Sailboats to Cartagena

Travelling to Colombia? Why not sail from San Blas to Cartagena?

As a favour to us, if we provide you with information about this great trip, then we’d love it if you booked through us. It costs you no more and you’ll be supporting this service that we provide. You’ll also be sure that when you’re sailing from San Blas to Cartagena, or sailing from Colombia to Panama, that it’s a boat that we trust enough to recommend to you.

Hostel Mamallena has opened it’s first hostel in Colombia, Hostel Mamallena, Cartagena. If you’re after information on sailing from Colombia to Panama email us at cartagena@mamallena.com and we’ll send you our current list of boats. When you’re looking for a hostel in Cartagena be sure to drop by and check us out.

Sailing from San Blas to Cartagena has become one of the great backpacker journeys of the world. Where else can you spend 3 days sailing through beautiful white sand islands, covered in palm trees and amazing beaches, then 2 days of sailing to finally arrive in the amazing colonial fortress city of Cartagena. Theres only one way to do this, and thats sailing from San Blas to Cartagena.

If you decide to sail to Colombia you’ll enjoy 2-3 days sailing in the beautiful San Blas islands. This is an opportunity not to be missed. White sand tropical islands are waiting to be explored. Snorkling, swimming and just relaxing on the deck of your yacht. If you can, catch your own seafood. Also experience the traditional lifestyle of the Kuna Islanders.

Then it’s 2 days of (hopefully, but maybe not…….!) plain sailing to Cartagena.

Prices have been steadily increasing and prices currently range from $400 to $525, depending on the boat. The quality of boats can vary, but we feel that most of the boats we deal with are some of the best operating between Panama and Colombia. The price may also seem high, but consider what you’re receiving. The price of one way flights can range between $300 and $500, and thats for a 1 hour flight! Sailing from San Blas to Cartagena over 5 days just seems like a better deal!

The traditional route sailing from Panama to Colombia is to Cartagena via the San Blas islands. Some captains also offer a trip to the Panama/Colombian border. It’s still a 4-5 day trip but you’ll sail through the entire group of islands and finish in the Colombian town of Sapzurro. From there you’ll take a boat to Carpurgana, a boat to Turbo and then buses to Cartagena, Medellin or where ever you’re going. Most prices for this sailing experience are between $400 and $500. It’ll then take another day or so and $100 to reach your destination. The area around Carpurgana is beautiful and known as a Colombian beach resort town. There are hotels and hostels there and transport to Turbo leaves at around 7.30am each morning($25).

Few of these yachts travel to a strict schedule so it’s never sure that a boat will be ready to leave when you are. We maintain a list of yachts that are ready to leave for Colombia and when we hear from you we’ll send you our current list. It can be an idea to ask for the departures list in advance as more boats are starting to set departure dates in advance. We do take reservations in advance as well and they can sometimes fill fast. The list of sailings will have the name of the boat, the date of departure, the port of departure, cost etc etc.

Please remember, these aren’t our trips. We help both you and the captains arrange the trip but each captain is independent and operates as they wish. That said we do limit the boats that we with and over the years have weeded out the ones that we feel don’t met up to our standards. We’re not in the biusiness of our clients having a bad time so we actually care about who you go with. But also p

rices and experiences may not be exactly as you see here!!!! And remember, we want to know how your trip goes. If it’s bad, we’ll know not to use that captain again. If it’s good we want to tell others so they can have the same great time you did. But no matter who you go with we know you’ll love sailing to Colombia.

Check out some more information on sailing to Cartagena. If you don’t have the time to sail to Cartagena then you may like one of our 3 day San Blas island tours

How to make a booking to Colombia

Theres 2 ways to make a booking on one of the sailing boats between San Blas and Cartagena. You can either email us at mamallenapa@yahoo.com and we’ll send you out a fact sheet, or you can come directly to the hostel. Hope we hear from you soon!

Over 5 years ago Hostel Mamallena was the first hostel to starting booking the boats to Colombia. In that time we’ve gained lots of experience and you can be assured that we’ll give you first hand, unbiased information about each of these boats.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Hostel Mamallena

Boat name: Mieldre. Captain: Jimi.
Hi, wanna sail to Cartagena?
My name is Jimi, I have been sailing for 15 years around the world, and have been sailing to Cartagena/Panama for 3 years. You wanna have fun, relaxation, and security. Leaving from Portobelo to San Blas for 2 days, and then to Cartagena 2 days more. All this in 38′ rival in perfect condition. I speak english, dutch, french ,italian and german.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Hostel Mamallena

Boat name: Andromeda. Captain: Rafael Salazar.
Andromeda is a 33 foot sailing cruiser, very secure and sails beautifully.  We offer seriousness, respect, in an ambience of good humor and the desire of having a good time together. Spend 2 days in San Blas, beautiful beaches, cooking with the Kuna People in  Chichime and having lots of fun! 2 days sailing from San Blas to Cartagena, a great experience of the deep blue! We often encounter dolphins, flying fish and shooting stars. We provide food, ice and a boat ready to sail.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Mamallena

Boat name: Da Capo. Captain: Mats.

Da Capo, 36 ft, has got six beds in three separate compartments. She is a Najad 360, a Swedish built high quality yacht, well maintained, safe and comfortable. We start from Portobelo or Porvenir, stay one more day in San Blas for snorkeling and/or visiting a Kuna Village, and then sail from Panama to Cartagena as quick as possible.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163or email Hostel Mamallena

Boat name: Good karma. Captain: Duncan.
Sail aboard a legendary bluewater cruiser/racer, the Contessa 32 Good Karma. If you are interested to casually learn sailing, Captain is US Sailing Instructor. We sail from Portobelo, spend two days and nights meeting the locals, swimming, snorkeling, spearfishing, surfing, sleeping, and otherwise enjoying the beautiufl San Blas Islands, and then sail to . Trips coming the other way are also available. Room for 5 passengers.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Hostel Mamallena

Boat name: SEEADLER. Capitan: GUIDO.
Seeadler is a 50 feet 2 mast sailingship with all comfort and safety equipment for highsea navigation. We offer sailing from Panama to Colombia, including 2 days in san blas island with swimming, snorkeling, fishing and beach parties with bbq, Excellent food and a lot of fun !!! Includes all food, tea, coffee, water and clearance fees.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Hostel Mamallena

Boat name: KARMA. Captain: David.
“KARMA” is sailing from Panama to Cartagena from El Porvenir, one of the San Blas islands, or from Isla Grande, on the Carribean coast of Panama. We’ll spend 3 days in San Blas and, according to your wishes, we’ll swim, fish, have some barbecue; meeting some Kunas (local indians) on a friendly way. On this 29 feet yacht, you’ll have a true sailing experience, some good meals, David, who speaks English, Spanish and French just wants you to relax.

For more info or booking, phone: (507) 6676 6163 or email Hostel Mamallena