One of the hundreds of uninhabited islands in the San Blas archipelago

A chain of 400 mostly deserted coral atolls scattered in the Caribbean Sea, the San Blas Islands are part of an autonomous region owned and governed by the indigenous Kuna tribe.

The main attraction on these pristine island paradises (aside from the white-sand shorelines, palm-fringed beaches and reef snorkelling, of course) is the Kuna themselves, a peaceful people who have inhabited the islands since being turfed out of the Darien region by conquistadors. While the Kuna have for the most part retained their own language, dress and culture, they survive primarily through tourism and certainly don't shy away from giving visitors the hard sell on handicrafts. 

Set in aquamarine waters off Panama´s northern coast, only 40 of the San Blas Islands are actually inhabited. The 'capital', El Porvenir, has an airport, which is the main entry point for tourists to the islands. Hotels from nearby islands usually send boats to meet tourists coming off the planes.

The islands of Nargana and Corazon de Jesus are the most developed in the archipelago (there´s even a bank), while on most of the other inhabited islands, travellers sleep in hammocks strung up in traditional cane huts and inter-island transport is via motorised dugout canoe.  

Some of the best coral reef snorkelling can be found on the outlying Cayos Holandeses islands, which remain relatively untouched by tourism.

An increasing number of people are travelling between Panama and Cartegena, Colombia by private yacht. The trip, which costs around US$250 including food, takes up to five days and includes a two-day stop-off in the San Blas Islands.