Best Caribbean cruising route from Florida to Panama

[Mikado]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some feedback on what you consider to be the best cruising route to take next month starting in the Florida Keys to the Panama canal.

Our boat is a 56' Ketch with 6'6" draft. We have a total of 8 weeks and the first 1 1/2 weeks will be spent in the Keys. I do not have any experience in the Caribbean so whether we go East or West, it will all be a new to me.

Here is what I was thinking.

My plan is to leave Titusville on the 16th of April. We'll head down the ICW to Ft Pierce and pick up a couple "Keys" crew then cut out to the coast and down to Miami. Depending upon the weather we will then decide what islands to visit in the Keys. We'll spend about a week in the Keys with a final stop in Key West where we will say goodbye to four crew. We will then wait for a weather window and travel west across the northern coast of Cuba to Isla Mujeres. From there we will begin our southern run with stops in Cozumel, Roatan, Providencia, Isla San Andres and possibly the San Blas Islands before the canal transit.

If you have any advice on the route in general, or any "must see" or "must avoid" locations I would appreciate any feedback that you have.

Thanks!! Jeff

[Chuck Baier]

6 1/2 weeks to Panama? My first advise would be to postpone the trip till you have more time. Unless you look for a weather window and prepare the boat and crew for some serious weather offshore sailing in case your window closes, and it will, then do a direct run to Panama. You will most definitely run out of time trying to do stops along the way. Having said that, click on the link on my signature and read our post that cover from The Keys to Guatemala.