15 Fun and Surprising Facts About San Blas

San Blas is the outsiders’ name for Guna Yala, a self-governed indigenous comarca on Panama’s Caribbean coast with around 315 km of shoreline, more than 365 islands and about 49 inhabited communities. Panama’s 2023 census counted 32,016 residents. Below are 15 facts about it, each with a source or something you can check on the ground.

An earlier version of this list included a few claims we could not back up with a source, so they are gone. What is left is shorter on trivia and longer on the things that actually explain the place.

The place itself

1. It has two names, and the official one is not San Blas. “San Blas” is the colonial-era name that stuck on maps and with airlines. The territory’s own and official name is Guna Yala, and the difference is not cosmetic: we explain it in what Guna Yala means.

2. “365 islands” is a round number, and only a fraction are inhabited. It is the most repeated figure, one for each day of the year. The Guna General Congress, writing in Cultural Survival, speaks of more than 400 islands and islets and of 49 communities. Panama’s statistics institute counted 32,016 people in the comarca in its 2023 census table. Our island count breakdown goes through the numbers.

3. The coast is long, and it runs all the way to Colombia. The same Cultural Survival article puts the comarca’s coastline at about 315 km. The tourist cays sit at its western end, near Cartí; the eastern end touches the Colombian border, which is why people sometimes confuse it with a very different region — see whether San Blas is part of the Darién Gap.

How it governs itself

4. Its autonomy was won in a revolution. In February 1925 the Guna rose against the Panamanian police posted in their villages, who had spent years trying to suppress Guna customs, women’s dress included. The uprising, known as the Dule Revolution, is told in our history of San Blas.

5. It has its own legislature and its own fundamental law. The comarca was organised by Panamanian Law 16 of 1953, and its highest authority is the Guna General Congress, which brings together all the communities and works under a Guna fundamental law. Our explainer on how the Guna General Congress works covers who decides what.

6. Outsiders cannot buy the land. Panama’s Constitution, in Article 127, guarantees indigenous communities collective ownership of their lands and leaves it to the law to define where private appropriation is prohibited. That is why every cabin and boat in San Blas belongs to a Guna family or community, and why there is no resort strip.

7. Guna Yala is not the only Guna comarca. Panama has two more, both inland: Madungandí, in Panamá province, and Wargandí, created by Law 34 of 2000 on land in Darién province. So yes, there are Guna communities in the Darién — just not on the islands.

8. Entering costs a tax, and there is nowhere to withdraw cash. Every visitor pays a comarca entry tax — $22 for foreigners, $7 for residents and nationals — separate from any tour price; on our tours the driver takes it in cash or by card. There are no ATMs or card terminals on the islands, so everything else you spend comes with you. See where the community tax goes and how much cash to bring.

Culture you can see

9. The mola is legally protected collective heritage. The layered blouse panels Guna women sew are listed by name in Executive Decree 12 of 2001, which regulates Panama’s law on indigenous collective intellectual property (WIPO Lex text). How they are made is in molas explained.

10. When a couple marries, the husband moves in with her family. The Encyclopedia of World Cultures describes Guna households as matrilocal: a new husband joins his mother-in-law’s household, and the fish or produce he brings goes to her to distribute.

11. Albinism is unusually common. Experts quoted by Al Jazeera put the rate among the Guna at roughly one in 150 people, among the highest in the world.

12. Coconuts were the comarca’s cash crop long before tourism. The same encyclopedia records coconut trading with Colombian boats since the late nineteenth century, exchanged for goods or cash. Every palm still has an owner, even on an empty cay.

The sea and the present day

13. The Guna closed lobster season before Panama did. According to Mi Diario, the Guna set their own lobster closure in 2000, from 1 March to 31 May; Panama’s national closure, 1 March to 30 June, followed in 2006. The same report notes that scuba tanks are not allowed in Guna Yala except for research authorised by the General Congress — part of why San Blas is a snorkelling destination, not a diving one.

14. One island’s people have already moved because of the sea. In June 2024 about 300 families left Gardi Sugdub for new homes on the mainland, as NBC News reported, in what Human Rights Watch described as Panama’s first climate-related relocation. Some residents chose to stay.

15. Money Heist filmed here. Season three of La Casa de Papel shot scenes in Guna Yala in late 2018, Panamá América reported. The island usually named is Isla Pelícano, Gorgidub in Guna.

What these facts mean for a visit

Most of the list has a practical edge. The autonomy is why you pay a tax and carry cash; the collective land is why you sleep in a Guna-owned cabin rather than a hotel; the lobster rules decide what is on your plate between March and June, which we cover in what you eat in San Blas. If you want to see the communities behind the facts rather than just the beaches, look at an itinerary that includes an inhabited island, or ask us on WhatsApp from the tours page.

Frequently asked questions

Is San Blas its own country?

No. Guna Yala is part of Panama, but it is an autonomous comarca: the Guna General Congress governs internal affairs, land is held collectively, and visitors pay an entry tax to the comarca.

How many people live in San Blas?

Panama’s 2023 census counted 32,016 residents in the comarca of Guna Yala. Most live in about 49 island and coastal communities; the large majority of islands are uninhabited.

Was Money Heist really filmed in San Blas?

Yes. Season three of La Casa de Papel filmed scenes in Guna Yala in late 2018, according to Panamanian press, and Isla Pelícano is the island most often identified as the location.

Do Guna women still wear molas every day?

Yes. Molas are the panels of everyday blouses, not costumes. You will see them worn on any inhabited island, and many women also make molas to sell.

Why is there no scuba diving in San Blas?

Scuba tanks are not permitted in Guna Yala except for research authorised by the Guna General Congress. The reefs are shallow, so snorkelling is how visitors see them.