Beach Tours & Trips in Panama

I should start this review off by stating that not only have I traveled quite extensively but I am also a travel agent and book people on tours similar to this one. The drive from Panama City to the "dock" took about 3 hours through the Panamanian mountains and jungle. Once we were off the main highway the road became much more of a roller coaster ride, if you get motion sick make sure to take some gravol prior to leaving Panama City. This road is also filled with pot holes so be prepared to swerve around them. The views from the mountain tops was amazing but brief. Once at the "dock" was were things got a little more interesting. What they call a "dock" is really a dirt parking lot, be prepared to get a little dirty, as the dust gets kicked up by all the cars dropping off/picking up passengers. Neither my wife nor myself speak any Spanish so it was near impossible to communicate with the people at the dock to try and figure out which boat we were suppose to get on. Originally we were told that it would be about 20 - 30 mins and someone would come get us and take us to our boat. After an hour to and hour and a half I started asking around what boat we were suppose to get on. Make sure to ask your driver to let you know which boat and company you are taking. As the companies that operate the boats are not Bamba. The ride from the dock to the island was very rough as the winds were quite high. Nothing you can do about that but be prepared to get wet. The water and air are both warm so it's not so bad. Had we known prior to leaving the dock though we would have put on our swim suits. Once we arrived at the island we figured out that we were not on the island on our itinerary that was given to us from Bamba, no update was sent along to us to let us know about any change in islands either. After 4 - 5 hours of travel and waiting to get on the boat, we found out that we weren't on the island we thought we were meant to be on. Again none of the locals on the island spoke English so we weren't sure what we were meant to do. Luckily one of the other passengers spoke enough Spanish and English to help us out and we figured out that we were indeed where we were suppose to be. Bamba should have emailed us prior to our departure to let us know of this crucial change. Once on the island though everything was better than we had expected, the hut we had was great, the islands and water were beautiful and the food was delicious. It was pretty much the same thing each day just different variations of fish and rice. We had up graded our package which said we would have more options to choose from, again this was not the case, everybody was served the same dish each meal. Overall it was an incredible experience and I would recommend the San Blas Islands to anyone looking to getaway from the hustle and bustle of the real world, just be prepared for a very rustic experience. I would also recommend that anyone looking to do this trip brush up on their Spanish as Bamba doesn't have anyone on the ground, either at the dock or the islands representing the company that speaks even passable English.