Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro

Posted by Lee on September 22, 2008

I have made the trip from Boquete to Bocas del Toro several times in the past. This time was different in a couple of ways. I went with people who know the island and for the first time in over a year I drove.

Allow me to suggest flying. The road trip is about 4 hours and the road from Gulaca to Chiriqui Grande is in rapid deterioration. There are some huge “speed bumps” due to settling of the tarmac. If you drive please be really careful or you may lose a front axel.

This weekend we visited not only two beaches, one wonderful and the other adjacent to the Isla Colon International Fair. Yes it was fair weekend in Bocas del Toro. If you ever get the wild urge to go there for the fair thinking it might be better, bigger or even different than those in David or Boquete, save your plane fare. It was a great disappointment. Very small, sparse and nothing like either David or Boquete.

I will however attest that I was introduced to some Caribbean culture for the first time in Bocas del Toro and it has a different flavor than the Pacific side of the country.

I stayed a very nice small hotel located right near the water taxi and the Police building.

The Hotelito del Mar is only a few rooms, that cost from $55 up depending upon the number of beds in the room. The staff was wonderful, the rooms clean and there was never a shortage of hot water. There was also no problem asking for and receiving the jubilado descount. I recommend the Hotelito del Mar if you want a spot literally right in the center of town. They also have free wifi, a plus for the laptop addicted set like me and a continental breakfast if you are also like me addicted to food.

We ate in several places the one worth mention was the Reef. It is on the far end of the town near the ferry dock and I have eaten there many times. The food is good, the service is bad, no make that awful and the prices are high. I was surprised when my check came and although I expected to have a 10% propina (tip) snuck in already I was surprised that the price of a fried fish went from an already high $9 on the menu to a higher $10 while it was being eaten. The fish was excellent but the price increase was hard to digest. Using my improving Spanish I complained and remarkably the bill was rewritten by the same scowling waitress who served lunch but never considered bring a menu. Welcome to Bocas del Toro where every tourist even a native born visitor is a target.

The beaches were fun. There was a large police presence in all the tourist areas with police coming from Panama city to help out during the fair. We took a launch to a small island off Isla Colon for a quite beach and I was surprised that a two man police patrol was walking the beaches there also, Panama is really trying to protect it?s tourists from the thieves who do not have licensed businesses!

Some more Photos

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