Beach Life in Bocas
Beach selfies on Isla Carnero, Bocas del Toro
After the respite of cool mountain air in Boquete, we made our way back to the Panamanian coast to spend New Year on Bocas del Toro - a group of paradise islands located in the north of the country.
A 30 minute boat from the mainland took us to Isla Colon, where the main settlement of Bocas Town is located. The islands are the place to for chilled out, Caribbean vibes - and by that I mean glorious beaches, incredible seafood, snorkeling to vibrant coral reef, rainforest-covered paths and mangrove islands.
Using Bocas as our base, we spent the next week island-hopping to discover as much as we could for ourselves.
Although most travel to the archipelago goes through Bocas Town, there aren’t any beaches within walking distance. In fact, the best of Isla Colon is on the opposite end of the island to the town. We took the bumpy ride on the colectivo to Playa Bluff - a long stretch of golden sand that backed by jungle. Is most popular with experienced surfers due to the challenging waves, which meant the sand wasn’t too crowded. Coupled with nearby Bom Bom beach bar - where we had our first taste of ceviche since Peru! - the best way to spend the day is alternating between the sand and the bar. I did say these were paradise islands!
Whilst relaxing all day on a beach has its merits, island life does come with some unpredictability. At the end of a blissful day, we waited at the stop for the last colectivo back to town… and we waited… and waited. Soon, news came that a truck had overturned on one of the roads (something which really did not surprise us, given how much the small minivan we were in had struggled on the way). The bus was coming, but we would have to wait until they had built a new road of sand around the overturned truck. Thank god for Bom Bom beach bar. After a 90 minute wait the driver emerged from the jungle-lined paths triumphantly. Then it was another hour to get back to town as vehicles getting stuck on the new sand road caused more delays. But that’s island life!
To avoid any further road issues, we stuck to water taxis to reach other beaches. We ventured to the popular Red Frog beach on Isla Bastimentos, renowned for…well, tiny red frogs! The red poison dart frog lives in the area and, with a keen eye, can be seen on a short hike through the jungle to access the beach. Unfortunately we didn’t have any luck spotting them - they are tiny after all - and we didn't want to get too far into the trees looking for a poisonous animal!
Being the most popular beach meant there were a lot of people around, so we found it harder to relax on Red Frog beach. That is, until we walked around the island for another 20 minutes or so, and found a completely empty beach. We believe it was an extension of Red Frog, but with no beach bars, surfers, or any people whatsoever in sight. Our philosophy is that it’s always worth walking a little further for some space, and it definitely paid off on this occasion!
This was our formula for most of our time on the archipelago. Our favourite little spot was on Isla Carenero, a small island just across the water from Bocas Town. The beach here is tiny but perfectly formed, with palm trees offering shade and clear, blue, calm waters to dip into. The shoreline is dotted with beach bars to enjoy cold beers and, of course, fresh ceviche. We loved it so much we went back again!
Bocas del Toro was also where we spent New Year’s Eve, and we were overjoyed to be able to meet up with some friends from home, Maddy and Jonny. They are on their own Latin American odyssey, spending 8 weeks travelling from Colombia up to Mexico - so we’ve been exchanging tips for the last few months and looking forward to hearing what they get up to in places we are yet to visit!
We spent New Year eating a lobster dinner and drinking a few too many margaritas, whilst watching a local man set off fireworks straight from his hand… it was a little different to the London fireworks show, that’s for sure! But it was a lot of fun.
We probably drank a few too many margaritas for people who had signed up to spend all of New Year’s Day on a boat. Unfortunately our boat driver seemed to be in a hurry all day, and it was a very bumpy ride for us. But it was worth it to see the Zapatillas islands - which many people had told us were their highlight of Bocas. The tiny, uninhabited islands are about an hour from Bocas Town by boat, and all agencies run the same tour for varying prices. We saw dolphins in the morning before heading to the beaches to relax for a couple of hours. On the way back, we spent some time snorkelling before seeing giant starfish.
I say we spent some time snorkelling… i spent a total of about 5 minutes in the water. I’ve always worn contact lenses and was ‘all at sea’ without them. Whilst the magnification meant I could see underwater no problem, but quickly switching from that to the blurry world to get a breath made me feel very dizzy… not ideal when in the water. Tips from short-sighted snorkellers are very much welcomed. Perhaps the answer is to not be hungover next time!
It’s safe to say we were feeling attuned to island life by the time we had to leave, although we were prepared for a very similar experience in our next destination. Although only going three hours up the coast, we were crossing the border into our eleventh country: Costa Rica.
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