With dozens of easily accessed islands to choose form, visitors typically pick the western group speckling the Golfo de San Blas. Cruise ships disgorge passengers en masse around the two hot spots of El Porvenir and Carti. Each cluster offers fantastic snorkelling, while the Cayos Holandeses even boasts a number of wrecks.

The small island of El Porvenir is the main gateway to the western islands, as well as capital of the entire comarca, despite its minimal populace and facilities. The isle hosts an airstrip, a few bamboo-walled houses, a police station, a Kuna administrative post, and the Museo de la Nacion Kuna. Opened in 2005, the small, two-storey museum exhibits ceramics, kitchen utensils, musical instruments, baskets, and an example of a Kuna grave. Several nearby islands are within a few minutes’ travel by boat.

Isla de los Perros is perfect for snorkelling, with coral reefs edging right up to the whiter-than-white beach that rings the isle; a small shipwreck lies off the south shore. Jet-skiing and waterskiing are not allowed.