Things to do in San Blas
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Wala Wala
This cheerfully decorated restaurant serves inexpensive, tasty home-style meals. It’s mostly basic Mexican and pasta with a few specialties such as lobster (M$225) and pollo con naranja (chicken with orange, M$80). There’s live music three nights a week.
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Isla Isabel
You can make an interesting trip further afield to Isla Isabel, four hours northwest of San Blas by boat. You really need a couple of days to appreciate this national park and protected ecological preserve. To visit you'll need permission from the port captain. The island is a bird-watcher's paradise, with colonies of many species and a volcanic crater lake. There are no facilities, so be prepared for self-sufficient camping.
The official price for transportation of up to five people is around $5000, but deep discounts are possible depending on your negotiation skills. For trips to Isla Isabel, ask at the boat landing on Estuario El Pozo. Alternately, you can make the tri…
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La Tovara
A boat trip through the jungle to the freshwater spring of La Tovara - a federally protected estuary - is a real San Blas highlight. Small boats go from the embarcadero (jetty). The three-hour trips go up Estuario San Cristóbal to the spring, passing thick jungle and mangroves. Bring your swimsuit to swim at La Tovara; there's a restaurant there, too.
For a few pesos more you can extend the trip from La Tovara to the Cocodrilario (crocodile nursery), where toothy reptiles are reared in captivity for later release in the wild. For a group of up to four people it costs around $360 to go to La Tovara (3½ hours) and around $440 to the Cocodrilario (four hours).
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San Blas Social Club
Run by the affable Agustín, this cozy, eclectically decorated bar is the hub of San Blas’ expatriate nightlife. Jazz records line the wall – you are welcome to pick one out and the bartender (a former matador and actor named Bernardo) will slap it on. Here you can down a mean margarita or one of the bar specialties – ask for a ‘Martin Lewis’ and see what you get. It offers live music most Saturdays (and some Fridays), steak night on Tuesday, movies on Wednesday, guest-chef night on Thursday, good strong coffee every morning and free wi-fi at all hours.
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Cerro de la Contaduría
The climb to the top of the Cerro de la Contaduría has a double payoff: a gratifying view and a strong aura of history. Stroll around the ruins of the 18th-century Spanish La Contaduría Fort, where colonial riches were once amassed and counted before being shipped off to Mexico City or the Philippines. The place is still guarded by a collection of corroded cannons. Nearby are the gorgeous ruins of the Templo de la Virgen del Rosario, built in 1769.
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Playa Las Islitas
The best beaches are southeast of town around Bahía de Matanchén, starting with Playa Las Islitas, 7km from San Blas. To get here, take the road toward Hwy 15 and turn off to the right after about 4km. This paved road goes east past the village of Matanchén, where a dirt road goes south to Playa Las Islitas and continues on to follow 8km of wonderfully isolated beach.
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La Isla
With its over-the-top seashell-encrusted interior, this place serves some of the best seafood in San Blas. Indulge yourself with one of the platillos especiales, a mix of shrimp, octopus and fresh fish cooked however you like it, and accompanied by rice, salad and fried banana. La Isla’s sister eatery on Playa El Borrego – Caballito del Mar – serves a similar menu.
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Casa del Canibal
Beloved among the town's expat population, this friendly eatery does a dynamite shrimp scampi, a rich beef stroganoff and a perfectly cooked steak. The garrulous owner is a true foodie and it shows. It also offers sumptuously catered four- to six-hour personalized tours including 'secret beach parties,' waterfall hikes, horseback riding, and mountain zip-line tours.
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Boat Trips
More boat trips depart from a landing on Estuario El Pozo. They include a trip to Piedra Blanca (two hours) to visit the statue of the Virgin, to Isla del Rey (5 minutes) just across from San Blas and to Playa del Rey, a 20km beach on the other side of the Isla del Rey peninsula. Here you can also hire boatmen to take you on bird-watching excursions.
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Diving Beyond Adventures
From December to May, Diving Beyond Adventures leads affordable adventure experiences including diving, kayaking, hiking, bird- and whale-watching. They use local guides and practice sound low-impact environmental tours. Their signature trip is a three-day diving, fishing and camping extravaganza to Isla Isabel. It also rents kayaks.
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Torino
Expats patronize this bar, run by an US-French couple, for everything from breakfast to late-night drinks. If you’ve had too many, don’t venture out back without a flashlight – the 75-year-old crocodile (Fluffy) is no hallucination.
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La Familia
This family-run restaurant charges moderate prices for delicious Mexican and seafood dishes, including a fish-and-shrimp concoction called merequetengue. Seating is on the sidewalk in front a lovely 19th-century building.
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Stoner’s Surf Camp
At Playa El Borrego, Stoner’s Surf Camp is the nexus of the scene. National longboard champion ‘Pompis’ Cano gives lessons and holds court under the palapa. You can also stay at the camp.
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Restaurant McDonald
This highly regarded meeting place serves basic antojitos (small plates), seafood dishes and beautifully presented carne asada (M$89). Mike’s Place bar upstairs features live music some nights.
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Playa El Borrego
The beach closest to the town is Playa El Borrego, at the end of Azueta. Broad waves roll in with bravado, and swimming can be treacherous in some conditions - beware of rip currents and heed locals' warnings.
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Templo de la Virgen del Rosario
Close to the fort are the gorgeous ruins of the Templo de la Virgen del Rosario, built in 1769. You'll find the road up just west of the bridge over Estuario San Cristóbal.
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Restaurant El Delfín
This, the best choice for fine dining, serves an impressive array of rich, gourmet dishes. Desserts are magnificent and the international wines are reasonably priced.
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Australia Bar
The long bar of this upstairs pool room, celebrating Down Under chic, is dotted with cool youths and grungy foreigners throwing drinks back.
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Mike's Place
This lively bar primes the dance floor with a good mix of blues and rock. There's live music from Friday to Sunday.
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El Cocodrilo
This old favorite still attracts gringos in the evening, using well-priced cocktails as bait.
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