Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro province is one of Panama’s premium tourist destinations. Located in the northwestern part of the country it was blessed with a wonderful archipelago in the Caribbean, full of pristine water beaches, lush rainforests, coral reef, turquoise seas, exotic marine life, and so much more gifts of nature, which have made many people from different parts of the world fall in love with this paradise and decide to move here starting a whole new life.

Bocas del Toro Location

Bocas Town seeing from the sea

You can get to Bocas del Toro by airplane, bus or car. Departing from Panama city by airplane it takes about 45 minutes, by bus or car it could take 7 to 8 hours. Many locals speak English, so communication should not be a problem.

Airplane getting ready to take off from Bocas

Bocas Town is located in Isla Colon (Colon Island), this is the more developed town of the province; there you can find many accommodation options for all budgets, from hostels to full equipped hotel suites above the sea.  A wide range of restaurants give visitors the opportunity to try Bocas del Toro’s typical sea food and for those who prefer to eat something else the menu options is extensive including American and Italian food.

Hotel above the sea

Nice restaurant in Bocas Town

One of the best accommodation options in Bocas, Hotel Palma Royale

Aqua Lounge, very cool bar above the sea.

The most popular activities in Bocas del Toro are the boat tours to the nearby islands for snorkeling, diving, swimming, dolphin observation or just relaxing. If you love surfing there are very good surf spots for even the most experienced surfers.

Boat Tours

Dolphin Bay tour takes you to observe dolphins jumping out of the water around your boat; it’s a very unique experience. Zapatilla Keys beach is where some survivors TV shows has been filmed, its beauty is stunning , white sand, crystal clear and calm waters. Another fully recommended tour is Isla Pajaro (Bird Island) where an unbelievable amount of birds inhabited the rocks that make up this island. For diving or snorkeling you can visit Coral Key, with a great variety of brightly colored corals and tropical fish. For surfing the hot spots are Carenero, Wizard, Bluff and Paunch, there are plenty more.

Zapatilla Keys

Dolphin Bay

Isla Pajaro

Coral Key

These are just a few quick recommendations, Bocas del Toro has much more attractions.

Bocas del Toro nightlife is fun, with several bars and clubs to choose from, weather you want to dance tropical music or maybe go to a bar and listen to a live alternative rock band while having a margarita drink in front of the ocean. Barco Hundido (sunken ship) is the most popular club in Bocas Town, decent sized dance floor and a little dock on the water where you can dip your feet in to cool off from all that hot dancing. The bar is on top of a shipwreck, there is a dock built around it, and at night time they illuminate it with lights and it seems like a pretty place to snorkel.

Sunset at Aqua Lounge

If you visit Bocas del Toro and you love it so much, guess what? You can live here, it’s very easy since Panama inmigration requirements for US citizens, many Europeans and Latin American countries are very simple. If you’re interested email us at: liveinpanama@live.com we are a very experienced law firm, experts in inmigration processes.

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Taboga

Taboga Island, also known as Island of Flowers, is a popular tourist destination about 14 kms (9 miles) from Panama City. The beauty of Taboga’s crystal clear beaches is one of its main attractions, perfect for fishing, swimming, diving, snorkeling, etc. Another great aspect of Taboga is its proximity to Panama City, by ferry you can get there in about 30 mins, but if you rent a private boat with a good motor you might only take 15 minutes! That’s an amazing timing; you can get away from the busy city to a charming tropical island of warm waters in just a blink of an eye. 

Approaching to Taboga Island

Taboga Island

Calypso King, one of the ferries that take you to the island

Colorful beach umbrellas

Asides from beaches Taboga has trails to explore the tropical rainforest that surrounds the island. You can also get to the top of the island's highest hill where a big cross is, and enjoy the panoramic view composed by the island beaches, the Pacific Ocean and the city of Panama in the background. At the back of Taboga, there are some nice reefs, not good for swimming since there are some strong waves hitting against the solid rocks, but perfect for relaxing with the sound it produces or just taking some pictures.

One of Taboga's beaches, in the background Panama City skyline

Taboga Island dock (right)

Having fun at the beach

The picturesque town of San Jose, where Taboga's locals live, has a population of nearly 1700 people whose main activity is fishing and tourism. There are two nice little hotels where I have stayed and therefore recommend. One is Cerrito Tropical, a nice B & B, my room had a/c, private bathroom, clean sheets. They have a restaurant also, the included breakfast could be better, the main con of this place, the distance, it’s pretty far from the dock. Vereda Tropical hotel is a little bigger than the first one, bigger rooms, some with a/c, some not, private bathroom, a restaurant with a nice terrace with a panoramic view where one can have a meal or drink enjoying the island atmosphere at its most.

Cruises and cargo ships heading to the Panama Canal

View from Vereda Tropical's restaurant terrace

Vereda Tropical Hotel

Taboga Island main beach

Yatch going back to Panama City after a wonderful day at Taboga

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Laguna de San Carlos (San Carlos Lake)

If you love nature, you're really going to enjoy this place. In the foothills of Picacho Hills (1.100m or 3608ft) is located Laguna de San Carlos, with an altitude of almost 800m above sea level  and surrounded by green mountains partially covered by fog  this place is wonderful. So perfect to pitch a tent, rest, picnic, paddle, fish, oh yes you can catch a very modest diversity of fishes including river shrimps. If you like walking you can walk down the paths around the lake or even visit the summit of the mountains and enjoy the view.

The climate here is much cooler than the average temperature of Panama city. Temperatures can range from 27°C (80°F) to 18°C (64 °F), during summer is very windy and the lake is almost 2 meters below its normal level. Through winter the lake can reach up to 10 meters depth.

Laguna de San Carlos is approximately 100 kms from Panama City. To get there you need to drive all the way like if you’re going to Coronado beach, and 50 mts before Coronado’s main entrance, on the right hand you will see a green road sign that reads Las Lajas, then you take this way and drive up all the way (no deviation) for 20 kms, almost 25 minutes, and you will see the paved road ends, here you make a turn to the right and drive on a gravel road for around 3 minutes until you finally get to the lake.

Now drop a comment ;)  and enjoy the pictures!!

Laguna de San Carlos

Sunset at Laguna de San Carlos

Picacho Hill

Boat for rent

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SAN BLAS

Recently (Feb 18-21, 2012) I went back to San Blas for the third time in my life, and I will not get tired of saying these are to me the most amazing beaches anyone can ever see. And its not that I have been to many other beaches in the world, but you just have to be there and will definitely agree with me. San Blas is an indian region, or reservation comprising approximately 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus, east of the Panama Canal. They are home to the Kuna Indians and a part of the comarca Kuna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama.

Chichimé Island

Big Dog Island

You will not find here 5 stars hotels or luxury, locals make a big effort to keep this place untouched by human civilization as much as they can. However you can find accommodation in decent cabins and small hotels run by Kuna Indians. Camping at the islands is also very common between visitors who want to experience nature at its most. Just imagine, perfect blue skies, pleasant sea breeze and during the night a stunning starry sky.

Chichimé Island

Dog Island

The Swimming Pool

San Blas can be visited via domestic flights which depart from Albrook Airport (25 mins flight) or by car through its recently enhanced road. The trip by car takes about 2 and a half hours, from Panama City to Carti. In Carti people leave their cars and hop on a boat. The nearest island, Isla Aguja (Needle Island) is at about 20 mins from Carti. Another very famous island is Isla Perro (Dog Island, 45 mins away), with a sunken ship in front of the beach now a colorful coral garden, perfect for snorkel. Also very popular and near Isla Perro is La Piscina (the swimming pool) a sand bank in the middle of the ocean, water level is no higher than your waist so you can hop off the boat, swim, snorkel and play around in the very middle of the ocean with no danger. Very recommended is Isla Pelicano, I haven't been there yet, and Chichimé Island, this one is the one I like the most because of its pristine water, although all san blas islands have pristine waters, actually I think I liked this island the most because it's not very visited, not crowded, like all the other beaches it has fine white sand, the only cons may be that it is almost 60 mins from Carti. I almost forgot to mention Isla Perro Grande also known as Isla Perro 2 (Big Dog Island or Dog Island 2) which is larger than Isla Perro 1 and less visited which also makes it a very good option.

I'm sharing some pictures in the blog, hope you like them. If you'd love to do business or live in Panama email me at: liveinpanama@live.com

Sunset from our Hotel

Kikirdub Hotel

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Posted in: playas