Bocas del Toro is often referred to as “The Galapagos of Central America”. It is a group of 9 little islands and a ton of tiny cayes. Tourists can only stay on 3 of them, and most people stay on the main island (Isla Colon), which is where we decided to base ourselves.
We headed to Bocas Del Toro because Beckham’s 90 day visa for Costa Rica was about to expire and we didn’t want to spend the money flying to another country.
We had an INCREDIBLE time here and I think it’s so cool that we went some place I had literally never heard of before moving to Costa Rica. It makes me sad sometimes that I will for sure die before I see all the beauty this world has to offer, but I’ll try to make the most of the time I have here on earth!
Side note: We went during the two literally slowest weeks of the year-first two weeks in June (rainy season/right before everyone is on holiday) and I would TOTALLY recommend it. The rain didn’t impact our trip at all, we found great deals, and we had so much of the islands to ourselves!
This post includes some of my favorite things that we did during our 3 days on Bocas del Toro Islands. We definitely only scratched the surface, but we had a BLAST!!!!!
Day 1- Saturday
We finally made it to Isla Colon (the main island in Bocas del Toro) after quite the 24 hours (involving driving our car to the border, taking a bus, walking across the border, taking a collectivo and water taxi and then taxi).
I would recommend staying here because it is the main island and you can easily find day trips to any of the other islands. We went back and forth a lot on staying here vs Isla Bastimentos because Colon is the “party island” but we just stayed 10 min out of town and didn’t feel like we were on a party island at all.
There is actually a tiny airport on Isla Colon but it’s soooo much more to fly in than any other option. I will be writing another post about how to cross the Costa Rica/Panama border!
As soon as you arrive on the main island you can take a $1 taxi to pretty much any accommodation because they are almost all right in town.
Accomodations: Maroa Beach House, Isla Colon
We stayed at THEEE cutest accommodations for the 3 days we were there. I had originally booked a tiny cheap hostel in downtown and then last minute realized that the windows DID NOT EVEN CLOSE and only had bars on them. Bocas Town is a huge backpacker area with all night partying so I immediately canceled our reservation and looked for something a little farther away from all of the fun.
This is one thing I have learned about traveling with kids- You have to just bite the bullet financially with some things in order to have a much better experience.
Maroa Beach House was a little more pricey but 100% better for a family experience. We learned this experience in Banos, Ecuador and I can’t imagine how much worse this trip would have been if we stayed in a party hostel and listened to people partying all night!
It ended up making ALL of the difference in the world to have an EXTREMELY clean place, fantastic AC, no noisy neighbors, and safe space to run around outside.
This may be one of my favorite places I have ever stayed!
When we arrived we were immediately attacked by tour guides/any random person who owns a boat or knows someone who has a boat or who knows the word “boat” about signing up to go on a tour.
You will not have any problem finding a tour guide, although some people are just random boat owners who will take you out for a fee. Don’t be afraid to negotiate!
The #1 tour here is an all day snorkel tour to Starfish Island, Sloth Island, Zapatillos Island (literally everyone is selling this all day tour). Make sure to do the one with deep boarding!
Everyone was really friendly and not aggressive and we met some interesting people, including “Haggle Harry” and “Captain Jack Sparrow” haha.
Hint: some ways to get cheaper tours is to do one without lunch provided (you will have to bring your own), use your Spanish, or share with a group.
Lunch: Bibi's, Isla Caraneros
I had done about 45+ hours of research for this trip (including the stressful border crossing part) and I knew what we wanted to do when we got there, but when we arrived soooo many things were closed for the off season.
Something I am getting better at while traveling is being flexible. ESPECIALLY when traveling with kids. I can’t help that I will probably always do a ton of research because I love knowing as much as possible about the place I’m going, but when I get there I’ve learned a lot more to be flexible.
I used to spend a good part of vacations being angry or stressed when plans fell through but now it’s a lot easier to just shrug it off and in the end we have a great time doing something we hadn’t planned on doing!
At least 75% of the restaurants I had on my list were closed (okay food is very important to me hahaha). We had a fantastic time, anyway.
If you like fish, you HAVE to get Bibi’s fish burger. Best I have had in my life! My mouth is watering, just remembering!
After freshening up at our accomodations (I like using that word even though what it means in our case is we wrestled Beckham into his swimsuit and ran like bats out of hell before Beckham could break something in our beach house haha) we headed to Bibi’s.
Bibi’s is an AMAZING restaurant right on the beach on island Caranero. It is a 1 min water taxi ride from Isla Colon ($2 a person, unfortunately) and the perfect place to spend the afternoon.
We LOVED (x10000) the food there and we loved the atmosphere even more. It is one of the only places with tranquil water where kids can play. Beckham had the time of his life walking around in the water with Dan while I talked to a girl I met from California.
It seriously was an incredible experience and Dan said it was his best experience he has ever had in the ocean with Beckham!
We spent about 3 hours at Bibi’s and then headed back to Isla Colon to set up some tours for the rest of the week.
We walked around for several hours on a wild goose chase trying to find the one bike shop on the whole island that has child bike seats (Ixa’s Bycicles).
After a bunch of fails and walking back and forth in front of the same tour guides that would get VERY excited every time they saw us haha, we ended up scheduling a snorkel trip with Under Sea for the next day.
[Continue reading for our experience with Under Sea.]
Dinner: Cafe del Mar, Isla Colon
At this point it had been over 2 hours since our last meal so we decided we better find another restaurant ASAP haha.
Only 2 of the restaurants on my list were open and one of them was Cafe del Mar which is AMAAAZING and literally right in town.
It’s a fun location because it has some outdoor seating and the inside has amazing AC. Plus there was a working bathroom with soap, which apparently is uncommon there!
If you eat here, PLEASE get the Carribean fish or chicken burrito. Life changing!!!!
After dinner we walked the streets for a little bit more until the sun set and then headed to Maroa Beach House.
After getting Beckham to bed we sat on the front porch in the hammock until Dan couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore (about 8:30 PM haha) and went to bed.
Can you tell that we are out of the backpacking party scene? Haha
Day 2- Sunday
I woke up early the next morning to see the sunrise and kayak out to a place where apparently there is a sunken ship.
It was POURING when I woke up and the ocean looked beautiful! As I kayaked out a rainbow spread across the sky.
It was easy to get out and I saw a ton of sea life (including sting rays and bright orange star fish!) and I took my time.
I ended up not finding the ship because I wanted to make it back by the time Beckham and Dan went out so I coud take them out, but it was an amazing morning.
Another thing I’m learning while traveling is sometimes it’s best to split up. I like being active and Dan doesn’t mind relaxing, so on this trip we took advantage of the mornings where I could go out early and see things by myself while he had a slow morning with Beckham. It made a big difference!
After kayaking with the boys and an incredible breakfast with our hosts, we headed to town for our deepboarding snorkel trip with Underwater (you can find them on the main street in Colon).
I would 100% recommend this trip!! It was unfortunate that they told us there would be 8-10 people and there ended up being 25 haha but we were able to pay $40 each (once again, you can bargain down during off season!) for a 7 hour tour that took us to look for dolphins, sloth island, snorkeling and deep boarding (literally AMAZING), a cheap lunch haha, one of the most beautiful islands I have ever been to, and starfish island.
We had a BLAST and I love that it was all day. We couldn’t have had a better time.
Also, I really appreciate people who are patient with children and families with children. We have always had a good experience with people and this time was no different. Beckham screamed during some parts when he didn’t want to be held down in the boat and everyone was always kind to us and helped us get him on and off the boat. It means a lot!
Activity: All-Day Snorkel Tour with Under Sea, Isla Colon
When we got back it was 5 PM and we were tired from our 7 hour trip. We went back to the beach house to shower, give Beckham a little screen time (he is obsessed with the Disney movie Planes/Aviones) and relax.
Another thing I have learned about traveling with kids- regular life rules do not have to be the same!
We are learning to be a little more flexible with our expectations for Beckham when he is running on 4+ days with no naps and lots of running around.
We watched the sunset on our way to dinner and it was amazing. I love where we stayed because it was on the thin part of the island where you can see the both the sunrise and sunset!
It was Father’s Day and I was really wanting to do a special dinner for Dan so we went to a sport’s bar (Toro Loco) instead of a local seafood place. It 1000% killed me to eat a Hot Wings chicken wrap instead of grilled fish, but I am trying to be a lilllllll less selfish haha.
I do not recommend this restaurant for the food. Very mediocre.
It was fun to see Dan have a good time 🙂 We couldn’t as for a better husband/dad!
Dinner: Toro Loco Sport's Bar, Isla Colon
Day 3- Monday
Activity: 8.5 km Bike Ride (one way) to Playa Bluff, Isla Colon
On our last day I woke up early again and saw the MOST beautiful sunrise!!!! There is something about sunrise on the ocean. All of the pinks and purples….it really was just amazing.
I biked to Playa Bluff which is a popular surf beach with other popular surf beaches on the way. You really have to be pretty good to surf at any of them, though. They are not for beginners (aka I stayed far away haha).
It was an interesting experience biking with a rusty beach cruiser up steep gravel paths with pot holes haha but it was a good workout and there was no one on the road so I was able to hear a lot of wildlife and watch the sun continue to come up!
It took 1.5 hours in all to bike there and back (including all of my picture stops haha).
Activity: Bat Cave Tour, Isla Bastimientos
When I got back we had our last delicious breakfast (amazing omelettes, toast with SUCH GOOD BUTTER, and fresh fruit with chia seeds) and headed to the main port on Isla Colon (where all of the tours leave).
We found a guy to take us to Bastimientos Island and do a tour of the bat cave for $20 each. Some people were saying $40 each, but we found a guy with a smaller boat. I thought it was still a rip off at first because the island is 25 min away, but the guide stayed with us the whole time and we ended up being gone for 4 hours, so it was definitely a good deal.
Bastimientos is a huge island and there is a ton to do there. We chose to do just a day trip to see the bat caves, but we could have definitely spent a few days there!
THE. BAT. CAVES.
I love doing new things, and THIS was amazing.
It costs $10 a person (they agreed to $5 each because it was off season) to go with a guide (some local guy and his family) and you do not need reservations. You just show up.
You walk through the jungle for 10 min until you reach the cave.
When you walk in there are THOUSANDS of little bats. You can hear them before you see them, but some will swoop around your head.
You wade through the water which gets pretty deep (up to my chin!) at some points. Be careful, there are giant spiders on the walls! Not poisonous, but creepy!
At the end part there is a pool with a waterfall and a little cliff you can jump off.
Beckham cried for the first time here (when Dan said he didn’t want to jump off the ledge hahaha). Oh and also when Dan accidentally hit Beckham’s head on a stalactite.
We had SO much fun and it was so unique!!!!! Super creepy and just awesome.
The whole tour from Isla Colon and back was 4 hours (including wait time). 30 min ride there, 15 min ride through the mangroves, 10 min walk to cave, 45 min inside, 10 min walk back, 45 min boat trip back to Colon!
When we got back we were on cloud 9 from how fun it had been!
The end of our trip was a little bit of a crash and burn haha.
When we got back to the island Dan had to go to our hotel and get all of our 4 bags+ stroller and bring it back. He did that in the time we waited for our food to arrive at Tom’s (a super cheap local restaurant right on the ocean that I TOTALLY recommend!).
It was a very stressful experience getting back, as each leg of our trip seemed to get delayed. Long story short we crossed the border with a family we met from Italy who are our new friends.
We made it home after 12 hours and we were pretty beat but it was all WORTH IT.
Like anywhere else, we left with SO MUCH we did not get to see.
I think 5 days would be the perfect amount of time here. I really would have loved to see some of the other islands, and explore some more around northern Isla Colon.
We didn’t make it to Starfish Beach (I heard mixed reviews about this anyway) or Sully’s restaurant (it has a pool right on the beach and looked so fun!!) and I’d love to be there when there isn’t a full moon so we could do the bio-luminescence tour, but we had just the most amazing weekend ever.
