What Is The Best Time To Visit San Blas Islands?
San Blas sees some rain from May to November, the lack of tourists in this period make visiting the region really attractive, from December to April the dry weather attracts a larger number of visitors to some parts of San Blas.
When it comes to deciding on your next Caribbean sailing holidays, weather is paramount. Moderate rain is ok, but not abundant to flood or interfere with your planned excursions and normal daily routine; a bit of hot weather and sun is tolerable and can be quite nice specially if you come from cold weather, but constantly sweating is uncomfortable and can make you exhausted after some time.
Why do you think the Panama Canal was built in Panama and chosen from other countries? Simply because Panama has a benign weather with no hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes or tsunamis. Unlike other sailing Caribbean destinations, Panama has never been hit by a hurricane and there is no recorded data of natural disasters including extreme weather occurring in the Caribbean side.
The country of Panama basically has a rainy and a dry season, generally speaking we could say that driest months are December to mid-April and October and November are the wettest.
The Caribbean side of Panama has 2 distinct sailing areas, Boca del Toro and San Blas. One key factor that differentiates both Caribbean sailing destinations is the effect of the Trade Winds and its effect on the weather. Bocas del Toro and the region to the West is for the most part of the year not in the way of the Trade Winds, and as a consequence, clouds and humidity tend to linger on for long periods. The effect of high temperature and humidity, along with the lack of wind to push it somewhere else, makes sailing in Bocas del Toro not as attractive as other sailing destinations. If you still want to sail in Bocas del Toro, be prepared for rain even in the supposedly dry season, and do bring enough mosquito repellent because the lack of wind makes it easy for them to make a visit onboard. Yes, Bocas del Toro is a wonderful place to visit, but not sailing on catamaran.
The weather in San Blas is not exactly like the rest of Panama. San Blas weather is tropical but at the same time quite unique and peculiar due mostly to its location within the Caribbean and the blowing Trade Winds. Other Caribbean sailing destinations like the BVI, Saint Marteen, Antigua and Barbuda, the Grenadines, Grenada etc... also have the Trade Winds blowing, the only difference is that this areas do have a hurricane season to avoid and that is from June to November.
San Blas can be sailed any time of the year and that is because temperature is never below 20° degrees Celsius and the average temperature is around 27 degrees Celsius or 90° degrees Fahrenheit. Most importantly is the fact that the Trade winds help to dissipate any cloud or humidity.
From December to April, sun shines and rain is scarce, maybe a few drops during the night. If you come between May to November you will see some rain but hardly ever this rain episodes last more an hour or so and this is as a result of the Trade Winds blowing them out of sight and into the jungle and mountains.
Average day and night temperature
Average water temperature
Monthly precipitation
Average wind speed
Hint: wet season is perfect for snorkelling and some soft easy sailing so don´t be afraid to book our catamaran vacations in this period.
Book your San Blas tour and sailing trips any time of the year. San Blas is definitely one of the top 10 sailing destinations in the world with the difference that Panama is most likely a short flight from where you are.
