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Bocas del Toro

Basic Guide

Bocas del Toro is a beautiful province located in Panama. It is one of those places that you MUST visit whether you are a tourist or if you are living in this country. If you are like me, currently in Panama City, you have two options; either get a bus from the Albrook Terminal (link here) that will cost you around $27.80 for a one way trip (just take into consideration that the bus ride will take around 10 hours), or you could buy a plane ticket from Air Panama which will get you there much faster. 

I have been to Bocas del Toro twice, and in my recent trip I stayed in an island called Bastimentos, which I do not recommend as there are only a few hostels and restaurants with not a lot of activities to do. However, if by any chance you will be staying there I will give you some tips when staying there. Instead, I highly recommend the main island called "Isla Colon" which is the one where I stayed at the first time that I went. 

Isla Colon is definitely the best to stay as you will find many hostels and hotels, typical Panamanian gift shops, restaurants, tour guides, bike rentals, nightclubs and much more. The best thing about going to  Bocas del Toro is that it revolves around tourists, they live off tourism, so in every corner you will find someone offering you their best tours and activities. Here are the top places you must visit:

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  • Red Frog Beach 

  • Wizard Beach

  • Zapatilla Cay

  • Starfish Beach 

  • Bird Island 

  • Dolphin Cay

  • Boca del Drago 

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As I mentioned before, there are plenty of tours that you can choose from once you are in Isla Colon and they are about the same price (ranging from $25-$40 per person), which includes a whole day trip from around 9 am to 5 pm and normally does not include any food unless they offer it with an additional fee. Therefore, I would advise you to bring snacks and drinks for the day, as for lunch you will probably stop in a nice island where you can buy your lunch at some restaurant (buy fish as it is obviously super fresh and delicious!). These tours usually take you to around 2 or 3 of the mentioned beaches/islands above: for example one of the tours that I did this past trip it included first going to Dolphin Bay where we spotted 3 dolphins that came up close to out boat to say hi and play around. Next we went to Coral Cay to do some snorkeling, which is the best place to do it! Then we went to Zapatilla Cay where  we stayed for around 2 hours to just chill by the beach. Afterwards, we stopped in a beautiful little restaurant by the water to have lunch, obviously I had fish! 

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So this is a basic guide and introduction of travling to Bocas del Toro, in upcoming posts I will go more into detail about each of the mentioned places above, tips, and must do activities. 

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