We chartered the catamaran Bip Bip through San Blas Sailing in April 2014.
It was a contrast between a truly memorable and incredible experience with some completely deficient transfer service.
The BAD Service
The bad service related to the cars and driver that San Blas Sailing used to drive us from Panama City to Carti and back. The driver was an unpleasant man with a foul, almost menacing attitude and absolutely no concept of service or courtesy let alone any interest in telling our bilingual family about his country or what we were seeing. We had paid $400 for the return trip for 2 adults and 2 children (with lots of extra luggage) for what was confirmed in an e-mail ahead of time to be a "Toyota Land Cruiser or similar". They drove us to Carti in a much smaller vehicle, a 10 or 15 year old Hyundai Tucson that was in bad shape. It was cramped and we were not allowed to use air conditioning for the last hour because the car didn't have enough power to make it up the hills, with the air conditioning on. This was not good, as it was hot and raining and the rain was spraying into the car through open windows. Even with that, the old Tucson could barely make it up the hills, usually slowing to about 5 mph (8 kph) (no exaggeration!) by the top. We do a lot of Latin American driving and know how bad cars can be, but this one was dramatically slow even by local standards.
While we were on the boat we asked via e-mail for a better car or a price reduction for the return trip, and they used a 10 year old Nissan with the same briskly and strictly enforced rule against air conditioning. Driving in an old slow Tucson itself is not a big problem, the problem is that when you are sold and pay for one thing (a Toyota Land Cruiser) they shouldn't use a cheaper lesser quality substitute, or if they have to use one for some unforeseen reason, they should decrease the price to reflect the difference in what was provided. San Blas Sailing wrote us that the Hyundai was an emergency replacement for a damaged Toyota Land Cruiser, but we did not qualify for a price reduction in essence because the Hyundai was comfortable for us and is similar to a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Creeping up hills at 5 mph in the rain with open windows and a menacing driver was not really that comfortable! Also the Hyundai was not at all similar to a Land Cruiser. For those not familiar with the quality of these two vehicles, Thrifty Rental Cars in Panama which carries both vehicles is a good reference. They rent 6 classes of SUV’s, and the Hyundai Tucson is the second lowest priced class of SUV and the Land Cruiser is the highest price one, and the base price per day is $45 for the Land Cruiser and $24 for the Tucson.
Beware of the old bait and switch tactic in dealing with San Blas Sailing, if they do it with cars I assume they could do it with anything!
The OUTSTANDING Sailing Experience
As negative as that was, the experience aboard Bip Bip was truly fantastic. Being on a boat is different than a hotel. You are in close quarters with strangers for a number of days. If the captain and mate aren't right it can be really bad. But Manu and Marie on the Bip Bip were incredible hosts. They were truly welcoming and were always looking to see that our every wish was met. They have the right personalities, Marie keeps a really clean boat, is a great cook and a charming hostess. Manu is a technically competent sailor who knows the San Blas waters well, so you feel safe. He does a great job of mechanical maintenance, which is not easy in the San Blas. He has a great sense of humor and he was really good with our kids, taking great delight on snorkeling adventures etc. With their warm and caring personalities Manu and Marie have also made great friends with the Guna Yala people, which means you get a much richer cultural experience when you are interacting with them. In summary they really went out of their way to make sure we had a fantastic trip and we did.
I would highly recommend Manu and Marie and the Bip Bip for a truly memorable time in the beautiful San Blas. I'd also stay away from San Blas Sailing, and instead I'd spend a little more time on the internet looking to arrange the boat trip and vehicle transfer directly.
