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Another option that worked smoothly for [[User:Dargeron|Dargeron]] on 2012 is to travel to the small town of Portobello, not too far from Colon, where most of the sail boats heading for Colombia stop at some point. The main advantage of taking this route instead of hitchhiking in Colon is a sailor hostel and bar called Captain's Jack, where you can easily find and talk to almost every captain who stops in Portobello (mostly at the evening/night). That offers an invaluable help to anyone attempting to hitch a boat ride, as instead of a tense, two-sentence request at the port, you can actually meet the captains, talk to them, perhaps invite them to a drink, and slowly gain their acceptance.
The same is true for the small village of Puerto Lindo, where quite a few of the "backpacker boats" are anchoring and you might get to know Captains in need of crew once you're sitting in the café frequented by yachties and gringos. You reach this village (which user [[User:Cha |Cha]] found to have two hostels in 2013) from Colón via Portobelo, from where you can hitchhike easily or take the bus going to Guaira and get off in Puerto Lindo (ask driver).
Of course, the reverse of the method discussed above also works. To catch a plane to Obaldia go to the aiport in Panama city. To get to Carti ask for the road to the Kuna Yala national park. From there boats into the San Blas are eratic but existant, although I'm not sure they would take anyone for free as they do come there specifically to pick people up. To find the trail you would have to follow the Panamerican as far south as it goes, and then head north to the coast in the comarca Kuna Yala. Then you will still need a boat to reach Obaldia (there is no walking there unless you fancy being kidnapped by FARC...)
