Study Spanish and Surf Panama

Surfing and other activities!

Surfing
Bocas is renown for its surfing. Bocas is a cluster if islands - and the only way to reach many of the breaks is by boat. So you wont get lots of crowds here! A great break - and less visited one is Bastimentos . The first two beaches, from Bastimentos town, offer good conditions but they are more difficult to reach: by boat from Bocas or  Bastimentos (15 minutes), and then a 15 minutes walk to the other side of the island, to arrive to the first beach, with the second break just the next bay.
The third site, in Carenero island. This has a very powerful wave and is more suited to experienced surfers. It is also a short boat ride - and a shorter walk.
There are other good surf breaks bear Bocas, but these are three of the ones we enjoy the best due to their remoteness, the quality of the break, and the absolutely stunning scenery!

Scuba diving
When diving in Bocas you will be able to see some of the best preserved hard and soft coral in the world. You will also have the opportunity to see sting rays, lobsters, many species of crabs and a countless variety of tropical reef fish. You can sit your certification course - or if you already have it - can take one or two tank dives - or night dives. Some diving examples include:

• Whole day tour:
  • Parque Natural Bastimentos  visiting Dolphins Bay, Crawl Cay, Red Frog Beach Hospital Point with two dives or two snorkels included,(Crawl Cay and Hospital Point). The same tour may have people diving and snorkeling.
  • Bocas del Drago and Bird Island with two dives or two snorkels included (dives depending on weather). Similar restaurant, same price and same conditions.

  Price: $60 diving or $ 17 snorkeling.

   

• One and Two tank dive:
  • A two dive trip can also be made at different spots located 10-15 minutes from town. It will take about 3 hours and can be made any time before 2:00 p.m
    Price: $50 all gear included
  • A one dive trip
    Price: $40 all gear included

   

• Night Diving:
  One night dive from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. is $ 50.

   

• PADI scuba courses:
  • Discover Scuba half day in $65
  • Open Water including certification in $210
    Advanced $200, Rescue,First Aid or Dive Master.

Water Skiing:

• $30US. half hour, $45US one hour.

Kayaking:

• Single kayak......$3 one hour, $10 half day
• Double kayak ...$4 one hour, $12 half day

Camping Playa Bluff:

• Price: $ 3.00 per person/day
• $12.00 per person/day with breakfast, lunch and dinner

You can see various species of fauna and flora such as parrots, monkeys, sloths. From April to September you can see nesting of turtles.
You can also surf and boogie boarding in the HIGH season form November to April and in the LOW season from June to August.
The restaurant offers a good variety menu every day. You can also have a massage at the beach.
 

Visit to Indigenous Village.
In the Archipelago boundaries there are several communities of the ngobe indians. These communities are, in the Bastimentos Island: Quebrada Sal and Bahia Honda; in San Cristobal: San Cristobal, Bocatorito and Valle Escondido; in Solarte: Solarte; in Popa: Popa 1, Popa 2 and Isla Tigre; in Cayo Agua: Cayo Agua. If you are interested in indian cultures, is a good idea to visit San Cristobal, Popa 2 or Quebrada Sal, where any local will tell you about their communities and customs.
Although they are not prepared to receive tourists, they receive any visitor with kindness.

Exploring
By car, your tour begins in Bocas del Toro town, with the choice of two alternatives. The first takes you along the coast facing the open sea, with alternative rock outcrops and small beaches on the right, and undulating hills with cow farms and forests on the other side, until you reach the fabulous and as yet undeveloped beach of Bluff, with its distinctive bright orange sand. This is a great place to spend your day, swimming, taking care on rough days, laying on your back watching white-faced monkeys, or surfing the waves. Bluff Beach is also a marine turtles nesting beach, where conservation groups work during the nights, in season, to preserve nests and turtles from predators, activity open also to tourists.
Otherwise you can take the half hour trip to the old settlement of Bocas del Drago, situated on a sandy beach beyond which are patches of coral, of interest to the snorkeller. Five minutes from here, toward the open sea is the bird sanctuary Swan Key. In the way back to Bocas, make a point of stopping in the middle of the island to see the Bats Cave with its beautiful grotto.

• Colon Island and Bocas Town
  In Colon island, where Bocas del Toro town is located, there are a great diversity of attractions to see. The caribbean architecture is the first thing that the tourist notes and is part of our regional culture. Inland, Colon island has forests, rivers, creeks and the remainings of fauna and flora once very aboundant. The coast can be appreciated for the coral reefs, mangrove forests, beautiful rocky formations and many sea birds.

  Bocas del Toro is a town with a strong personality. Walking along the main street (3rd.) or any of the adjacent ones, is like going back to the past. A past that, some times was splendid, and at other times was decadent... sad. The architecture of the old houses, with their old caribbean style, is part of the identity of Bocas.
   

• Zapatillas Key
  These two beautiful islands are located on a coral platform that is defined, toward the open sea, by the breakers that are formed as the waves crash on the reef. Zapatillas Keys, lie inside the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park. They are famous for their beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, coral reefs and small but shady forests. They are named after a fruit: the zapatila. The western island, Zapatillas Minor, is the occasional base of scientists, researchers of the green marine turtle. The leatherback and the hawksbill turtles also come to lay their eggs, in season, on these beaches. On Zapatillas Major there is the Park Rangers refuge, the only habitation on the islands, managed by INRENARE, the Government Agency for Protection of the Natural Resources.
   
• Swan Key & Boca Del Drago
  When Christopher Columbus arrived in Panama from Costa Rica, the first place he visited was Boca del Drago, entering what is now known as Admiral Bay (or Caribaro by the Indians) via the channel that separates the main land from Colon Island. Today, this region of the archipelago is an attraction for tourists. There, you find beautiful beaches at the tip of the island and shady trails to walk. Coral formations beyond the beaches attract the snorkeller.
   
• Hospital Point
  Hospital Point is a close and small place with a great diversity of attractions. Tourists can scuba dive or snorkel in the reef nearby, or swim and rest in the protected small beach, know about the history of the islands with the owner of the point or walk in the forest with a local guide, looking for the tiny colorful and poisonous frogs and the tombs from the beginning of the century.
  Hospital Point was the place where the main hospital of the region (owned by the United Fruit Company) was established in 1899, standing there until 1920 when was moved to Almirante (main land).
   
• San Christobal Island
  The island of San Cristobal occupies an important sector of the Admiral Bay. There is also the place most visited by dolphins in the entire Bay. There are three important indian villages in the island: San Cristobal, Bocatorito and Valle Escondido. San Cristobal is one of the more important of the region, with electricity (generator), public phone and a primary school. Bocatorito and Valle Escondido are smaller but of some importance.
   
• Bastimentos Island and National Marine Park
  The Marine Park comprises the central sector of the Bastimentos Island, both Zapatillas Keys and the waters surrounding them, and the mangroves zone at the south of Bastimentos island. Long Beach, on the north of this island, competes with the beaches on the keys, due to is size and wild beauty. There is where marine turtles come to nest during the months of April to October. Access is not easy, by land or by sea, due to the heavy surf and the fact that thick forest encroaches upon the very edge of the beach.

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