Tourism is a very important activity in the Bocas del Toro Islands. Several new hotels and ecotourism projects are adding rooms to satisfy the increasing demand.

Existing accomodations comprises a wide diversity of options and several rooms in homes.

There are ecotourism resorts, like PUNTA MANGLAR ECO RESORT, AL NATURAL y PUNTA CARACOL, built over the sea or on the beaches, offers a different kind of accomodation, in cabines, with packages including meals as an option.

There are hotels in nearby beaches and islands: BUCANEER RESORT, DOŃA MARA, EL LIMBO ON-THE-BEACH, LA RUMBA, TIERRA VERDE, PARGO ROJO, y RANCHO PARAISO.

Other hotels in town: ANGELA, BAHIA, BLUE MARLIN , BOCAS DEL TORO, CASA AMARILLA, COCOMO ON-THE-SEA, COSTES SUITE HOTEL, DOS PALMAS, DEL PARQUE, EL LIMBO ON-THE-SEA, HIPOCAMPO, HOTELITO DEL MAR, LAGUNA, LAS BRISAS, LOS DELFINES, LULA'S BED & BREAKFAST, OLAS DE LA MADRUGADA, SAGITARIO, SCARLETT, SWAN'S CAY, offer rooms with or without air conditioned and private bathrooom.

There is an hotel in the Solarte island, the SOLARTE DEL CARIBE INN, at only 5 minutes by boat from Bocas, built over a hill with a magnificent view.

A hotel in the Bastimentos town, at only 5 minutes by boat from Bocas, the CARIBBEAN VIEW , is built over the water with an amazing sea view.

At Boca del Drago, Colon Island, are DRAGO MAR BEACH RESORT and CABANAS ESTEFANY . At Coral Key you can find CORAL CAY Cabines .

Along the southern coast of Colon Island it is possible observe two marine resorts built over the water, PUNTA MANGLAR ECO RESORT (5 minutes away by boat from town) and PUNTA CARACOL ACQUA LODGE (15 minutes away by boat from town), both with spectacular views specially during the sunsets and beautiful coral reefs very close, allowing the tourists to snorkell right from their docks. Punta Manglar is also home of a dive and tours operation with offices in town, Bocas Water Sports.

Also exist hostals, HOSPEDAJE HEIKE, LA VERANDA, BONGO TREE INN, CASA MAX, HOSPEDAJE ALEXANDRA, MONDO TAITU, that ask the visitor for lower prices, for their rooms with private or shared bathrooms.

Finally, there is the option of having a place in local homes that have rooms for rent, with private or share bathrooms.

A new option is open for visitors: to rent a furnitured apartment per day, week, or month. There are two options, for now, TROPICAL SUITES, luxurious apartments with all the comfort you need to spend unforgettable vacations. Great sea view in a modern building facing to the Caribbean sea; and BOCAS LAS OLAS, three beautiful cottages build over the sea with a magnificent view of the sunsets on the Admiral's Bay.

The islands have an extense offer to provide meals to the visitors.

Breakfasts are available at different restaurants and coffee shops: BAHIA, DA CLAUDIO, EL LIMBO ON-THE-SEA, SWANS CAY, Anicflor, Blue Mango, Chitré, El Pirata, Golden Grill, Gourmet Criollo, El Lorito, Lili's Café, MAMA LALA'S, Olga and OM Café.

In the lunch and dinner times restaurants and coffee shops are open for serving their customers: ALBERTO'S, BAHIA, BOCAS DEL TORO, DA CLAUDIO, EL LIMBO ON-THE-SEA, LA RUMBA LIKI TIKI, PARGO ROJO, PUNTA CARACOL, SWANS CAY, American Caribbean, Anicflor, Blue Mango, Blue Nasty Mermaid, Buena Vista, Cocina del Mar, El Lorito, El Misionero, El Pecado, El Ultimo Refugio, Golden Grill, Gourmet Criollo, Kun Ja, La Ballena, Le Pirate, Lili's Café, Mama Lala's, Olga, OM Café, Shelby's and The Reef.

Related to their specialties, italian cuisine is served in ALBERTO'S, DA CLAUDIO, SWAN'S CAY and La Ballena.

Seafood is an important component of almost all restaurant's menu.

Local cuisine (creole)is represented in Chitre, El Lorito, El Misionero, Gourmet Criollo y Olga. Chinesse cuisine can be tasted at Kun Ja, while hindu cuisine is in the menu of OM Cafe and mexican at Shelby's and Liki Tiki.

Finally, if you like to take your meals in another island or out of town, try: LIKI TIKI, at La Feria beach, PUNTA CARACOL, both in Colon island, BUCANEER RESORT, PARGO ROJO, PICKLED PARROT and Sunset Grill, all of them in Carenero, CORAL CAY and Ricardo's, in Coral Cay, YARISNORI and DRAGO MAR BEACH RESORT, at Boca del Drago.

There are two kind of tours: land and marine tours. Land tours are made by taxis, directly or through one of the tour operators.

This tours drive the tourist across the Colon Island, ending in Bocas del Drago, or in Bluff Beach. Boca del Drago is about 21 km far from Bocas. Bluff Beach is almost 10 km far away.
One of the land tours operator is Transportes Navarro (626-7409, 757-9601).

Marine tours are operated by three different size of operators: Dive and tours operators, using fiberglass boats, mainly for diving and snorkelling, sailboats, also for snorkelling and diving, and local boatmen, most of them using wooden boats("cayucos").

Due to the characteristics of their boats, both groups bring the visitors to different parts of the marine environment. Wooden boats usually go to the Bastimentos island's beaches, to Bastimentos town and to Coral Key or Zapatillas Keys.

Some operators are especialized: sport fishing, surf guides, sailing trips are only a few.

The most important tour operators are BOTEROS UNIDOS, BOCAS WATER SPORTS, BOCAS SAILING, DEL TORO SURF, HOTEL BOCAS DEL TORO, LAND SEA AIR ADVENTURES, PANAMA JETBOAT EXPLORER, SAILING EXPLORE, STARFLEET SCUBA, TRANSPARENTE TOURS, Basitour, Bocas Charters, Bocas Trips, Drago Adventures and Dragons of the Sea.

Dive/tour operators bring the visitors to the most important coral reefs of the region, for diving, snorkelling, surfing, sailing and more.

There are three dive operators in Bocas del Toro: BOCAS WATER SPORTS, STARFLEET SCUBA and LAND SEA AIR ADVENTURES, .

All of them rent dive and snorkelling gear and bring snorkellers together with divers in their tours to the beautiful coral reefs of the region

The nearest decompression chamber is in Panama City (1 hour away by plane) and first aid treatment can be obtained in the local Hospital. At the local hospital there is an oxygen unit.

There are dive Instructors in all operators, who offer PADI dive courses, and introduction to scuba, the popular PADI program "Discover Scuba", for non-divers that want to experience a little of diving.

There are also two compressors to fill scuba tanks, ensuring air supply to all the divers that are coming to Bocas to enjoy the beautiful marine ecosystems.

Bocas del Toro's nights are safe and the tourist can leave the hotels to drink
or entertain.

With the growing of the tourism in the region, new places are being opened.

The existing bars are: ALBERTO'S, DA CLAUDIO, HOTEL BOCAS DEL TORO, PARGO ROJO, SWAN'S CAY, BLUE NASTY MERMAID, BUENA VISTA, EL ENCANTO, EL PECADO, EL ULTIMO REFUGIO, LE PIRATE and THE REEF. Some of them also are restaurants.

DA CLAUDIO is in the Laguna Hotel, BOCAS DEL TORO is in the Bocas del Toro Hotel and LA RUMBA


THE REEF, on the former banana company dock, is in the 3rd. street

BOCAS DEL TORO, PARGO ROJO, BLUE NASTY MERMAID, EL ENCANTO, LE PIRATE and THE REEF are bars located over the water.

Aeroperlas serves the islands with fligths from/to Panama City, David and Changuinola, while Mapiex Aero flyes only from Panama City.
At Panama City it is possible to make connections to any part of the world.

The flight schedules are in local time.
Passengers must be in the airport at least one hour before the departure time.
Due to the heavy traffic, we recommend to make reservations well in advance and to confirm the flights back.

PANAMA/BOCAS
$ 60.38 (one way), $ 120.75 (round trip)
Aeroperlas
Mondays to Fridays, at 6:25 am & 3:00 pm.
Saturdays at 6:25 am and 3:00 pm.
Sundays at 8:00 am and 3:00 pm.

Mapiex
Mondays to Fridays, at 6:45 am & 2:00 pm.
Saturdays, at 6:30 am & 1:00 pm
Sundays at 1:00 pm.

BOCAS/PANAMA
$ 60.38 (one way), $ 120.75 (round trip)
Aeroperlas
Mondays to Fridays, at 8:10 am & 4:30 pm.
Saturdays at 8:30 am and 4:30 pm.
Sundays at 9:50 am and 4:30 pm

Mapiex
Mondays to Fridays, at 8:15 am & 3:30 pm.
Saturdays at 8:00 am & 2:30 pm
Sundays at 5:00 pm.

DAVID/BOCAS
$ 34.13 (one way), $ 68.25 (round trip)
Aeroperlas
Mondays to Fridays, at 8:00 am

BOCAS/DAVID
$ 34.13 (one way), $ 68.25 (round trip)
Aeroperlas
Mondays to Fridays at 9:00 am

A new SPA, FLORA BELLA, offer services of spa and massages.

Laundry services are available in Restaurant El Lorito, Hotel Scarlett, Bubble Coin and Pardo.

First Aids and treatment of illness, are the services provided by the Bocas del Toro Hospital.

Marine taxis, connecting Bocas del Toro with Almirante and Changuinola, are served by two companies: Taxi 25 (Bocas-Almirante) and BOCAS MARINE TOURS, (Bocas-Changuinola-Almirante) the first with their own dock in 1st. street, the other leaving from their dock in 3rd. street.

Several cars showing the sign TAXI offer to the visitors local transportation as well as tours through the Colon Island.

Beach clothes, bath suites and pareos are offered in FERYLERITZ (1st Street), TROPIX SURF (3rd street) and YOMARIS BOUTIQUE (Ave. G).

For gourmet groceries and excellent prices, Bocas counts on a place that has just eveything, the mini supermarket SUPER GOURMET, locate besides Hotel Bahía, in the 3rd. Street.

In Bocas del Toro there are two languages schools that mix the classes with tours to different parts of the Archipelago: SPANISH BY-THE-SEA, at 4th. street and PANAMA LANGUAGES, at Ave. G, Hotel Los Delfines.

Internet and e-Mail services are available at BOCAS INTERNET and NOVEDADES DON CHICHO, both in main street (3rd.), and at IPAT (Tourism board) in 1st. Street.

There are two marinas, one in the Carenero Key, the other in Macca Bay, in the Colon island.

Finally, it is possible to rent bikes at Hotel Laguna (3rd. street), Casa Amarilla (Ave. G), as well as motorcycles, ultraligh, sailboats and more, in front of the Tropical Suites, at 1st. Street.