Bocas del Toro has several excellent beaches. On the northern tip of Isla Colón, we recommend Bluff and Bocas del Drago (Mouth of the Dragon). These can be reached by boat in 45 minutes or by road (taxi) in 20 minutes.

A three-minute, 300-meter boat ride from Bocas town (watch for dolphins!), will land you on tranquil Carenero where there are several small hotels.

Bocas offers a number of good restaurants. The speciality of the islands is, of course, seafood, but a good variety of food is offered from pizza to "typical" Panamanian.

Getting to the islands poses no problems. Domestic airlines fly from Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Panama City (one hour) daily to the Bocas del Toro International Airport.

Overland adventurers can go by bus or car from Panama City or David. From the Panamerican Highway turn off and head north across the Continental Divide to the port of Almirante. From there, water taxis and ferries leave for Bocas del Toro.

On this road is to be found La Escapada Eco Lodge, a delightful hostelry run by Kyleen and Ron Bennett, a retired couple from Florida who take the tranquility of the lodge so seriously that no TVs are allowed. La Escapada is on the waterfront and flanked by verdant forest.

Bocas del Toro was the first place in Panama to attract the wave of residential tourism which has spread to the whole country in recent years.

Populated by Caribbean and largely English-speaking people who migrated there after work, on first, the Panama railroad and then the Panama Canal and attracted by the work offered on the banana plantations, Bocas remained a tranquil backwater until its "discovery" in the late 1990's by backpackers and home-seekers from northern climes.

Two of the settlers have written books about their lives in the area. Ask for "Don't kill the cow too quick" by Englishman Malcolm Henderson who recounts his trials and triumphs as a homesteader and Cindy Cody's "Hubba Hubba" an amusing and exciting novel about a wealthy American who decides to make a new life in Bocas.

Because of its new residents, Bocas has acquired new attributes in the form of restaurants, waterfront bars and small hotels which have served to add to the charm of the town.

Any number of small, low, and medium-priced hostelries are available in Bocas town and there are several small resorts a short boat ride from the town's waterfront. Hotel El Limbo on the Sea is one of the most charming hotels on Isla Colon with a private beach and bedrooms with balconies over the sea.