DAY 94: Bocas del Toro - Boquete - Isla de Coiba: Panama is not only a canal

BOCAS DEL TORO

The border crossing to Panama from Puerto Viejo was quite close and quick. Once in Panama, a speed boat took us to our next destination: Bocas del Toro. Bocas del Toro is a Caribbean archipelago only a few km away from the Costa Rican border and one of the most famous tourist spots in Panama.

Bocas town

The first three nights we stayed in Bocas town, located on the main island Colón. Bocas is massive and well developed (perhaps too much), and there are many hotels, restaurants and bars. Honestly, it is definitely not the most attractive place we have been to. Nevertheless, loads of backpackers want to stay there because of the good night life. In Bocas there is party every day, and actually the bars and clubs are really good. Probably the best we have been to so far. The main clubs have natural swimming pools in the ocean, and everyone jumps in there.

We met some Argentineans and discovered that Bocas is, surprisingly, a very popular destination for Argentineans and Israelis. Basically 90% of the people there come from those 2 countries, and there is a whole oriented market for them, including kosher restaurants (in Bocas town!).

One of the most spectacular beaches that we visited in Isla Colón is Star Fish bay. We were not very lucky with the weather, but at least there was no rain. Bocas del Toro has an extremely humid weather, which makes it unpredictable. It rains all year long. But still, Star Fish beach was an amazing white sandy beach with hundreds of colourful star fishes spread all over. We snorkelled through the crystal blue water and enjoyed a nice picnic on the beach.

The impressive Starfish beach, Isla Colón

Red frog beach at Bastimentos

After three days of non-stop partying and sleepless nights we decided to go elsewhere to chill out, so we headed to Isla Bastimentos. We stayed at a nice tent lodge on Red Frog Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Bocas del Toro. The beach is named after all the tiny red frogs that live there. The island was much more quieter and laid back, and so we could rest after all the hard work ;)

Isla Zapatilla

From Bastimentos we were able to reach the paradisiacal Zapatilla island. We were lucky because we arrived to the island very early in the morning and were all alone. Isla Zapatilla is a tiny island with only a bunch of palm trees, but it has the most beautiful white sand beach in Bocas del Toro. We also went snorkelling on an extremely colourful coral reef and spotted some dolphins (first dolphins for Carlos :-).

Our stay in Bocas del Toro was alright, but the extremely unpredictable weather made it a bit annoying. We still don’t know why it is such a popular destination, especially since Panama has many other amazing beach towns.

BOQUETE

 

Boquete, Panama

After Bocas del Toro we went south, to Boquete. Boquete is a town located in the western mountains of Panama, very popular amongst seniors and foreigners. Some backpackers we met told us about a Coffee & Flower Festival that was taking place there, and so we decided to give it a try. Good timing, because we wanted to relax after all the Bocas del Toro partying. However, once in Boquete, we realised that Coffee & Flower Festival was not exactly what we expected, and that we were not going to rest. At all.

At 6 pm, the peaceful looking festival turned into a massive loud latin music festival, and cars playing extremely loud were driving through the streets all night long. It was hell. But wait, because once the music stopped around 5 am in the morning, an orchestra of young children started playing in the main square, just right in front of our hostel. We ended up sleeping during the day and the only thing we did in Boquete was visiting that annoying and not especially interesting Coffee & Flower Festival.

Fortunately, we left Boquete on January 21^st in order to reach our next destination right before Carlos’ birthday on January 22^nd.

ISLA DE COIBA

Santa Catalina, the next town we visited, was a surprise for Carlos. He did not know where we were heading until we reached the small fishermen village. Santa Catalina was an unspectacular village with only a few hostels and restaurants and without internet connection. However, it is a famous surfing spot and the only place where you can arrange trips to the Coiba National Park.

The Coiba National Park

Beautiful view over Coiba

The Coiba National Park (a bunch of islands lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) is one hour away from Santa Catalina by boat. The main island is as big as Mallorca (but without the drunk Germans!). Instead, Coiba is a wild and pristine island, once used as a prison, Alcatraz-like. Today, it is mostly famous for its surreal diving spots. Joana´s present for Carlos´ birthday was therefore a diving trip to the Coiba National Park.

Diving in the Pacific ocean is very different. In the Pacific you mostly dive through rocks instead of coral reefs, but the sea life is much more impressive. We saw striped moray eels, groupers, many big fishes, and about twenty white-tip sharks. However, the most extraordinary thing we spotted was a 5 meter monster Manta-ray. The manta ray was so big that at first we thought it was a whale shark (also very common in the waters of the Coiba National Park).

5 meter Manta -ray

Between both dives, we had lunch at the ranger station at the main island. The ranger station has a beautiful beach where guests can go for a swim or just relax. But not far from that beach, there is another beach where swimming is strictly forbidden, because it is the natural habitat of the Tito crocodile. Tito sounded like a friendly race of crocodile, but as soon as we saw that monster laying on the shore, we changed our opinion.

Carlos & Tito

Mega Rat? Hamster?

It was a very adventurous birthday, and without any doubt our best dive. The Coiba National Park is definitely so worth visiting.  Do not miss it if you travel to Panama!

In our next post: Isla Grande, Panama City and how we made it to Colombia by sailing boat!   

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