Jan's Top 10 Cruising Favorites List --  Scroll down to see the individual places listed here.  The links to more information aren't done, but will be soon. Thanks for your patience & ENJOY!  J
1.  Sapzurro, Columbia 
2.  Vivorillos Cayes
3.  Esnadup, San Blas Islands, Panama
4.  Guanaja, Bay Islands, Honduras
5.  Providencia, Columbia
6.  Rio Chagres, Panama
7.  Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize
8.  Cayo Costa, Florida
9.  Achutupu, San Blas Islands, Panama
10.  Portobello, Panama

Sapzurro is nestled in the jungle at the border of Panama and Columbia.  The harbor is small and the anchorage rolly, but the people are some of the friendliest and happiest we've found anywhere. 

It's one of the more isolated places we've visited and since the FARC revolutionaries were known to be in the hills, the Columbian Marines, the Coast Guard and the local militia were  concerned about our safety.  They advised us on where to hike and what to do while we spent a week in their paradise.  We hiked to the waterfall, around the rugged coastline outside the harbor and up the mountain to the border.  Homemade "ice cream" from a local entrepreneur topped off every hike.  

Anchoring behind a reef and sandbar stretching for miles between a tiny fish camp island and a bird refuge, the Vivorillos Cayes felt like anchoring at the end of the earth.  With no protection from wind from due North to Southwest, we were happy that the tradewinds kept pumping the wind from the East and NE!  This tiny anchorage is a traditional stopover on the way from the Bay Islands of Honduras around the corner of Honduras/Nicaragua down to Panama.  The fishing and snorkeling were the best we've had anywhere.  We were there with our 3 buddy boats since it's not the safest passage to undertake alone and enjoyed "Conch 101" when one of the boats bought pounds and pounds of cleaned conch from local fishermen - none of us had cooked conch before!  We enjoyed cracked conch, conch salad and conch fritters ... along with our martinis!

Esnadup is one of our favorite western San Blas anchorages.  There are several spots to anchor and we like them all.  The snorkeling, especially along the front wall of the reef, and fishing are superb.  We frequently see eagle rays cruising the wall and dolphins surprised us one trip by coming up from under us rather quickly.   A bit heart stopping until we realized they were dolphins and not sharks!   A cruiser frequently conducts yoga on one of the little islands.

Guanaja, the easternmost of the Bay Islands off the Honduran coastline was battered badly by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, but it's rebuilt since and El Bight is the anchorage where cruisers wait for weather to make the easterly hop against the tradewinds along the Honduran coast to head to Panama.  El Bight is well protected from most wind directions and can easily weather a norther, welcome news for cruisers!  And Josh Cay and the surrounding tiny cays off the barrier reef make for fun snorkeling and adventuring.  The north shore of Guanaja was reportedly where Columbus ventured and Michael's Rock is spectacular.

Providencia (and San Andres too) were delightful surprises on our way to Panama!  They are tiny islands off the coast of Nicaragua that belong to Colombia, go figure!  Providencia is the furthest north, San Andres 50 miles farther south.  We stopped at both on our way down, only Providencia on our way back.  We liked Providencia better because San Andres is a little like Hawaii is for US mainlanders for Colombia mainlanders - a bit too touristy for our taste, but still wonderful - best watercolors we've seen anywhere!  Providencia is still mostly a fishing village connected to the little island of Santa Catalina by a colorful footbridge.  Motorscooters whiz through the main town and around the island.  Pirates used to make use of Providencia's wonderful natural harbor to hide ... from more than just weather, I'm guessing!  Some of the original cannons used to defend the island from Captain Morgan are still there.  Split Mountain above, is sometimes called Captain Morgan's a$$.   There's also a cool rock formation called Captain Morgan's Head above some wonderful snorkeling.  The people are some of the friendliest in the Caribbean, different than mainlanders like in Cartagena (altho' they're friendly too), you can find different provisions - San Andres is the best spot for provisions, altho' we had no trouble in Providencia - keep in mind we were well stocked before we left the Bay Islands. 

WOW!  Talk about a perfect paradise, the Rio Chagres is almost like Disneyland.  We joked about our dinghy explorations costing $60 each as a Disney two hour trip!   There are howler monkeys, sloths, spider monkeys and lots of colorful birds EVERYWHERE!   The Rio Chagres is part of the Chagres National Park.  The anchorage is perfectly protected from all weather, but we're heard stories of not such good conditions if the Gatun Locks are forced to open the dam and let water down the river.  Supposedly they notify you before they do it.  We didn't have any trouble.  It is a bit challenging to get past the bar, but good charts, good light and a bow watch will get you in easy enough.  Once past the bar, the Chagres is plenty deep -- 40' -- and great anchoring -- sticky river mud -- you may want to take extra time when you bring the anchor and chain up to wash off the mud!  You can dinghy to a dock to leave your dinghy and walk to the Gatun Locks/Panama Canal.  There are waterfalls and other adventures just waiting to be discovered!   We enjoyed dinghy sunsetters -- bring finger foods to pass and your drinks, take the dinghies upriver a ways, tie together, turn the outboards off and drift back to the anchored boats - lots of wildlife, beautiful sunsets and good friends, what could be better? 

There are very few places we've been where the water looks more like a swimming pool and the snorkeling and diving is a dream.  The coral and fish are endlessly colorful.  Fresh fish for dinner actually gets boring (imagine THAT!).
There are several anchorage possibilities, the first year, we anchored at Half Moon Caye and also at Long Caye.  The real attraction is underwater and it requires some eyeball navigation in shallow coral reef strewn waters to enjoy the area.  The famous Blue Hole is here, although not as much an attraction for us as more accomplished divers.  

Cayo Costa State Park is a barrier island accessible only by boat ... ferry or private boat.  It's a barrier island with a great beach for shelling and a natural harbor.  It is shallow though, so be sure you have local knowledge to get into the anchorage!  We haven't been there since we left the US in 2004, so we are really excited to return this fall (2010)!   I just hope it hasn't changed too much since we've been gone!  And I hope the resident manatees are still there and the croc - altho' we'll hope we never see him except sunning himself!  :)

Achutupu (no I didn't sneeze) is one of the more traditional Kuna islands in the far eastern San Blas.  Not visited by many cruisers, Achutupu is trying to hang onto their Kuna tradition.

Even before the anchor was down, the wooden cayucos began approaching WL and Kristiana.  The people were friendly without being too pesky as can be the case in some of the more western San Blas islands.  The quality of the molas in Achutupu was true artwork at a better price than any we found anywhere in the San Blas!  

We found it fascinating that the underwater water supply pipe to this island village had broken but the Kuna were industriously at work extending the runway on their airstrip, rather than fixing the water line.  Consequently every morning, the ladies would paddle to the mainland and fill every container available with fresh water before they started their day.  Personally, I'd have been getting that water line fixed!  

History comes alive in Portobelo, the ancient city the Spanish used to hoard their riches and transport them back to Spain.  Needless to say, pirates abounded and the town was ruled by many different cultures at different times.  Today, Portobelo is a great anchorage, unless you have an tradewinds cranking when the swell from the harbor opening can become untenable, so plan accordingly!  We were there in April and it was perfect.  We colored Easter Eggs under an ancient fort, enjoyed the Semana Santa festivities along with several dinghy drifts down nearby creeks and rivers. 
Exploring the ancient forts that surround Portobelo can take days and if the seas are calm, snorkeling outside can provide the opportunity to spot ancient cannons still underwater!   Portobelo is also the home of the famous "Black Christ" (legend found by googling) festival held every October.