The Most Unique Flight Ever – Playon Chico, Panama

During our 2007 trip to Panama Lindsay and I were extremely excited to visit the Island chain known as the San Blas. Getting to this extremely remote area involves taking a domestic flight out of Panama City to one of the more developed villages in the islands called Playon Chico. In preparing for the trip I had learned about a local airline called Aeroperlas. Their booking system at the time was entirely in Spanish so I was only somewhat certain I had booked us on the correct flight. We were headed from Panama City to a small village in the San Blas called Playon Chico. Lindsay and I woke up one morning and took a taxi to the domestic airport called Marcos A. Gelabert where we checked into our flight. There was a local women there who worked for the family who owned the bungalows that we were going to stay in. She was very nice and assured us that we were in the correct location. After checking-in to the flight we waited in a small area before being called out to board the plane. We were expecting a small plane but nothing prepared us for what we saw. As we walked out to the runway we noticed a small 2 engine plane warming up. It was a tiny plane and we were convinced that it was too small to be ours. Sure enough we were quickly hustled into this plane and took our place amongst the 15 or so seats. There were only about 5 of us on the plane when it took off and the tiny little plane shook terribly as it went airborne. After getting over the initial shock we both were loving the experience. The door to the cockpit was open and you could see the two pilots sitting in their seats flying the plane. Both of us were glued to our windows as the concrete maze of Panama City eventually gave way to green jungles of the surrounding hills. After only about an hour on the plane we could see the ocean on the horizon and began to notice tiny little islands with no people and white beaches…the sure sign that we had made it to the San Blas. The approach into the village of Playon Chico is quite intense as you fly very close to the water and then eventually hit land right before the plane touches down. It was fascinating to see the wooden huts of the village as we flew overhead. When we landed in Playon Chico we were immediately surrounded by locals who were there to gather supplies from the plane. We were eventually meet by the Kuna Indian family that owned Yandup Island (our bungalows) and were swept away on a wooden canoe to start our San Blas adventure. The short and shaky flight on that tiny plane from Panama City to Playon Chico was a once in a lifetime experience.