Bocas Del Toro
Bocas Del Toro is one of the many picture postcard destinations of Panama. We were very much looking forward to another couple of days at beautiful beaches and looking around the islands only to be stuck in the main town due to bad weather. The main town on Isla Colon has some nice restuarants, Raw Fusion getting a particular mention, however if you're in the main town you are a boat ride away from the beaches which can make this a pricey destination. You can stay on one of the many other islands and if you're looking for some good beach time Red Frog really does hit the spot.
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| The beautiful Red Frog beach |
Getting There
We caught the 11am bus from Puerto Viejo to Sixoala, there you can stamp out of Costa Rica. You can pay your exit tax by card in the immigration office, or by cash at a dodgy looking stall just down a slope from the office.After you've stamped in to Panama you can either pay 10 USD for a shuttle to Almirante (1.5 hours) where it's another 5 USD (you could haggle) to get a one way ticket to Bocas Town.
The other option from the border is to take a bus to Changuinola for 1 USD, and then a collectivo for another 1 USD to Almirante. This is what we did.
Where we stayed
Hostel Calipso - Aircon didn't seem to work, the room was very loud with a kid in the next room, and sounds of people drinking late at night. But, the staff were friendly and it was one of the better deals we found at 30 USD a night.Food and Drink
- Raw Fusion - awesome sushi restaurant on Isla Colon, the happy hour makes it even better.
- Cafe Del Mar - great for breakfast, the blueberry pancakes were delicious (though they'd run out of blueberries so we actually had strawberries)
Journal
Arrival
We boarded the bus at Puerto Viejo at around 11am, headed for Sixoala on the Panama border.
Getting off at the border we followed the rest of the border across the square and up a ramp to the immigration office. There was an exit tax stall at the bottom of the hill where you can get your exit recipt if you have excess cash. Otherwise you can also pay on card at immigration office (if the machine is working).
After you're stamped out of Costa Rica you walk across a bridge and up to the immigration office for Panama. We were directed round the corner to one office where we got some forms and payed a few dollars before we were directed to another office where we handed in all our immigration forms and got our fingerprints taken. We walked back across the road and under a bridge where we were then able to take a chicken bus to Chingunola and from there a collectivo to Almirante where we were able to catch a boat towards Isla Colon, the largest island of the Bocas Del Toro Archipelago.
When we got to Almirante we were met off the collectivo by a man clearly after some commission for bringing us to a boat company which was about a 300 metre walk. It was overcast at this point and we asked the man where the sunshine was. He told us that after today it would only be sunshine and not worry. As we had arrived in Panama the official currency was the US dollar, this felt very odd to suddenly have a good understanding of what things are worth rather than wandering around thinking we're millionaires because of all the currencies had 1000+ notes. For the boat over to Bocas town is was 10USD return, this felt a bit steep but actually after a few days on the islands we found out you can often get things a bit cheaper if you wait and go with a big group. We needed to be able to jump straight on a boat on the way back so it worked well having the security of a return ticket. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the boat and while we waited we had to put up with a sales performance from a coconut seller. At first we tried to ignore him but soon his calls of "would you like a honeymoon coconut?" and his claim that "this is the best coconut in the world" meant we couldn't ignore him any longer. We got one for a dollar and it was indeed a very nice coconut, possibly the best I've ever had!
We boarded the boat and put on our life jackets before we headed towards Isla Colon. The sea in the sheltered archipelago was flat as a pancake and the speed boat skipped across the sea at a great pace. I spotted a couple of dolphins surface but unfortunately Kate was looking the wrong way! We pulled in to the dock of Bocas Town, we could already see many of the hostels we'd read about from the boat so made a mental note of where they were. We hadn't booked accommodation for Bocas as we were hoping to camp, unfortunately the campsite we had messaged hadn't got back to us. We got off the boat and were immediately accosted by people trying to get us to stay at their hostels. We told them we wanted to camp at las iguanas "It's closed" they replied. Saying it's closed is one of the oldest tricks in the book for those touts so we didn't believe, however we were very tired and not sure we wanted to hike all the way to the campsite as it was pretty far out of town.
I did a quick recon of the central area to see if there were any hostels that might suit us, the first one offered camping, but on inspection it reminded me of a refugee camp with people lying on floors and shanty like tents strung up on the wooden floors. I decided to keep looking. Just on the opposite side of the central square I found hostel Calipso, there was a private room with an ensuite and aircon for 30 USD. I checked the room and it wasn't the cleanest but it would do. I went back to get Kate to do the final check. Kate looked into the room and her bag was down before she said anything, we were taking the room then! We booked in for two nights though we though we might stay for three, we'd decide later and book another night if necessary.
Day 1
It was late afternoon and we were very hungry. Kate did her customary google and found a nearby sushi place called "Raw Fusion" that had excellent reviews. We hadn't had much sushi recently so we decided to go and check it out. It was just round the corner from the hostel so we got there very quickly, though we did dip in to a few shops along the way as I still needed a new hat! Raw Fusion is a small restuarnt that is essentially build on the water along a jetty. We sat at the end of the restaurant next to one of the boats that was moored. Some people had come in their speed boat and parked right at their table which was a very cool way to get to a restaurant! We got a couple of rolls and mains dishes and were very impressed with the sushi. It was delicious and we also got some happy hour beers which also didn't disappoint.
We had another look around the shops afterwards which seemed to open unusually late, we then headed back to the hostel for bed.
Day 2
Our second day was a very lazy one, especially when we saw the grey skies and rain had not subsided. We explored the town and its shops a little more and also investigated the overnight bus to Panama city. We asked around a few of the agencies who were selling the overnight bus and transfers for 40USD. We managed to haggle them down to 35USD as well said we already had our boat ticket which we were pretty happy with. Interestingly, when we picked up the tickets (at the bus station just before leaving) I noticed the official price of the ticket was 27USD. I'm not 100% sure if you could just show up at the bus ticket and get it for that price (probably) but you'd risk not getting a seat as they do book up. Possibly buying from the bus station when you pass through Almirante on the way to Bocas would be the best way but would definitely require better organisation than we had.
Nothing more of note really happened in the day, we went back to Raw Fusion for more sushi and some happy hour drinks before later heading to Selina to have a few drinks there. The bar was pretty busy but we managed to nab a table so we ended up staying for at least a few, and that was the end to a very slow day.
Day 3
After our very lazy second we decided we needed to do something with our third day. We wanted to head to the beach as that is what Bocas Del Toro is famous for and we still hadn't seen any! We headed out of town towards the nearest beach which is about 1.5km out of town. As we walked storm clouds were gathering ominously above us and by the time we reached the beach the first few drops started to fall. We sort refuge just at a nearby supermarket just as the deluge hit and there we stayed for a good hour as the rain did not let up. This was not how we had intended to spend the day!
When the rain did eventually begin to ease we took the opportunity to head back in to town where we did a bit of shopping and then again sheltered from the rain which lasted all day long. We decided we would have to try and go to one of the other islands the next day, though it would involve getting back early as we needed to make it to the bus to Panama City, and preferably not be covered in sand!
Day 4
On our fourth and last day the sun finally broke through the clouds that had hung over Bocas Del Toro for the entirety of our stay. It was time to head to the beach! We packed up our bags and put them in to storage at the hostel and then headed down the the docks to see about organising a boat over to Red Frog island.
When we got to the dock there were quite a few people offering boats at exorbitant prices. They pointed to the sign that said 12 USD however our experience so far was that these signs were just another tactic to rip people off. We'd read online that it should be closer to 8 USD return to red frog so after walking around a bit more and running in to a group who were also wanting to head to Red Frog we managed to negotiate that price. A couple of minutes later we were on the boat and speeding across to Red Frog beach. We were a little worried about how the pick up would work as we didn't want to miss our boat to Almirante and in turn our bus to Panama City, we agreed the boatman would come back at 3pm and he assured us that he would recognise us, fingers crossed.
When we got to Red Frog we were dropped off at one of the hotels docks. I'm not entirely sure this is where we were meant to be dropped off as many others said they'd come to another dock, and as a happy accident we dodged the Red Frog entrance fee! We got to Isla Red Frog (so named because of the strawberry poison dart frogs that frequent the swamps around it) at about 11:30am, and the group we were with told us that from the dock we were at you have to walk across the island to get to the famous beach which should take about 15 minutes.
The walk was a very pleasant walk along jungle fringed dirt tracks with the occasional golf cart or ATV flying past. The dirt track soon turned into a path through the jungle, which at the end of we could see the beach appearing through the trees.
Reaching the end of the track Red Frog beach suddenly as a large sweeping stretch of wide sand with perfect turquoise waters inviting us for a dip. We setup at the beach and took to the water which not only was the perfect temperature but have some of the nicest waves I've experienced anywhere. Soon we were feeling very thirsty and rather peckish. We grabbed some smoothies and tacos at the amusingly named beach side cafe, Nachyo Mamas taco bar.
We spent a couple of more hours enjoying the beach before the 3 o'clock leaving time loomed. We made our way back along the tracks and to the dock where we'd been dropped off and waited anxiously for about 15 minutes before our boatman appeared with a boat of passengers he'd already picked up. It was about 3:10pm and we were worried we wouldn't have enough time to get back to the hostel and then back to the dock to get our boat back to the mainland. As is always the way this was when our boatman decided to stop every five minutes to pick up fuel, have a chat, and at one point he appeared to stop to pick up a suspicious looking packet of white powder; He then sniffed some of the contents of this packet before getting back on the boat and driving us at breakneck speed back to Isla Colon, the incredulous passengers of the boat were very thankful to make it back to the island alive!
We rushed back to the hostel where we managed to shower in one of the rooms that had been left open and then ran back to the dock to grab our boat. We sat waiting for our boat before realising it was past time and no one had said anything. I asked one of the boatman who pointed to a boat that was just casting off. I ran town the dock and shouted just in time for the boat to be pulled back for us to board. You really need to keep your wits about you in these places!
A short boat ride later and we were back on the mainland, we walked past the coconut salesman who had sold us the coconut as few days before and Kate was rather sad that he didn't recognise us, he clearly is nuts! We showed a few people around the dock our bus ticket and we were helpfully shepherded into a taxi where the driver had our names reassuringly on his phone. It was a short drive to the Almirante bus station. We were about an hour early for the bus which was due to leave around 7pm so we had time to go to the toilet and get ourselves ready for the overnight trip. We exchanged our receipts in the bus station for an actual ticket provided by the bus company and soon a couple of buses had pulled up at the bus station and more and more backpackers began to arrive to make the trip to Panama City. Soon we were getting on the bus, which turned out to be air-conditioned to near arctic temperatures. We were glad we'd packed our blankets!
After you're stamped out of Costa Rica you walk across a bridge and up to the immigration office for Panama. We were directed round the corner to one office where we got some forms and payed a few dollars before we were directed to another office where we handed in all our immigration forms and got our fingerprints taken. We walked back across the road and under a bridge where we were then able to take a chicken bus to Chingunola and from there a collectivo to Almirante where we were able to catch a boat towards Isla Colon, the largest island of the Bocas Del Toro Archipelago.
When we got to Almirante we were met off the collectivo by a man clearly after some commission for bringing us to a boat company which was about a 300 metre walk. It was overcast at this point and we asked the man where the sunshine was. He told us that after today it would only be sunshine and not worry. As we had arrived in Panama the official currency was the US dollar, this felt very odd to suddenly have a good understanding of what things are worth rather than wandering around thinking we're millionaires because of all the currencies had 1000+ notes. For the boat over to Bocas town is was 10USD return, this felt a bit steep but actually after a few days on the islands we found out you can often get things a bit cheaper if you wait and go with a big group. We needed to be able to jump straight on a boat on the way back so it worked well having the security of a return ticket. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the boat and while we waited we had to put up with a sales performance from a coconut seller. At first we tried to ignore him but soon his calls of "would you like a honeymoon coconut?" and his claim that "this is the best coconut in the world" meant we couldn't ignore him any longer. We got one for a dollar and it was indeed a very nice coconut, possibly the best I've ever had!
We boarded the boat and put on our life jackets before we headed towards Isla Colon. The sea in the sheltered archipelago was flat as a pancake and the speed boat skipped across the sea at a great pace. I spotted a couple of dolphins surface but unfortunately Kate was looking the wrong way! We pulled in to the dock of Bocas Town, we could already see many of the hostels we'd read about from the boat so made a mental note of where they were. We hadn't booked accommodation for Bocas as we were hoping to camp, unfortunately the campsite we had messaged hadn't got back to us. We got off the boat and were immediately accosted by people trying to get us to stay at their hostels. We told them we wanted to camp at las iguanas "It's closed" they replied. Saying it's closed is one of the oldest tricks in the book for those touts so we didn't believe, however we were very tired and not sure we wanted to hike all the way to the campsite as it was pretty far out of town.
I did a quick recon of the central area to see if there were any hostels that might suit us, the first one offered camping, but on inspection it reminded me of a refugee camp with people lying on floors and shanty like tents strung up on the wooden floors. I decided to keep looking. Just on the opposite side of the central square I found hostel Calipso, there was a private room with an ensuite and aircon for 30 USD. I checked the room and it wasn't the cleanest but it would do. I went back to get Kate to do the final check. Kate looked into the room and her bag was down before she said anything, we were taking the room then! We booked in for two nights though we though we might stay for three, we'd decide later and book another night if necessary.
Day 1
It was late afternoon and we were very hungry. Kate did her customary google and found a nearby sushi place called "Raw Fusion" that had excellent reviews. We hadn't had much sushi recently so we decided to go and check it out. It was just round the corner from the hostel so we got there very quickly, though we did dip in to a few shops along the way as I still needed a new hat! Raw Fusion is a small restuarnt that is essentially build on the water along a jetty. We sat at the end of the restaurant next to one of the boats that was moored. Some people had come in their speed boat and parked right at their table which was a very cool way to get to a restaurant! We got a couple of rolls and mains dishes and were very impressed with the sushi. It was delicious and we also got some happy hour beers which also didn't disappoint.
We had another look around the shops afterwards which seemed to open unusually late, we then headed back to the hostel for bed.
Day 2
Our second day was a very lazy one, especially when we saw the grey skies and rain had not subsided. We explored the town and its shops a little more and also investigated the overnight bus to Panama city. We asked around a few of the agencies who were selling the overnight bus and transfers for 40USD. We managed to haggle them down to 35USD as well said we already had our boat ticket which we were pretty happy with. Interestingly, when we picked up the tickets (at the bus station just before leaving) I noticed the official price of the ticket was 27USD. I'm not 100% sure if you could just show up at the bus ticket and get it for that price (probably) but you'd risk not getting a seat as they do book up. Possibly buying from the bus station when you pass through Almirante on the way to Bocas would be the best way but would definitely require better organisation than we had.
Nothing more of note really happened in the day, we went back to Raw Fusion for more sushi and some happy hour drinks before later heading to Selina to have a few drinks there. The bar was pretty busy but we managed to nab a table so we ended up staying for at least a few, and that was the end to a very slow day.
Day 3
After our very lazy second we decided we needed to do something with our third day. We wanted to head to the beach as that is what Bocas Del Toro is famous for and we still hadn't seen any! We headed out of town towards the nearest beach which is about 1.5km out of town. As we walked storm clouds were gathering ominously above us and by the time we reached the beach the first few drops started to fall. We sort refuge just at a nearby supermarket just as the deluge hit and there we stayed for a good hour as the rain did not let up. This was not how we had intended to spend the day!
When the rain did eventually begin to ease we took the opportunity to head back in to town where we did a bit of shopping and then again sheltered from the rain which lasted all day long. We decided we would have to try and go to one of the other islands the next day, though it would involve getting back early as we needed to make it to the bus to Panama City, and preferably not be covered in sand!
Day 4
On our fourth and last day the sun finally broke through the clouds that had hung over Bocas Del Toro for the entirety of our stay. It was time to head to the beach! We packed up our bags and put them in to storage at the hostel and then headed down the the docks to see about organising a boat over to Red Frog island.
When we got to the dock there were quite a few people offering boats at exorbitant prices. They pointed to the sign that said 12 USD however our experience so far was that these signs were just another tactic to rip people off. We'd read online that it should be closer to 8 USD return to red frog so after walking around a bit more and running in to a group who were also wanting to head to Red Frog we managed to negotiate that price. A couple of minutes later we were on the boat and speeding across to Red Frog beach. We were a little worried about how the pick up would work as we didn't want to miss our boat to Almirante and in turn our bus to Panama City, we agreed the boatman would come back at 3pm and he assured us that he would recognise us, fingers crossed.
When we got to Red Frog we were dropped off at one of the hotels docks. I'm not entirely sure this is where we were meant to be dropped off as many others said they'd come to another dock, and as a happy accident we dodged the Red Frog entrance fee! We got to Isla Red Frog (so named because of the strawberry poison dart frogs that frequent the swamps around it) at about 11:30am, and the group we were with told us that from the dock we were at you have to walk across the island to get to the famous beach which should take about 15 minutes.
The walk was a very pleasant walk along jungle fringed dirt tracks with the occasional golf cart or ATV flying past. The dirt track soon turned into a path through the jungle, which at the end of we could see the beach appearing through the trees.
Reaching the end of the track Red Frog beach suddenly as a large sweeping stretch of wide sand with perfect turquoise waters inviting us for a dip. We setup at the beach and took to the water which not only was the perfect temperature but have some of the nicest waves I've experienced anywhere. Soon we were feeling very thirsty and rather peckish. We grabbed some smoothies and tacos at the amusingly named beach side cafe, Nachyo Mamas taco bar.
We spent a couple of more hours enjoying the beach before the 3 o'clock leaving time loomed. We made our way back along the tracks and to the dock where we'd been dropped off and waited anxiously for about 15 minutes before our boatman appeared with a boat of passengers he'd already picked up. It was about 3:10pm and we were worried we wouldn't have enough time to get back to the hostel and then back to the dock to get our boat back to the mainland. As is always the way this was when our boatman decided to stop every five minutes to pick up fuel, have a chat, and at one point he appeared to stop to pick up a suspicious looking packet of white powder; He then sniffed some of the contents of this packet before getting back on the boat and driving us at breakneck speed back to Isla Colon, the incredulous passengers of the boat were very thankful to make it back to the island alive!
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| Waiting for the boat at Red Frog Marina |
We rushed back to the hostel where we managed to shower in one of the rooms that had been left open and then ran back to the dock to grab our boat. We sat waiting for our boat before realising it was past time and no one had said anything. I asked one of the boatman who pointed to a boat that was just casting off. I ran town the dock and shouted just in time for the boat to be pulled back for us to board. You really need to keep your wits about you in these places!
A short boat ride later and we were back on the mainland, we walked past the coconut salesman who had sold us the coconut as few days before and Kate was rather sad that he didn't recognise us, he clearly is nuts! We showed a few people around the dock our bus ticket and we were helpfully shepherded into a taxi where the driver had our names reassuringly on his phone. It was a short drive to the Almirante bus station. We were about an hour early for the bus which was due to leave around 7pm so we had time to go to the toilet and get ourselves ready for the overnight trip. We exchanged our receipts in the bus station for an actual ticket provided by the bus company and soon a couple of buses had pulled up at the bus station and more and more backpackers began to arrive to make the trip to Panama City. Soon we were getting on the bus, which turned out to be air-conditioned to near arctic temperatures. We were glad we'd packed our blankets!
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| The prison-like bus stop of Almirante |
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