Bocas del Toro: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Bocas del Toro is an archipelago of jungle islands and mangroves on Panama’s Caribbean coast near Costa Rica. Columbus anchored here in 1502 on his last voyage, and around 1900 the United Fruit Company made it a banana capital, bringing workers from Jamaica and the Caribbean whose descendants still speak a creole English. A day by bicycle or taxi on Isla Colón.

A short history of Bocas del Toro

In 1502, on his fourth voyage, Christopher Columbus reached this archipelago and anchored in its bays. In the 19th century Black migrants from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands settled on the islands, and because of them Caribbean English is also spoken here. At the end of the 19th century the area became a centre of banana growing, and the United Fruit Company, founded in 1899, held huge plantations there. In the 1990s travellers and surfers discovered the islands.

The ten best sights in Bocas del Toro

1
Parque Simón Bolívar
The square of Bocas Town
2
Isla Carenero
Two minutes by water taxi
3
Smithsonian station
A tropical research station; open some days
4
Paunch Beach
Surf on the road north
5
Playa Bluff
Wild surf beach; turtles nest in season
6
Boca del Drago
Calm water at the island’s tip
7
Playa Estrella
Starfish in the shallows; do not touch
8
Swan Cay
A rock of nesting seabirds
9
Old Bank
The Afro-Caribbean village of Bastimentos
10
Wizard Beach
A jungle walk to an empty beach

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Bocas del Toro →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Bocas del Toro:

Free walking tours in Bocas del Toro

Bocas Town and Isla Colón

Parque Simón Bolívar · The square of Bocas Town, a grid of painted wooden houses on stilts built in the banana years, when the town was the headquarters of United Fruit’s Panama division.
Calle 3 · The main street along the water, where bars and restaurants stand on piers over the sea and the water taxis wait to carry people between the islands.
Smithsonian station · A research station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which studies the reefs and mangroves of the archipelago; its small exhibition explains the frogs and corals of the islands.
Playa Bluff · A long wild beach of heavy surf, where from March to July giant leatherback turtles, which can weigh as much as a small car, come ashore at night to lay their eggs.
Boca del Drago · The dragon’s mouth, the calm northwestern tip of the island facing the mainland, with a few seafood restaurants on the beach.
Playa Estrella · A beach where large orange cushion starfish lie in the clear shallows; there are fewer than before, because people picked them up — they must be left in the water.

Bastimentos

Across the channel lies Isla Bastimentos, with an Afro-Caribbean village, jungle trails and empty beaches. A day by water taxi; the surf on the north shore is strong, so swim with care.

Isla Carenero · The small island facing town, named because Columbus’s ships were careened here — hauled onto the beach to clean and repair their hulls — in 1502.
Old Bank · The village of Bastimentos, of wooden houses on a single concrete path along the water, where the people speak Guari-Guari, a creole of English, Spanish and Ngäbe words.
Wizard Beach · A muddy trail of about half an hour over the island’s spine leads from the village to a long beach of golden sand with no buildings at all.
Red Frog Beach · Named for the strawberry poison frog, a frog the size of a thumbnail. On each island of the archipelago the species has evolved its own colours — red, orange, green, blue — one of the most studied examples of rapid evolution in the world.
Isla Solarte · Its tip, Hospital Point, was the site of United Fruit’s hospital in the early twentieth century, built to fight malaria and yellow fever among the workers; today it is a snorkelling spot on a coral wall.
Salt Creek · A village of the Ngäbe, the largest indigenous people of Panama, inside the marine park, reached by a channel through the mangroves.

Reefs, dolphins and birds

The classic boat tour of the archipelago visits dolphins, reefs, a mangrove lunch and a bird island. A full day; choose operators who keep their distance from the dolphins.

Dolphin Bay · A sheltered lagoon where a resident group of bottlenose dolphins feeds and breeds; studies have warned that too many boats chasing them are driving them from the bay.
Cayo Coral · A shallow reef of hard and soft corals beside a restaurant on stilts, where lunch of fish and coconut rice is served over the water.
Bastimentos Marine Park · Created in 1988, Panama’s first marine national park, protecting reefs, mangroves, the jungle of Bastimentos and the two Zapatilla cays, white islands where hawksbill turtles nest.
Swan Cay · A rocky islet off the north of Isla Colón where red-billed tropicbirds, white seabirds with long streaming tails, nest on the cliffs.
Paunch Beach · A reef break north of town, one of the surf spots that, from December to March, bring surfers to the islands.
Bocas Airport · The small airport on the edge of town; the alternative is a bus to the mainland port of Almirante, built as a United Fruit banana port, and a water taxi across the bay.

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Getting to Bocas del Toro and getting around

Bocas Airport · Flights from Panama City, about an hour

Cheap eats in Bocas del Toro

Bocas eats Caribbean: rondón, a stew of fish, yam and plantain cooked in coconut milk; coconut rice with red beans; patí, small pastries of spiced meat sold from coolers; and fresh lobster in season. A patí costs about a dollar; a fish plate in town six to ten.

Calle 3 · Caribbean kitchens on the water
Old Bank · Home cooking in the village
Cayo Coral · Fish on stilts

Nature and day trips near Bocas del Toro

Reefs, mangroves, jungle islands, sea turtles and frogs of every colour.

Bastimentos Marine Park · The marine park
Red Frog Beach · The poison frogs
Swan Cay · Seabirds

Things to do in Bocas del Toro with kids

With children: starfish, dolphins, tiny red frogs and calm water.

Playa Estrella · Starfish
Dolphin Bay · Dolphins
Boca del Drago · Calm water

Museums in Bocas del Toro

The history here is in the banana-era houses and the science station.

Smithsonian station · Science of the reefs
Parque Simón Bolívar · The banana town

Nightlife in Bocas del Toro

Bocas has a lively party scene: bars on piers, a floating bar in the bay and weekly island parties.

Calle 3 · Pier bars
Isla Carenero · Beach bars by water taxi

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Frequently asked questions about Bocas del Toro

What is there to see in Bocas del Toro?

The top sights in Bocas del Toro are Parque Simón Bolívar, Isla Carenero and Smithsonian station. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Bocas del Toro?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Bocas del Toro without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Bocas del Toro?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Bocas del Toro, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Bocas Town and Isla Colón.

How do you get to Bocas del Toro and get around?

The main ways are Bocas Airport. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Bocas del Toro, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Bocas del Toro that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Bocas del Toro for your dates?

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