Desert Island Survival Adventure in Panama
From:
£3,290
Duration:
8 days
Date:
21 Mar – 29 Mar 2025
Max People:
12
Min Age:
18+
The Highlights of our panama adventure
Primary tropical rainforest right down to the beach
Huge expansive beaches
Phosphorescent plankton lighting up the ocean
Excellent fishing
Diverse birdlife
Nestling Turtles
Great international connections
Trip Summary
Embark on an adventure that blends human connection, bushcraft, and survival on a remote desert island paradise in Panama— where you’ll push your limits, collaborate with others, and face challenges that will help you grow in unexpected ways.
So here is the plan: You’ll arrive in the dynamic capital of Panama City where we spend one night in a vibrant downtown hotel. You’ll meet your new tribe, head out for dinner in the old town and cover the expedition briefing. Try to get a good night’s sleep—tomorrow, the real adventure begins!
The next morning, we’ll take you on a 90-minute speedboat ride to an uninhabited desert island—your new home for the next few days. This untouched paradise will be the setting for a 3-night immersive bushcraft experience. You’ll learn essential survival skills in a supportive environment designed to build your confidence. Nights are spent sleeping in expedition hammocks, cooking over a campfire, and sharing stories (and a bottle of rum). This phase is all about fun, learning, and connection.
Just as you are starting to feel a little too comfortable, it’s time for the real challenge. You and your tribe will transition to a more remote part of the island for a 48-hour survival test. No hammock. No instructors. Just a machete, a satellite phone, and your wits. You’ll build shelters, find food, make fire, and purify water—all on your own. It will be tough, but you’ll feel more alive than ever.
After 3 days, you are rescued and head back to what now feels like a 10 star hotel for the best shower of your life and a survival feast.
By the end of this adventure, you might realize navigating a desert island isn’t so different from the challenges you face everyday.
Sounds like your type of adventure? We hope so!
- Meet your fellow adventurers poolside at the hotel for cocktails, an expedition briefing, and dinner.
- After breakfast, board a speedboat to the island.
- Explore the island, set up camp, and build your shelter.
- Share stories around the campfire with rum in hand before retiring to your hammock.
- Morning: Master the art of making fire by friction.
- Afternoon: Learn to catch fish and prepare a feast
- Discover various techniques for finding food, including primitive hand-lining and spearfishing.
- Celebrate with fresh pina coladas made from island coconuts, followed by tribal-themed festivities and beach games.
- Begin the survival phase. The fire goes out, the instructors leave, and it’s just you and your tribe against the elements.
- Survival phase – day 2
- Rescue day. Nothing will feel sweeter than seeing the rescue boats arrive, stocked with ice-cold drinks.
- Celebrate your achievement with a survival feast and stay at a boutique hotel on Contadora Island.
- Enjoy a leisurely morning before heading back to Panama City in the afternoon.
The Island
A Tropical Wilderness Awaits
Immerse yourself in a 560-acre island paradise where unbroken jungle meets pristine white sand beaches. Part of Panama’s Pearl Islands archipelago, this untouched haven is just 60 miles from Panama City yet feels worlds away. With 23 beaches, nesting sea turtles, phosphorescent plankton, and over 40 bird species, it’s the perfect setting for adventure and survival.
Depending on the season, you may witness turtles—Olive Ridley, Green, or even Leatherbacks—nesting on the beach. The island is also home to vibrant wildlife, including the brilliantly colored Halloween Moon crabs.
This adventure is designed to push your boundaries, build resilience, and teach invaluable skills—all within the breathtaking beauty of Panama’s wild frontier.
Check out our other FAQs or contact us here.
First off, one of the most important considerations is travel time from your home country. Then you should consider whether domestic travel is required when you arrive. We love the website flight connections to help with travel time.
Panama– Typically easiest to get to and no domestic transfers.
Panama is our easiest destination to reach. Not only is Panama City served with direct flights from most major US cities and several European capitals (view the connections map here), you also do not need to take any domestic transfers.
You will need to travel to Panama City, Panama, Tocumen PTY (not to be confused with Panama city in Florida). You should arrive latest the same day your expedition starts. We will meet on the expedition start date at 5pm (if your arrive very late this day that is ok just let us know). For your return flight please make sure you are looking at flights on the last expedition day after 3pm.
We recommend you download Hopper’ for your phone and enter your dates. They will tell you when the best time to book your flights is before the price creeps up, typically 90 days prior is optimum.
We also love using flight connection maps for finding your best route from where you live.
Google flights is our favourite flight search engines, however, we always recommend booking directly with the airline once you have found your flights as you will have a preferential cancellation policy and better upgrade potential.
Check out our Panama Travel Guide for more information about the destination or check out our blog for Panama related articles.
Excellent
5.0
48 Reviews
“TRIP OF A LIFETIME! I did the Panama trip and it was extraordinary. All the people were amazing. Tom is a fantastic instructor. And everything about the experience was great. I made lifetime friends and had once in a lifetime opportunities like seeing baby turtles and eating stingray. Can’t recommend this experience enough.”
Tom McCann
“An incredible experience shared with an even more incredible group of strangers turned friends. I’m so grateful I was able to disconnect from the fast pace of everyday life and slow down to reconnect with myself and the natural world around me.
I was able to spend each day fully present. I learned new skills that made me feel strong and empowered. And I witnessed the unique gifts found within every single member of our “Best Group Ever” tribe.
Jessica Wicks
“Definetly the expedtion of a lifetime! If you dare to go, you will be telling stories about it to your grandkids for sure. Full disconnect from the mainland’s problems and worries, full dive into here and now on the island. And the best instructors you can ask for (Tom McElroy & Azrael), but you won’t know unless you try ;)”
Ulia Petrushenko
Excellent
5.0
48 Reviews
People love us
“Best trip ever with the best group ever! I’ve done Survival trips in the past, but Tom & the team have a way to make the trip so enjoyable and exciting that it was the best one I’ve done. I completely recommend this trip to anyone looking for a lifetime adventure.”
“This was a once in a lifetime experience for me. Every day had something unforgettable happend – from catching a shark, to going spearfishing for triggerfish, to having deep conversations or the biggest belly laugh of your life with your island mates, learning a critical survival skill, starting a fire using bow drills, watching dozens of baby sea turtles crawl across the beach, or staring at an incredible sunset or night sky filled with stars.”
“WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!! Finally we did it, highly recommended. Tom took care of every detail. I’m glad I’ve done this.. it’s a one life experience that I was really looking forward. It was a very good thing to start this adventure with Tom, and have his help and advice. Really nice person, extremely helpful and nice to know”
