Bocas Town

Bocas del Toro town sits on the southern tip of Isla Colón and it grew with the banana trade: the United Fruit Company had its headquarters here from the 1890s and the wooden buildings along the waterfront, some of them on stilts out over the water, date from that period. The company left when disease hit the plantations and the town declined until backpackers found it in the 1990s. It is now the hub for the whole archipelago, with water taxis leaving constantly, a main street of restaurants and dive shops, and a Caribbean population speaking Guari Guari, an English-based creole, alongside Spanish.

What you actually see

• The waterfront buildings - wooden, on stilts, from the banana era.
• The water taxi dock - boats leaving constantly for the other islands.
• Guari Guari - the local English-based creole, heard alongside Spanish.
• The old United Fruit buildings - what remains of the company town.

When to go

February to April and September to October are the driest windows; Bocas rain is heavy the rest of the year. The town is busiest from December to April and in July and August. Flights from Panama City take an hour.

Honest expectations

Infrastructure has not kept up with growth: water and power outages are frequent, and sewage going into the bay is a documented and unresolved problem, so swimming in town is a bad idea. The main street is loud late. Sandflies are severe. Reef health around the inner islands has declined badly.

Nearby

Bastimentos is fifteen minutes by water taxi; Boca del Drago is across the island.