled eggs with veggies, pancakes with honey and a side of fresh chopped fruit. On the second morning, we had hojaldres (Panamanian fry bread) with sausages and a side of fruit. 

• 🐟 Lunch: we had lunch included every day including the day we arrived and the day we departed. It was usually served around 12:00 – 12:30 pm. Every lunch we had was a whole fried fish (the marinate/sauce was different), rice and some kind of salad (garden salad, slaw). We usually got a little entree of bean soup that was yummy. 

• 🐟 Dinner: dinner was served between 6:00 – 7:00 pm, and was (you guessed it!), fish, rice and salad. At certain times of the year you may get lobster when they’re in season, and occasionally chicken, but we had fish both nights. Tasty, but boring after the second time. We did get some sides of patacones (fried plantains) and different veggies with our fish to mix it up.

We packed a few other non-perishable things like chips, biscuits and lollies which we snacked on between meals. We packed a bottle of wine that we drank over our two nights and a 5-litre container of drinking water, as this was not included with our stay. We also purchased a few soft drinks with our meals (they were $2 each, water is the same).

Since our visit, a little bar has opened up in the northern part of the island. I have no idea about hours, what they sell etc. but from what I understand it’s separate to the accommodation, and it’s a great place to go and see the sunset! Nice to have a little bit of variety too.

Things to do on Chichime Island

• 🌴 Walk around the island: we were allowed to walk along the path around the island, passing through the palm grove. It only took about 15 minutes to see the whole thing but it’s a nice walk. 

• 📖 Laze in a hammock: there were several hammocks strung up between the palm trees in front of the cabin. They were made from old mesh fishing nets and weren’t the comfiest hammocks, but we still managed to spend hours reading in them! There were also a handful of beach chairs floating around. 

• 👙 Swim from the dock: we jumped off the dock so many times! The water was deep, clear and sandy, it was so much fun. 

• 🏖️ Relax on the beach: the entire northeast corner of Chichime Island is a big sandy beach. There were multiple different beach areas, lined with palm trees where we set up to read, swim and relax. 

• 🤿 Snorkel offshore: the island has snorkel gear if you don’t have your own, and you can swim out to a fringing reef. There wasn’t a whole lot of coral, but I’m sure if you spent long enough out there you would see something cool! 

• 🏐 Play volleyball: there was a volleyball net on the beach and the family had a ball you could use. We didn’t play, but there was a big group that came off a sailboat for the afternoon and they enjoyed it!

• 🛶 Go kayaking: one of the best parts of Chichime Island was the few kayaks there. We were able to take out a double kayak a few times. We probably could have kayaked to the neighbouring island, but we went out with Gilli the dog every time and just had fun close by! If you want good photos of the island and beach, take them from the kayak!

• 🌞 Watch the sunrise and sunset: we woke every morning for the sunrise, which rose right in front of the cabins. To see the sunset we had to take a short stroll to the west, but there was a clearing you could sit in and watch the sun go down. 

Day tour

Depending on how you book your stay at Chichime Island, you will most likely have one tour included to visit neighbouring islands. 

We chose to do ours on the second day of our visit, but it was a grey and rainy day so it wasn’t as good as it could be. 

As far as I understand the tour is the same every time, including: 

• ⚓️ Isla Perro Chico: a small island with an offshore sunken shipwreck (barco hundido) that is one of the best sites for snorkelling. We enjoyed snorkelling around the shipwreck and saw a few spotted eagle rays which we both absolutely love! You get a decent amount of time on the island, which would have been nice if it was sunny as there is a pretty beach and a beach bar where you can buy some drinks. 

• ⭐️ Natural pool: a sunken island has formed this natural pool in the middle of the ocean. The water is only a few feet deep and you can stand up. It’s a calm, sandy bottom pool, and a great place to see starfish. Again, it would be incredible in the sunshine but it was raining when we visited. 

What to bring to Chichime Island

Because we were doing a round trip from Panama City, we were able to leave our big bags at our accommodation in the city. You want to bring as little as possible, as you’re crammed in quite a tight car and the boats are very small. 

We packed very lightly on clothes, with just a pair of Birkenstocks, a few sets of swimmers (so we always had a dry one!), and light beachy clothes and cover-ups. 

I literally wore a bikini and a beach shirt for 3 days straight, and Brayden wore his swim shorts. (While nudity is definitely not okay, the Guna are not particularly traditional when it comes to clothing, appropriate beachwear is completely acceptable).

In addition to all our usual beach essentials and toiletries, some things we were happy we packed for Chichime Island: 

• 🛂 Passport: you must present your original passport to enter the comarca. We stored ours in a zip lock bag and a dry bag to keep them safe. 

• 💵 Cash: to pay for our entrance to the comarca, the balance of our accommodation, and for any extras like molas and souvenirs, drinks etc. There are no ATMs or card machines.

• 💧 Drinking water: San Blas Dreams advised us that drinking water was available for purchase on the island for $2 for a small bottle and suggested we bring some with us. We brought a 5-litre water jug and supplemented it with a few small bottles on our last day. 

• 🍪 Drinks and snacks: we bought chips, biscuits and lollies as extra snacks between meals, nothing perishable as there is no fridge. We also packed a bottle of wine.

• 💊 Medicine: I always like having things like painkillers or diarrhoea tablets on hand, especially here, where there is no pharmacy or doctors, so I packed my little medicine kit. This included motion sickness tablets, which Brayden took for the car trip. 

• ☀️ Sun protection: we don’t like to use sunscreen (even reef-safe can be damaging to the ocean), but we packed hats, sunglasses, rash tops and light beach shirts to cover up. 

• 🦟 Insect repellent: the sandflies and mosquitoes were brutal, and our mosquito net had holes in it. Very itchy!

• 🧥 Warm layer: I was happy for a long-sleeve layer in the evenings, as it got quite cool at night after it rained. 

• 🧖🏽‍♀️ Towels: we both packed our beach towels and an extra spare gym towel we travel with. Luckily we had bath towels included in our room so we used those for showers. 

• 🎒 Waterproof bags: I stored my camera, our passports and other electronics in dry bags inside our cabin. It wasn’t completely watertight so it was a safety measure! 

• 🔋 Power bank: it turned out that we had electricity in our room and we could charge our phones, but it’s not always on. We packed our power bank and made sure all our devices were pre-charged.

• 📷 Camera/GoPro: I brought my camera and took most of my island photos with that, but the GoPro came in handy for snorkelling and starfish pics! We’ve since upgraded to the Osmo Action 6 which is SO much better than our old GoPro.

• 📖 E-readers: we both travel with Kindles and bought them fully charged and stocked with books. I think I read 2.5 books in 3 days! 

• 🃏 Deck of cards: we played games in the evening. We love Monopoly Shuffle and Phase 10.

• 🔦 Head torch: we always travel with head torches and they came in handy for getting around the island at night, going to the toilet etc. 

• 🛌 Inflatable pillow and sleeping bag liner: this isn’t essential, but we always travel with them and we were happy to have them. It made for a comfier sleep and the pillows are excellent for lazing on the beach!

• 🤿 Snorkel gear: we had our own snorkel gear. They did have some on the island but our own is always the comfiest and best. 

• What we wish we had: there is no way we could have travelled with these things for 6 months, and you probably won’t have room either, but on the chance that you do, we wish that we had:
  • 🌴 Hammock: we have lightweight travel hammocks at home and we wish we had them! They are so much comfier than the hammocks on the island.  
  • 🍩 Inflatable doughnut: for dreamy floating in the paradise waters. I used to travel with one of these but I didn’t have it this trip. I wouldn’t have gotten out of the water if I had it! 
  • 🦟 Mosquito net: the one in our room was quite tatty and had holes in it. We managed to swap one from another empty room but if you do travel with one, it would be handy here
  • 🪭 Portable fan: sleeping would be a lot nicer with a USB/battery fan

🎒 Find out exactly what’s in our backpacks! I’ve listed all our travel gear on my Amazon shopfront

Chichime Island: Final thoughts

We were so beyond happy with our decision to stay on Chichime Island. Compared to the other islands we visited on our day tour, it was so quiet and peaceful. 

It ticked all of our boxes for a paradise getaway (except the rain!) and exceeded all our expectations. As with all the Guna Yala Islands, the island is basic and rustic but it is really well-run by the local family, who do a great job with the resources they have. 

Don’t forget to read my San Blas Islands travel guide if you haven’t already. It’s the big-picture information you need to understand all your options for visiting the islands.

MORE SAN BLAS ISLANDS POSTS

• How to Visit the San Blas Islands (Guna Yala) in Panama