We are in Las Perlas in Bayoneta tucked back in a bit. Aeronaval came to visit…told us we were not in a safe spot and suggested we move. We showed them a map of the islands and they gave us the areas to avoid. Gave us their emergency number 108 and were very helpful! Thanks for all the work here Posse. Seems they are very proactive now about our safety!

The National Aeronaval Service (SENAN) confirmed that on Monday night a group of four people violently assaulted US citizens who were in a US-flagged vessel anchored in the area near San Miguel Island. Wielding machetes and firearms they stole cell phones, cash, and a camera.

It is the second assault with similar characteristics in Las Perlas On February 9, a 75-year-old man was also robbed on his sailboat with the United States flag, when he was off the island of Espiritu Santo.

The authorities are patrolling the area to find the criminals. "We deployed personnel to intensify verification in ports, air and sea patrols," Major Walter Hernández, SENAN's head of Plans and Orders, told La Prensa. Hernández clarified that there is still no pattern to determine if it is an organized group or common robberies, without any connection.

Las Perlas is the first stop for yachts after transiting through the Panama Canal. It is also a tourist destination where hundreds of sailboats pass with passengers who want, to visit or spend a few days in the area.

An alert circulated among sailors anchored in the Causway: "If you are in the Las Perlas area, we urge you to leave." “They are assaulting the sailboats with an armed force and it is very, very sad. They are going to affect the marketplace (plaza) badly.”

Hey guys Gabby here from Voodoo. We just got back to service and decided to share what happened in Las perlas. So we were anchored off isla Contradora, I was outside having my coffee when a fellow cruiser pulled up super close to us and told us they have been robbed and needed us to call the police. We were not robbed but helped a fellow cruiser who was. We told them to anchor and went over to help. This boat was anchored off isla del ray at isla del espiritu santo ( it got great reviews on navionics) at 8pm small skiff approached their boat super fast ( so fast their dog didn't even bark). 3 men in total boarded, before the women got outside she already had a gun in her face. They told the couple to lie down face down in the cockpit. While one guy held a gun to their heads the other two guys pulled EVERYTHING out of the boat, closets, bilge, everywhere. They took anything of value. They took tools, ipads, phones, hand held radios, everything. They took the gas can to the dinghy (since they couldn't detach the motor). They then  made them go in the bow room and cut the vhf radio wire as they left. We tried to find authorities at isla Contradora but there are no police there. They told them they had to report it in Panama city. We decided to leave after that as well since we did not want anything similar to happened to us. The couple is fine thankfully they are not hurt at all, but being robbed at gunpoint is very scary.  If anyone has any questions I will try to answer them the best I can but keep in mind I just helped them the next morning.

On the east side of Isla del Rey in proximity to Isla Elephantes there is a dangerous rock awash marked on  Navionics bu not on sat images be aware