In the last hours of the year, we boarded the Isla Morada, a ship built in the United States in 1912 as a luxury yacht, for a New Year’s Eve celebration in the Panama Bay off Panama City. We were in good company.
New Year’s Eve fireworks over the fast-gentrifying Casco Viejo neighborhood of Panama City, Panama.
A star-studded boat
At one point or another Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Errol Flynn, and James Garner have all been aboard the storied Isla Morada. Originally christened the Santana, the ship has been owned by millionaires, the US Navy, and some dude in Florida (who re-named it the Isla Morada).
Most (in) famously, the gangster Al Capone used the Isla Morada to smuggle rum and whiskey from Cuba and the Dominican Republic to the Florida Keys during prohibition. After Capone went to jail the Isla Morada was confiscated and used by the US Navy, which is how it ended up in Panama where it was used as a floating hotel, a fishing vessel, and now a tourist boat. The Isla Morada, which turned 100 in 2012, is said to have made more crossings of the Panama Canal than any other vessel still in use.
New Year’s Eve fireworks amidst the mini-Miami skyline of downtown Panama City, Panama.
New Year’s Eve on the Isla Morada
Rum and whiskey (and vodka and beer and wine) were back on board the Isla Morada during her annual New Year’s Eve sailing last night. The party cruise is put on by Kevin O’Brien, a Massachusetts native and experienced tour guide who now lives in Panama where he started and runs a full-service and notably sustainable tour company called Barefoot Panama.
We had a great time enjoying the breeze, views of the skyscraper-filled Panama City skyline and more than an hour and a half of fireworks going off all over the city. It was all a bit haphazard (not at all like the tightly choreographed fireworks displays in the US) and nearly impossible to photograph from the gently rocking boat, but the rum flowed and the times were good.
Partiers on board the Isla Morada boat for Barefoot Panama’s annual New Year’s Eve bay cruise in Panama City, Panama.
Happy 2013 everyone!
Read our full story about New Year’s Eve on Al Capone’s boat for Bio.com.
Here’s more about travel in Panama
Here’s more about Festivals & Celebrations in the Americas
That must have been a great way to celebrate, Happy New Year!
as awesome as this probably was, im not good on boats! we celebrated our first new year in Chiang Mai this year which was pretty lame to be honest. Next year i’ll do some better research.
The Barefoot Panama New Year’s Eve boat tour on the Isla Morada was entirely in the bay so the water was really, really calm.
We went on this cruise last year and were a bit disappointed, we were so far out into the bay we could hardly see the fireworks going off in the city. This year we stayed in my friend’s apartment on the 44th floor and had a blast!
This was the most legendary boat I ever went on to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The waters were calm, the lights around the city glittered like jewels, and the whole setup by Barefoot Tours was amazingly superb! I even filmed the fireworks with my own smartphone camera, seeing the red solar flare descending into Panama Bay. I commend Kevin for a well crafted event!