I absolutely adore South America! The culture, the nature, the people, the food. It is one of my favourite places to visit and is generally a pretty easy flight from North America. There are so many places to see in Central and South America, it can get kind of overwhelming. Here are some of my top destinations in Central and South America if you are looking for beaches, parties, hiking, scuba diving, adventure or wildlife.

Beaches – San Blas Islands, Panama 

Off the coast of Panama there is an archipelago of 365 islands that have the absolute best beaches I have ever seen. Picture a postcard; white sands, palm trees, hammocks and starfish. That is the San Blas Islands. 

Only 49 of the islands are inhabited by the locals – the Kuna or Guna Yala people. The Kunas rebelled in the early 1900s and have had autonomous control of the San Blas islands ever since. They live pretty isolated lives and because of this they have managed to maintain much of their traditional lifestyles. 

They live largely in thatched huts in small towns (the biggest is 800 people) or in family units throughout the islands. The men fish using dug out canoes. The women wear colourful patterned dresses with detailed quilt like patterns on the front called molas. The women also wear long strings of beads on their ankles to help protect themselves from the sun. 

The Kuna have also done a pretty good job at maintaining their beautiful islands. A lot of the islands do not allow scuba divers and put a limit on the number and size of boats.. Whenever you visit one of the uninhabited islands you must inform the Kuna. They then take turns to come out to ‘watch’ you to make sure that you are being respectful of their environment. 

Between the authentic Kuna lifestyle and the unspoiled beaches, the San Blas islands is one of the top destinations in South America for a beach vacation. 

How to Visit? 

There are several different ways that you can experience the islands. You could sail around the islands or get a 4 day backpacker style boat from Panama to Colombia with San Blas Adventures. There are also several beautiful Airbnbs to pick from, some of which are more budget friendly. 

But my favourite option and how my family and I experienced the San Blas island is on a sea kayaking trip from Blackfeather. Sea kayaking allows you to visit a lot of the less popular islands and makes you truly appreciate nature. Plus it’s fun!

Travel Tips

Bring all of the sun protection 

When we were preparing to go sea kayaking our guide suggested that we bring gloves. My family are pretty experienced paddlers so of course we said, no we don’t need gloves our hands won’t blister. Turns out the gloves were not to prevent blisters, they were to protect from the sun! Oh man did we ever need them. 

The sun is strong and as nice as palm trees look they do not provide much shade. Go overboard with the sun protection, even if you are not paddling. Bring a hat, gloves and several buckets of sunscreen. 

Pack light

Even if you are not camping you do not need to bring much to the San Blas Islands. Many hotels or hostel on the Panama mainland will hold your bags for you and there is no need for that much stuff on the islands.

Party – San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua 

Now if you have never heard of San Juan Del Sur I would not be surprised.  It is really only known for two things – surfing and partying. In particular their Sunday Funday pool party, the biggest pool party in South America. Or so they say. Actually I believe them, it’s pretty big. 

Nicaragua in general is a pretty big party destination, but Sunday Funday is the biggest party in the country! It is a bar crawl / pool party that happens every Sunday in San Juan. You go to three different locations; it starts at a pool in town, moves up to the Naked Tiger hostel around dinner then finishes at a beach side club. It has a great vibe, people come from all over to attend and it’s a pretty cheap party!

How to Visit 

Nicaragua is a pretty small country so getting around is pretty simple. You can either use the local transport, called chicken busses, or taxi. It is very easy to meet people who are going to the same destination as you and is sometimes cheaper to just split a taxi. 

There are several hostels in San Juan that participate in Sunday Funday, but the majority of the party revolves around the Naked Tiger hostel. It is up the hill from San Juan, but they have frequent shuttles to get you into town if you’d like. They also have a great pool with a sunset view, delicious food and a cheap bar. If you stay at the Naked Tiger hostel you are guaranteed a ticket to Sunday Funday. 

Travel Tips 

Don’t pick Sunday or Monday to travel 

The Sunday Funday party starts pretty early (around lunch) on the Sunday so if you are arriving on Sunday you might miss it. It is also nice to meet some people before going on the bar crawl. Mondays are also a bit of a rough day to travel on, I pretty much guarantee you will be hung over. 

Go surfing!

Even if you are in San Juan largely just to party, the surfing in the area is great! There are spots for beginners or more experienced surfers and the hostel can arrange transport to the beaches. 

Watch the beach 

The San Juan beach is fine during the day, but it is not the safest spot to be at night. Don’t leave your stuff on the beach and don’t walk alone. 

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Hiking – Torres del Paine National Park, Chile 

Patagonia is world renown for it beauty and I think Torres del Paine National Park is probably one of the most beautiful spots! Image walking along glacier lakes, watching glaciers crumbling and climbing up valleys surrounded by breath taking mountains!

On top os the beautiful landscape Torres del Paine is a pretty accessible hike for people of all abilities. There are two major hikes in the park; the W and the O. The W trek is 5 days long and goes in kind of a zig zag pattern. The O is about 10 days and is a loop. Both hikes are not simple hikes, but they are also not the most difficult either. Navigation is easy, you do not have to manage high altitude and the terrain is accessible for most hikers.

Its iconic landscape, well maintained trails and ease of accesses it is no wonder Torress del Paines is one of the top destinations for hiking in South America.

How to Visit 

Most people will either fly in to Punta Arenas, Chile’s southern most city, or cross the border from Argentina. Either way you will have to travel north a few hours to Torres del Paine National Park. If you do fly into Punta Arenas, there is a near by island called Magdalena that is covered in penguins!

A lot of people will plan their W or O trek with companies like GAdventures, but it is totally possible and common to go by yourself or in a small group. Just make sure that if you are planning on organizing the hike yourself make sure you book tents to cabins a few months in advance as they tend to sell out.

Travel Tips 

Prepare for Wind!

Torres del Paine is famous for the strength of its wind, it will literally blow you over. There is not a ton that you can do to prevent this, but you can prepare for it. Try to walk early in the day when the wind is weakest, consider bringing a walking stick or poles and tie your stuff to your bag so it does not blow away.

Pack light

This tip applies to any time you are hiking. Carrying a ton of stuff over multiple days sucks. Both the W and the O treks have camps along the way so you do not have to carry that much stuff. Don’t take the fact that you don’t have to carry a tent as a reason to bring more clothing, take advantage of having a light pack!

Scuba Diving – Roatan, Honduras 

This was a close one, I think Belize is also one of the best spots I have ever been for scuba diving. But there are a few reasons why I think diving in Roatan is slightly better.

For one it is cheaper, it is one of the cheapest places in the world to get your dive license and the cheapest place in South America. Roatan is also slightly less popular which means the reef and the marine life tend to be in slightly better shape. The dives are closer to the shore and easier to get to. Most of the best diving spots in Roatan are right off the shore so it takes a lot less time to get there and means you can do more with your day. This is also a wide variety of dives in Roatan, you can do deep dive, shipwrecks and drift dives among many others.

However there is more to do outside of diving in Belize. Other than diving, a few beaches and resorts there is not a ton to do in Roatan. However if you’re looking for excellent diving Roatan is your top South American destination, 

How to Visit 

Roatan has its own airport and surprisingly frequent domestic and international flights which makes it a pretty accessible location. There are also ferries from La Ceiba on the mainland twice a day. 

Although Roatan is very affordable it also has a lot of resorts and some can attracts a more expensive traveller. There some budget hostels and I was very happy with my stay at Roatan Backpackers Hostel. For diving I would recommend looking at Octopus Dive School, I took my advance certificate with them and was pretty happy. Roatan Backpackers and Octopus Dive school are within easy walking destinance. 

Travel Tips 

Watch Your Flight Times 

If there are any other ‘House’ fans out here, I hope you remember that episode where a scuba diving boards a plane, gets sick and causes a whole lot of chaos on the plane? Yeah me too and it still haunts me. Don’t be that person.

Essentially what it comes down to is that diving then flying in close proximity to each other causes bubbles to form in your blood and you can get sick and even die from it. To prevent this you should spend at least 18 hours at ground level after and before you fly.

Adventure – Futaleufu, Chile 

Ok I know I already put Chile on this list, but it’s honestly one of my favourite countries and it deserves to be on this list twice! The Futaleufu river starts near the border with Argentina in northern Patagonia and has some of the best white water in South America and in the world. It is an absolutely stunning area of the country that is not as popular as other parts of Patagonia. 

It is best known for it’s crazy big water and people come from all over to kayak or white water paddle the river. However there are a lot of other adventurous activities to do in the region. There is quite a lot of horseback riding and trekking. We also went rock climbing and did the highest rappel I have ever seen in my life. 

How To Visit 

Most people come to Futaleufu to white water raft and there are lots of companies that can take you on day trips to the river. However i think the best way to get into the adventurous side is with a multi-day trip, specifically a multi-sport adventure trip with Futaleufu Adventures. You spend your days doing all of the adrenaline filled activities Futaleufu has to offer and your nights stay ing beautiful cabins complete with wood fire hot tubs.

Travel Tips

Prepare like you are camping

Although on most multi-day adventure is the region you stay at beautiful lodges or camps on the edge of the river, the accommodation is relatively basic. Make sure you bring a dry bag, a head lamp, a battery charger and multiple pairs of socks!

Wildlife – The Galapagos & The Amazon, Ecuador

The Galapagos is the obvious choice for top wildlife destinations in South America, it one of the best wildlife spots in the world. However even without the Galapagos, Ecuador would still be one of the best wildlife destinations in South America because of the Amazon!

Both destinations are quite different, but both offer ample opportunity to see all sorts of different wildlife. The big thing to see in the Amazon is birds, the big thing to see in the Galapagos is fish! Which ever wildlife destination you pick in Ecuador its going to be one of the best wildlife destinations in South America.

How to Visit 

In the Galapagos you can either go on a boat trip and hop between the different islands or you can base yourself on the main island, Santa Cruz, and do day trips. If you are planning on doing a sailing trip boats tend to book out pretty far in advance so reserve early.

If you are planning on visiting the Amazon there are plenty of eco-lodges deep in the jungle providing various levels of comfort. We stayed at Sacha Lodge which was quite a mission to get to (as any Amazon lodge should be), but was fantastic. They offered several ways to view wildlife from hikes, to kayaks and tree top canopy walks. They will provide you with both an English guide and a native guide and they know everything there is to know about the jungle. Our native guide managed to spot and capture the smallest tree frog I have every seen!

Travel Tips 

Wear sun protection

Sun protection is always a good idea, but it is particularly important in the Galapagos. It is always sunny and it is easy to forget when you are in and out of the water. Wear sun protection, like a shirt, when you are snorkling and make sure you reapply sunscreen when you get out of the water.

Siesta hard

The early afternoon hours kind of suck in both the Galapagos and the Amazon. In the Galapagos they are too hot and in the Amazon they are two humid. Do as the locals do and learn to take an afternoon nap so that you can enjoy the best parts of the days.

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