Islas Las Perlas:I'm not going to do a play by play of my two weeks in Panama this summer like with my first trip because I think I've given a ton of hotel and other planning info already but I did want to highlight some of the best places that we visited this time. One of the very best places at the very top of that hit list are the Las Perlas Islands. I hadn't heard about it at all on DDF or in the day trip offerings from any guides. A friend of mine from Denver, that I helped to plan a trip to Panama, found out about them from a local in shul while he was there. The Panama city tour companies don't promote these islands like San Blas or other places because they can't take you in their own boats, you need to take an expensive ferry with a per person fee (totally worthwhile, and I'll tell you how that price can be reduced) and from my perspective, haven't figured out a way to monetize the tours properly because of the transportation costs.
You can either hire a boat yourself once you get to Las Perlas (you must speak Spanish though) or do what I did and use a tour company based out of Las Perlas, on the main island of Contadora. Our tour company then was also able to get us discounted ferry tickets that depending on your number of adults can go a long way toward reducing the cost of the tour. We only went for the day but now that I have visited these gems, I would love come back and probably spend two nights there. Unlike San Blas they have full electricity, nice accommodations and were way LESS crowded. These islands are off all city tour guides radar and I unequivocally recommend spending a day here!
We used Pearl Island Day tours once we got off the ferry on Contadora island. The cost was $250 for a half day private tour (which is the perfect amount of time for after you arrive and to catch the ferry home in the afternoon). It was a solid deal for our family but they will accommodate up to 8 people for this price so if you have a larger group it is a smokin' deal for what you get. I have nothing but the highest praise for Ilene (her husband also leads tours but he was back in the US while we were there) and her help with booking reduced ferry tickets and giving us a magical day that was by far my boys highlight of the whole trip!
Here is info they provide on how to get to Las Perlas:
https://pearlislandsdaytours.com/getting-there-2/We followed Ilene's recommendation and used
http://www.sealasperlas.com/en and instead of the $90 per person ticket price Ilene got it for us for $75 and then the kids were the normal $70. It leaves from Amador Causeway (the other ferry is more convenient and leaves from right near Trump hotel but it was a lot more expensive).
Please do bear in mind if you've got very little ones or any mobility issues that it is a "wet landing" when you get to Contadora as there is no dock. So they help you you to get on a little boat from the big ferry and then from that little boat you gotta get off onto the beach and you might get knocked around in the surf. My youngest child couldn't really do it so we just handed her into the little boat and then the guys again handed her to me after I got out into the surf and I carried her to the beach.
Ilene met us on the main beach in Contadora Island which is just beautiful. These are the little boats that bring you ashore (and are the same boatmen that will take you back out on your adventures):
We met Ilene, got life jackets on and other stuff and then headed back out for the main reason that I booked this day (little did I know my kids would have as much fun with other parts)...all summer long they've got tons of whales in Las Perlas!
We headed out with Ilene and our boatman Jaime (yup pronouned like Chai-may):
Literally within about fifteen minutes, we started seeing whales! I didn't get any killer NatGeo shots of their tails and jumping and such but it was so cool. Because you are so close and in such a small boat I started to get a little nervous but my kids were in heaven and Ilene assured me that these boatman do this all day, every day (they are locals from the neighboring Island of Taboga) and have never had an issue, as they know right where to go and the whales are not at all aggressive. Here are a couple shots showing their fins:
This little trip was also good for me and my family as I realized that I never want to do a safari. We had a great time seeing the whales but we are kinda ADD and need to DO stuff, not just watch animals for hours, so after about half an hour all of us were like "this has been so amazing, we've seen enough whales now, what's next?"
SOOO, Ilene took us to our own private island for family swimming and snorkeling!
The water and islands are all SO beautiful...I thought the scenery, privacy and experience blew San Blas into the dust. Here are some pics of heading to our beach. The color of the water rivaled the Maldives:
Again, no docks (since it's totally undeveloped) and you gotta get out into the surf. This pictures shows where the boat comes and stays:
Enjoying our own private beach!
After playing a bit, Ilene offered to take the boys to her favorite snorkeling spot, so I stayed on the beach with my little one and they headed over in the boat to a little protected reef. She is such a pro that she took underwater pictures and GoPro videos of them with the fish and emailed them to me in the evening. Obviously my sons thought that this was the coolest thing ever. This pic shows where they were as you can see the boat waiting right next to the reef a little off the shoreline:
I hope you enjoyed this little installment and I'm planning to continue in the next one with some more awesome adventures from our day in Las Perlas!
