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Bocas del Toro Hotels

Bocas del Toro is the new “hot spot” in the Caribbean.  Long on the adventure traveler/back packer circuit, Bocas del Toro is now on the radar screen of more affluent travelers seeking accommodations in more upscale Bocas del Toro Hotels.   In response to this demand there has been an increase in hotel offerings in recent years.  Only a few Bocas del Toro Hotels can offer sophisticated accommodations near the beach.  This is because most of Bocas del Toro’s beaches exist on the north shore of Bastimentos island.  The best beaches in all of Panama exist on the island of Bastimentos.  In fact, the beaches are so popular that upwards of 500 visitors each day take a shuttle or boat ride to the island so they can have access to these beaches.

There is just one Bocas del Toro hotel or resort that offers instant access to these Beaches.  The Red Frog Beach Resort has a variety of accommodations available to budget or upscale visitors.  This is not a Bocas del Toro Hotel in the true sense of the word, but it is a resort that is in the early stages of becoming a magnet to the region.  With a marina, zip line canopy tour, hiking trails and fully functioning beach club with an activity center, this Bocas del Toro Hotel is starting to gain the attention of travelers.

Most visitors to the Bocas del Toro archipelago want to experience the marine environment in ways that are meaningful and leave a lasting impression.  Boat tours, diving trips, snorkeling adventures are often on the list for visitors to local Bocas del Toro Hotels.  But having access to the marine environment- and in particular the Bastimentos National Marina Park- with its pristine coral reefs and golden sand beaches and aquamarine waters is a highlight of many a visitor’s vacation to the region.  The Red Frog Beach is the only Bocas del Toro hotel/resort offering that is contiguous to this National Marine Park.

During a vacation with just a week or a few days to explore, access is everything.  Being able to walk to the beach or through the rainforest just a few steps from accommodations is the holy grail of vacationing here in Bocas del Toro.   Many Bocas del Toro hotels are in town- which is great for access to dining options and having a night out on the town.  However, a quick ten minute boat ride is all it takes to enjoy these pursuits without the noise and riff raff that can exist in Bocas town.   We encourage those planning a visit to Bocas del Toro to have a look at our offering. Please take a look at what our visitors had to say about our resort on Trip Advisor.   We hope that your visit to Bocas del Toro is a great one.

Panama Vacation

When I was approached by some friends about where they should spend their upcoming vacation they were a little surprised when I said they should look into a Panama Vacation.  They had never thought about or considered the Central American country to be a vacation destination.  After five minutes of describing the Bocas del Toro region of Panama, they were convinced that this was a great option for a Panama Vacation.

There were a couple of main points that helped me sell Bocas del Toro as a Panama Vacation option to my friends.  The fact that they running from the Chicago winter, the beach was the most important thing to them when considering a vacation.  I explained that Bocas del Toro had many beaches to choose from and that Isla Bastimentos was the best Panama Vacation option when it came to beaches.  If you took a 6 hour hike from Old Bank, one would cross Wizard, Red Frog, Turtle, Polo, and Larga Beaches.  This fact alone was enough to sell the Panama Vacation.

However, there is much more to Panama than strictly beaches.  While on Bastimentos, travelers have access to countless other activities that will keep them busy during their Panama Vacation.  The newest attraction to the Bocas del Toro region is the Bastimentos Sky Canopy Zipline.  This new action-packed ride through the jungle will add an element of adventure to any Panama Vacation.  Each person flies above the jungle floor on 5 different ziplines of varying length and height.  Guests can challenge themselves on the ropes course.  It is a series of challenges suspended high in the trees.  Stations range from a tarzan swing and monkey swing to a walking bridges.  This is a surefire way to push yourself to the limit while on your Panama Vacation.

When traveling abroad it is important to gain an understanding of you local surroundings and experience the nature and culture first hand.  I told my friends that while they were on their Panama Vacation they could experience both of these things while participating in the Wild Life Cave Tour.  The guide is a local man by the name of Rutilio who does an extraordinary job of pointing out the local wildlife and making every guest feel comfortable.  While floating through the mangroves en route to the cave it is almost certain you’ll see sloths and if you’re lucky, maybe even a few monkeys.  Upon reaching the cave everyone walks through a local farm and gets a sense of how the locals really live.  The cave is an adventure by itself.  With bats flying above your head, some participants really get to challenge their fears.  After exiting the cave Rutilio will often take the tour to the local Bahia Honda village for lunch.  A little nature and a little culture is a great away get the most out of any Panama Vacation.

When it comes down to it, Bocas del Toro, and especially Isla Bastimentos, has everything that a Panama Vacation needs.  Beaches, Adventure, and Local flavor are all things that are at your fingertips when visiting Panama.  A Panama Vacation is a great way to spend your free time discovering the world.

Panama Vacation

How are you? I am well. I bet your reindeer are extra excited for the trip this year….coming quick, only 4 – 5 months left…..How are the elves?  Still short? I bet so.

Anyways, I am writing you early in case the mail is delayed while heading to the North Pole. What I really want for Christmas this year is a Panama vacation. Not just any Panama vacation, but a really good Panama vacation: something with white sandy beaches, impossible sunsets, and tiny yet potent colorful cocktails with small paper umbrellas donning the rim. Now Santa, I realize this may seem like a steep request at first (Keep in mind that I have been an extremely good boy this year) but Panama vacations are getting more and more reasonable, especially in the area of Bocas del Toro. For my Panama vacation, I was thinking perhaps of an up and coming resort: Red Frog Beach. I heard that they have great and affordable rental villas which make for a perfect Panama vacation every single time. I think that if you would get me this awesome Panama vacation that I would be even more likely to be good again next year. Please Santa, they have 5 different beaches to walk to, a suweeet beach bar, plenty of snorkeling and exploration, and who knows maybe they will even have tiny yet potent and colorful cocktails with small paper umbrellas donning the rim. It seems that they have more amenities to offer than you do toys in your sled…Isnt that a kicker!

If you were to find a way to wrap this up under the tree for Christmas, it would truly be one of the best holidays ever. I can see it now – I would come down on Christmas morning and find my tickets to the perfect Panama vacation sitting nicely rested upon a tree limb. The Christmas lights would sparkle the name “Justin” on the envelope and then I would know for sure…Panama vacation time! Excited, I run to the tree, rip open the envelope and behold inside I will find a filled out and signed copy of the Red Frog Beach Villa rental agreement, as well as my Red Frog Beach cart rental contract, and even a grocery list in case I want my luxury vacation villa to have complete food stocked and ready for me. I just can’t imagine the excitement that would come over my face. It would be worth video-taping

Also Santa just a few other things on my list: Doublestuff Oreos, a helicopter, and a puppy. Hope this isn’t too much stuff to fit in the sled. You may have to doublecheck your list, but like I have said, I have been a really really good boy this year so it should be no problem. Tell Rupdolph not to worry, I have a feeling all the other reindeer will come to their senses eventually!

Panama Resorts

My family and I have just returned from the number one of all Panama Resorts on the beach!  Red Frog Beach is in Bocas del Toro and we rented a Villa for a week.  First off, we paid about the same for a week in a 2,500 sq. ft. house in Bocas del Toro, as we would for 2 nights in a mediocre suite in Las Vegas.  Our house included our own pool, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, flatscreen T.V’s, and a view to die for!  We got a resort adventure package, so our week included snorkel gear, boogie boards, 2 boat tours, and the most insane cave tour!  If you have ever seen the movie, “The Goonies” you might be able to understand how awesome this tour was.  Wading in water up to our necks while bats were flying overhead, and jumping off of a big rock, hundreds of meters back in a cave……INSANE!!  I don’t think that any of the other Panama Resorts near a nice beach could offer what this place has.

The morning of our second day in Bocas del Toro at Red Frog Beach started with a fantastic boogie board session on Turtle Beach at 8AM, (about a 5 min walk) and ended with a walk back seeing 2 sloths and a monkey!!  We had a great BBQ on our balcony, and went on the most fabulous Catamaran Tour ever!  Red Frog Beach cannot be rivaled by any of the other Panama Resorts.

Our third day started a bit slow due to some bottles of wine on our catamaran tour, but the fresh ocean air opened our eyes right up, and we continued down to the beautiful Bocas Bound campus and had a wonderful breakfast. We met some great people that were about to depart on a Panama snorkeling tour, and they asked us to join, and went to Corral Cay, and Zapatillas.  These may have been the most beautiful snorkeling spots of any of the Panama Resorts!!!  I never knew how crazy and hilarious the Dutch were!!!!

Day 4 started similar to day 3, but we were up early because some of the friendly staff at Bocas Bound had let everyone know that there was swell coming in, and the Bocas surf was going to be fantastic!  We reserved some surfboards the night before, and got back down to Bocas Bound about 9AM, grabbed the boards and sprinted down to the beach.  We were all taken back a few notches when we saw the size of these Bocas del Toro waves!  The day before they were about 4 foot, and today they had jumped up to 6-7 ft.!  It took us about an hour and a half to realize that they were a bit too big for us, and went to the beach to relax and have a beer at “Punta Lava” the Red Frog beach bar.  Just another PERFECT day at the best of all Panama Beach Resorts!

The last 2 days were a lot more relaxed, taking tours around the islands and enjoying the sights of our two favorite Panama Resorts:  Red Frog Beach Club, and Bocas Bound Island Hostel!  They even have a canopy tour that will be done in about 3 weeks from now!  We were able to take advantage of all the beautiful hiking trails that were already completed beneath the ziplines, so we could see the ropes course about 100 feet above us!

I hope any and all that read this, that are looking for the newest and best of all the Panama Resorts on the beach–will go and visit this slice of heaven!  It doesn’t get any better than Isla Bastimentos.  I know that everyone back home will definitely get an earful of the top of the top echelon of all Panama Beach Resorts!!!  Thank you Red Frog Beach, and Bocas Bound!!!!

Bocas del Toro Hotels

Choosing the perfect Bocas del Toro hotel during your visit to Panama is not an easy task. Many tourists to Bocas del Toro are confronted by the complex task of understanding the Caribbean Island geography. The average tourist first needs to understand that the location of Bocas del Toro can mean three things: 1) Bocas del Toro is a province and includes a large portion of the mainland. This is important because people will read about a mudslide in “Bocas del Toro” that happened in the mountains on the Panama mainland 100s of miles away. 2) Bocas del Toro the island area made up of over 60 islands and the Bocas del Toro hotels are spread throughout these islands with the greatest concentration of standard hotels located in Bocas town located on Isla Colon.  3) Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro is not the same as the city of Colon located at the Atlantic end of the Canal; the town of Colon is not a safe city and tourist get confused and think that Isla Colon is a crime ridden city (it’s not).

The next thing to understand when choosing a Bocas del Toro Hotel is that Bocas town does not have a beach nearby. The entire waterfront in Bocas town has been developed with hotels and restaurants. There is a main street just behind the waterfront buildings with more hotels, restaurants and a few grocery stores along that road. These Bocas del Toro Hotels range in price from around $40 to $180/night. The nicest hotels are probably Tropical Suites and El Limbo. There are also several Bocas del Toro hotels in town as Bocas has a reputation for being a party place with bars such as the “wreck deck” which includes a floating bar over an underwater-lit submerged ship (note that in Bocas there are no railings on the floating docks…watch your step).

There are other Bocas del Toro Hotels on Isla Colon 10 – 40 minutes away from town. The most famous is Punta Carocol which is the Tahitian looking aqua lodge accommodations that are frequently shown in Panama’s tourism media.  There is no beach here and it is a little pricey because of the over the water experience. There is a newer resort 15 minutes from Bocas town called Playa Tortuga. It is advertised as 5-star and not sure how they get away with that? It has a very small beach and a beautiful pool area.

Most of the other Bocas del Toro Hotels off of Isla Colon are what Trip Advisor calls specialty lodging or B&B type places that can accommodate 4—15 people typically. You will need to get a water taxi to get to these other locations and it is typically very easy to do and price depends on how far the hotel is located from Bocas town. Popa Paradise Resort (on Isla Popa) is a 30 minute boat ride away from Bocas town and this hotel is new and has received some good reviews and has a lovely pool area and some beach.

Isla Bastimentos is about 10 minutes from Bocas town and this island is known for the beaches and the national marine park that encompasses about half of the island. Most of the Bocas del Toro hotels on this island are on the backside (mangrove side) of the island so there is not a tremendous amount of beach on this side of the island. Al Natural and Tranquilo Bay are both great Bocas del Toro Hotels on this island. There is a new resort called Red Frog Beach and Bocas Bound that is on the north beach side of Bastimentos that has good access to those beaches (called Red Frog Beach and Turtle Beach).

One can look on trip advisor and see that there are probably 30+ Bocas del Toro hotels to choose from. Every traveler is different and there are a lot of good choices of where to stay during your trip to Panama. Many tourists start with deciding what they want to do during their stay in Bocas del Toro (zip line, cave tour, dolphin tour, yoga, surfing, bird watching, etc…..); once they determine the activities, choosing a Bocas del Toro hotel becomes easier.