While exploring the Bocas del Toro at the end of our trip through Panama, we quickly realized that the province has two very different sides. Obviously, there are the paradisical white-sand-beaches of the Bocas Archipelago that are pictured in all the guidebooks and Instagram posts.
But unless you want to, a trip to the region doesn’t have to solely be about lazing on the beach. For instance, while we were there, we also waded through flooded limestone caves on Isla Colón or took a boat trip to visit the manatees in the mangroves of the Rio San San.
In this three day itinerary to the region, I’ve tried to combine both of these sides, to give you a well-rounded introduction to both Bocas del Toro’s popular and more adventurous attractions.
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Guided Tours of Bocas del Toro
We explored the area independently, but if you’d like to avoid the hassle of sorting everything out yourself, there are tons of guided tours available. Have a look below for some options.
A 3-Day Itinerary for Bocas del Toro
If you’ve got three days to spare, I suggest dedicating one full day to Isla Colón and Isla Bastimentos each, with a trip to the mainland in-between.
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Top 3 Places to Stay in Bocas del Toro
Budget Option: Cliff’s Hostel
Midrange: Selina Red Frog (pictured)
Luxury Choice: Eclypse de Mar Acqua Lodge
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Day 1: Isla Colón
Isla Colón is clearly the archipelago’s most popular place, although as we quickly realized, people tend to converge in Bocas Town and around Boca del Drago on the Western coast of the island, while the interior and northern coast were much more laid-back.
Starfish Beach
Starfish Beach is clearly one of the main attractions on the islands, so it’s a good idea to get here early to avoid the crowds. Grab a bite in Bocas Town and then board a bus to Boca del Drago at the Western Edge of Plaza Bólivar.
From Boca del Drago, you’ll have to follow a small trail down the coast through a pretty landscape of coconut palm groves for about 15 minutes to reach Starfish Beach. We arrived there later in the day and the place was already quite crowded, so we decided to walk right down to the end of the beach, where it was quieter.
As the name implies, the beach is famous for the amount of large, colourful Starfish that populate the shallow waters near the shore. In the 20 minutes or so we spent wading around the water, we spotted at least 50, but I’m sure there’s loads more in the deeper sections, which you could explore with some snorkeling gear.
Just make sure to be very careful where you step while wading through the water, and don’t touch the starfish or take them out of the water, as this can severely hurt them. Afterwards, make your way back to Boca del Drago to hop a bus back to Bocas Town.
Caving at La Gruta
If you’re up for an adventure, get off about halfway across the island near the tiny village of Colonia Santeña to explore the nearby cave La Gruta. Unlike Starfish Beach, not many travelers come here, judging by the confused look we got from the bus driver.
There’s a box near the road, in which we had to throw a 1$ entrance fee, before continuing to the cave along the small path. In the property on the left, some people have formed an intentional community and will be happy to rent out some gumboots and headlamps for exploring the caves.
We were really glad that we took them up on the offer, as we needed our hands free to navigate the tunnels and the floor of the cave is not only flooded, but full of sharp volcanic rock, so going barefoot isn’t an option. I also suggest that you wear swimwear, as the water reaches waist height at times.
There are two cave-tunnels to explore. The first one is shorter and easier to navigate. At the entrance, there’s a small statue of the Virgin Mary, as the area is sometimes used for church services. Once inside, you’ll have to wade through gently-flowing water, as a small stream runs through the cave, but the water doesn’t get as deep as in the second cave.
Walking through the first cave only took us 5 minutes. Afterwards, you can either turn around or follow the small brook through the jungle before entering the second cave. This one is much more adventurous, and you’ll have to alternately wade through sometimes waist-high water, climb up rocks and squeeze through narrow openings.
After about 15 minutes, you’ll come out the other side, where you can climb up the left-hand slope and walk back to the start along the path through the jungle. It’s a super fun adventure, but you shouldn’t be afraid of bats or insects.
In some parts of the cave, the ceiling was basically covered in sleeping bats and we tried our best not to disturb them, but we still always had a few fluttering around our heads. We also saw tons of cave crickets and some freakishly large tail-less whip scorpions.
Plastic Bottle Village (Castillo Inspíración)
After your caving adventure, you’ll have to either hop another bus in direction of Bocas Town or walk along the main road for a bit until you reach the weird sight of the Plastic Bottle Village. The castle-like structure was built by local expat Robert Bezeau to show people the amount of trash that’s being dumped into nature and give the otherwise useless plastic bottles another purpose.
It’s part of a hotel complex, but nobody was around when we were there. The door was open, however, and we climbed the three stories inside to the deserted rooftop bar. Inside there are some artworks likewise pointing out the effects of pollution on the environment. Walking around the completely empty castle built out of plastic bottles was a surreal experience to say the least.
Playa Bluff
Playa Bluff is one of the prettiest beaches I’ve come across in the Caribbean, only rivalled by Dominica’s Hampstead Beach, so it’s the perfect place to wind down after a caving adventure.
What’s even better, is that not a lot of people seem to make it this far. While strolling along the beach, we only met a single Panamanian couple. The only drawback is that swimming is kind of dangerous here, because of the strong currents.
Without your own transport, you’ll have to flag down a rare taxi along the main road, or hop the bus back to Bocas Town and get a taxi from there (we paid 4$ after some negotiations). Afterwards, we walked along the coast back to Bocas Town, which took us about 1.5 hours.
Dinner and Cocktails in Bocas Town
We didn’t really like Bocas Town, for two reasons. Firstly, there was road-work going on simultaneously in every single street of the village (as an American backpacker we met a few days earlier rightfully remarked: ‘Bocas is under construction‘).
Obviously, this might change in a year or two and Bocas Town might be much nicer, but the place also feels very artificial with tons of clubs aimed at tourists and restaurants serving everything but Panamanian food. We found it to be a convenient place to base ourselves, especially to get an early start to the mainland, but it wasn’t really our scene.
If partying is your thing, you should definitely stay here, though, especially on Fridays, when the partying reaches the weekly high for the ‘Filthy Fridays’ Club-Crawl. We preferred to grab a sea-side dinner at El Chitré, which was affordable and actually served local food. Afterwards we dropped by Selina Bar for some cocktails on their terace by the sea.
Day 2: Mainland Bocas
Manatee Spotting at San San Pond Sak
Almost nobody seems to make it to Bocas del Toro’s mainland to explore its cool off-the beaten-path sights. One of our favourite activities in all of Panama was our boat trip through the San San Pond Sak Nature reserve to go manatee spotting.
You’ll definitely need to book your tour in advance by dropping the Aamvecona guys an E-Mail a few days prior (info@aamvecona.com). To get to the reserve, you’ll have to first take a ferry to the mainland, then a bus from Almirante to Changuinola.
At the bus station in Changuinola, you can catch any bus headed for the Costa Rican border, and they’ll drop you off near the Aamvecona office near the highway. From the office we boarded a motorboat which took us along the Rio San San to a wooden shelter among the mangroves, where we watched a manatee feeding on palm-leaves.
Watching the shy creature in its natural surroundings was amazing, as was the trip along the river, where we spotted tons of birds and turtles. We paid 60$ per Person for the 4-hour tour, which seemed pretty reasonable considering it was just the two of us.
Transport to Isla Bastimentos and Playa Polo
A trip to San San Pond Sak will take the better part of a day, but if you start early, you should have enough time left to move your base from Isla Colón to the much quieter and more attractive Isla Bastimentos. We took the ferry service at Selina Hotel in Bocas, but there are several other places in town offering boat trips to Isla astimentos.
Here, we based ourselves in a pretty jungle hut at Selina Red Frog, from where it’s just a short walk north to the popular Red Frog Beach. However, if you’ve still got enough daylight and energy left, I suggest heading east to the much cooler Playa Polo, instead.
Here, you can hang around in a true tropical paradise and have a rum-filled coconut (lovingly dubbed Coco Loco) with Polo, the eccentric owner of the beach before grabbing some dinner at your hotel.
Day 3: Isla Bastimentos
Depending on how easy you want to take it on your last day in Bocas, you could either explore the western or eastern half of Isla Bastimentos, or get up early(-ish) and combine both.
Playa Larga
Playa Larga was by far our favourite beach on the island, which was mostly due to the fact, that we had the entire 6km stretch of beach completely to ourselves. What’s more, we didn’t meet a single soul on the way to or from the beach. People really don’t seem to explore much of Isla Bastimentos by foot.
The beach lies inside the Isla Bastimentos National Park. To get there, you’ll have to follow the northern coast of the island east from Red Frog Beach, which took us about 1.5 hours. It’s not too far, but at parts, the trail is quite overgrown and hard to follow and once we got closer to the beach, we sometimes found it easier to just wade through the water than walk through the underbrush.
On the way there, keep your eyes peeled for tiny Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs, of which we spotted quite a few on the trail, especially close to the edge of the National Park (there’s a big decaying wooden sign marking the border). Afterwards just retrace your steps to head back to Red Frog Beach.
Wizard Beach
If you’ve still got enough energy left, you can just continue West past Red Frog Beach until you reach Wizard Beach. Once you’ve crossed the tiny headland at the western end of Red Frog beach, try to stick as close to the sea as possible. There are several trails, and the ones further inland lead into some swampy territory, which we found hard to cross.
Wizard beach is another pretty jungle-backed white-sand beach, but definitely not as deserted as Playa Larga, given how close it is to Isla Bastimentos main town Old Bank. To get to the village, you’ll have to simply follow the small Wizard’s Beach Trail south from the beach. Keep your eyes peeled for sloths in the trees along the way – we spotted one in a tall Cecropia Tree.
Old Bank Village
Isla Bastimentos’ main settlement feels worlds removed from the chaos of Bocas Town. It’s a small collection of colourful wooden houses along a pretty main road in which you’ll definitely see more locals than visitors.
Surrounded by old men play dominoes and cards out in the open and children riding their bicycles down the narrow lanes, we felt transported back in time a few decades. There’s a small historical trail with information signs at the most important buildings in town and if you walk all the way to the western end of town, you’ll reach a spot with a nice view of neighbouring Isla Carenero.
After you’re done exploring Old Bank, you can simply retrace your steps to your hotel for your final night on the islands.
Bocas del Toro Map
All of the places mentioned above can be found in this map of Bocas del Toro. I’ve used different colours for the different days of the itinerary.
Practicalities
Where to Stay in Bocas del Toro
If you want to follow my itinerary, it’s a good idea to stay on Isla Colón for the first night to get an early start to the mainland on Day 2. Bocas Town has some cheap hostels, like Cliff’s Hostel, as well as some fancier options like Hotel Bocas Town.
After returning from San San Pond Sak, you can move to the more attractive Isla Bastimentos for the other two nights. We stayed at a cool cabin in the jungle at Selina Red Frog. If you’re after some luxury, Eclypse de Mar Acqua Lodge on Isla Bastimentos has very good reviews.
How to Get to Bocas del Toro
To reach the islands, you’ll have to first reach the town of Almirante on Bocas mainland and then take a speedboad from there.
That said, in the bus stations of Panama City and lots of other places along the Panamericana, you can often buy a direct connection to Bocas del Toro, which means that you’ll be brought to Almirante by bus and then someone will lead you to one of the speedboat operators to get brought over to Isla Colón.
If you’re looking for a more comfortable and often speedier way to get there, you can book one of several shuttle services to and from the islands. These are also useful if you start your trip someplace without bus station. We used a shuttle from the Lost & Found Hostel to Bocas, as the regular buses tend to be completely full when passing by that place (they can sort it out for you).
Have a look below for some more options.
Where to Go Next