Under the waves we had fun, but Bocas Del Toro and all that was around has a lot to offer topside as well. Here are a few stray thoughts and observations, necessarily incomplete, for when you find yourself there, because you should.

There is a bit of a Wild West feel about the town, like anything could happen and some rules are a little blurry. It’s not a beach side chillin’ destination, there’s a strong whiff of adventure about the place. A backpacker town to some extent, BDT has visitors from all over the globe. Among others we met a Mexican biologist doing research on sea cucumbers, a Spanish divemaster student working his way up the Americas, an Australian on his walkabout, a German graphic designer living in Argentina, a bunch of Dutch dudes, even kids from Laval. One of whom had the unfortunate idea to tell Gen he was born the same year she was first certified as a scuba diver… So I had to turn off his air under the water. Just kidding. Sort of. They were a bunch of pleasantly over excited newbies on their first salt water dive ever. They were very happy we took a picture of them.

Some parts of Bocas are real pretty, others less so, usually a bit of both. Maybe that’s where the Wild West feeling comes from, or maybe it’ was all the cops around? Because you could definitely feel the sheriff was in town.

The town’s not sanitized for the milquetoast tourist and that’s a good thing. It is however, by no stretch of the imagination, a cut throat sort of place. I’m sure you’ll find trouble if you go looking for it or do stupid touristy things (like wearing a watch that can feed a family for a year), but I would not hesitate to recommend BDT to anyone looking for a slightly (very slightly) off the beaten path experience. Well, I guess that depends on what your beaten path is.

Crucial to know, Bocas and the surrounding islands and beaches are 95% cash only. Don’t count on using your credit cards. You will have to carry cash. You can’t plan on frequent trips to the ATMs either. There is only one in town and it sometimes runs out of money. So yeah, be prepared. Also, paying for a 1.50$ beer with a hundred dollar bill is a dick move, don’t do it. A lot of vendors (and taxi drivers, and that goes for the whole of Panama) won’t have the exact change, if you want to avoid tipping overmuch it’s better that you do. Sidebar, taxi drivers don’t automatically expect to get tipped, you agree on a fare and that’s that. The US dollar and the local Balboa are taken and given out on par, you will end up with some funky currency for your souvenirs, the 50 cents piece was especially nice I thought.

If you arrive via the airport, there will be an additional fee of 3$ (cash of course) that goes, in principle, to the conservation efforts around the island. It’s okay you just had some good rum on your flight. There’s also an extra charge of 15$ on your way out if you fly to Costa Rica, but apparently not if you fly to Panama City. The airport at BCD is technically “international”, it’s a single strip on the edge of some slightly run down houses. A patchy chain link fence separates the street from the airport.

Crabs are everywhere in Bocas when you stop to look. There was one in the airport’s lounge and we saw plenty of evidence of those who played Frogger and lost. These are land crabs obviously, they burrow into the ground and migrate to the sea occasionally (I’m guessing to reproduce). They can get pretty big and the ones we saw most look like mutant superhero crabs with the one giant pincer.

Beasties of all kinds are all around you. We found a dead gecko in our fridge. Where woken up by howler monkey regularly, saw baby parrots being fed and wild chicken run across the lawn everyday.

Water is the defining element of the town and even of the region. There are more boats than trucks. Need to move a Coke fridge? Boat.

Need to go anywhere? Boat.

Water drives the economy as well, whether it’s tourism (beaches, surf, sail, snorkel, scuba) or the transport of goods and people.

If you go to dive or surf you won’t be going at the same times. December is great for diving but horrible for surfing. There is a monumental wave called Silverback close by, conditions are only right for it to appear every 3 or 4 years. It is apparently the most rad wave in Panama, and the surfers we spoke to mentioned the name with a mix of respect and dread. More within reach of most surfers is the break at Paki Point.

Break. Point. In the same sentence and I meant it. I just went all Keanu on myself. Good goosebumps.

The town is clearly booming, there are building sites springing up all over and all sorts of businesses catering to tourists and locals alike. Shops range from the usual faux Jamaican stuff, high end surf gear and fashion, to lumber yards, groceries and homemade clothes stores. I think it’s time to go before it becomes Costa Rica or Cozumel.

A useful spot to know is the ho(s)tel Selina, where most of the backpacker and hipster kids hang out. Lot’s of beards, few lumberjacks. It has a nice bar on the bay with steps that go down into the water and submerged lights at night. It’s a very central location in what is admittedly a very small town, (you’re never far from anything, especially not the water), and during the low season it’s one of the few places open late. Selina is the perfect example of a fantastic branding exercise. It’s a business that has a cool image and appeals to people who like, you know, are different, and into yoga, and travelling, and not part of the system, and like, like to party a little but like no, don’t be fooled, it’s a business. It irks me that a money making enterprise has a sign up that says “Looking for Volunteers” (presumably “interns” hoping to eventually transition to a paying job there). Still, we went for beers and a bite a few times, it was the happening place in town, and once we did have a lovely chat with a German nomad bartender. For the young (in our cases -ish) hip crowd, Selina is clearly the place to be. Just go in with your eyes open and don’t buy into the hype. It’s just a business even if the receptionist is reading The Alchemist in the lobby. I’m getting cynical aren’t I?

The food in Bocas is, by our limited experience, decent but not wow great, with one exception.

Big time caveat: a lot of the places are either closed or half closed during the low season (which started as we were there) and so we did not get to try all we wanted, no octopus tacos for us, so this is not necessarily representative. At all.

You should try Tom’s for very local and well priced food. Just ask around and you’ll find it.

Also, right next to Bocas Diving Pirates is the aptly, if less originally, named The Pub, you can guess what it is. The food is pub style but quite good, the cocktails were well made, the beer cold and $1.50. Also the big deck is right over the water and there is always a nice breeze, perfect for post dive log book duties. The music, 70’s easy rock, is probably the owner’s choice (nice guy btw) and a reminder of his glory days. You also get a mermaid motif above the bar. With pirates and krakens, these are recurring themes in town. I’m not complaining.

In Bocas you can judge any place by how much they charge for a beer. A local beer (Balboa or Panama, which btw was a nice change after two weeks of Balboas) should cost between $1.50 and $2 in bars, more than that, the odds are good everything else will be overpriced as well.

By far, and I wish more people read my blog so I could properly plug this next place, the best and most pleasant meal we had was at Captain Caribe. It used to be a food truck (well, food trailer to be honest) which is now perhaps permanently parked next to Selina and to the most anonymous (and best) marisqueria in Bocas. Jorge, the owner, is one of the most pleasant guys you can meet. We ran into him elsewhere in town and he went out of his way just to say hi and chat with us.

Captain Caribe serves mostly burgers and burritos, but with nice island twists. Also they make kick ass smoothies and they will gladly pour some rum into them to make sure you get your vitamin P (pirate) for the day. The burgers come in coconut bread buns (Johnny cakes) with tropical relishes and flavours. With a side dish of patacones (mashed and fried plantains) it’s copious and simply delicious.

Jorge said he might have plans to build a roof over his lot and make it a little more permanent. In the meantime he’s running the best joint in town and catching waves whenever he can. Yes, Jorge is a surfer. Success and good waves to him.

Please, if you are in Bocas, go and taste his food, most days he opens at five pm, yes I said most days and I said five, this is the islands, better get used to it. There are no such things as rigid timetables and always open is a properly (and rightly so) alien concept, go with it, it will be good for you. Plus, you can always buy great seafood, from the not overly advertised place next door, should he be closed.

We bought fish and shrimp there, and were tempted by a whole barracuda. Again, you need to show up, maybe the guy’s there maybe he’s not, if not go have a beer and come back.

Our favoured way to get in and out of town was by bicycle, something of a habit ever since I insisted upon this once in Key West. Cabs are cheap for sure, but you just see more of everything on two wheels, plus it gives you flexibility that waiting for collectivos won’t. The extra exercise is also great to help burn off all those beers you drink while waiting for stuff to open.

The best place to rent bikes is from Arturo, aka “Rastaman”, cause he is, he has a small stall with a tarp for a roof across from the western edge of the town square, he rents his bikes for about 6-9$ a day, you can bargain a little if you want. Do think of a flashlight or some other similar gizmo if you plan to ride your bike at night. Not only do some stretches of the road out of town go crazy dark, but the cops will stop you if you don’t have one. It happened to us, and we were told in no uncertain terms to put on our frontal lamps, look like dorks, and be on our way. My answer was thank you officer.

The police presence in Bocas is significant, especially on weekends, check points are common. We did see a kid about 8 years old being searched. Clearly stuff is going down the tourists don’t see. Have a light on your bike and don’t act like a jackass.

I’m sure biking obviously drunk is severely frowned upon. Also some bits of the road outside town have been eaten away by the sea. So unless you fancy falling into a deep ditch, getting smashed up on rocks, drowning in the tide, and then being eaten by crabs, you’ll need your wits about you. And a light.

I’m not sure if it’s the gringos, the locals, the surfers, the expats or the divers, but Bocas is a pretty decent beer and hot sauce town. I’ve talked about the brewery on the beach before, but it bears repeating, very decent craft beers running the gamut of styles, available by the glass, the pint, the bottle or the growler.

All of this in a shabby chic beach side setting. Look for the D&C sticker on the fridge behind the bar and in the washroom.

The grocery stores also stock more than just the local beers, though for me drinking locally is part of the adventure (plus like, more like ethical or something, like totally).

It is also a hot sauce town, most places serve them. There are a few “brands” made locally, if you can apply that term to a product with a photocopied label and a gmail address. Roughly they come in two varieties, mustard based and habanero. The mustard based sauce I’ve had before on other islands, it basically tastes like hot dog/curcuma mustard mixed with very strong peppers, I like it quite a bit. The habanero ones are more straight forward hot pepper puree with vinegar, in one case there was some carrots mixed in to add sweetness and lower the heat a little. None of them are killer-pay-for-it-the-next-morning sauces (a myth by the way), and you can use them liberally. Good beers and local hot sauce? Yes please.

There’s a sense of humour in town it seems, one marquee, I  think it was in front of The Bookstore Bar (clearly something I should have thought of), simply proclaimed “TripAdvisor sucks”.

Sidebar related to the above: from our unscientific observation, it looks like few people smoke in Panama, surprisingly few, it’s clearly a gringo thing. Smoking is prohibited in all public places even outdoor/uncovered patios.

Like I said parts of town are pretty, others a bit less, it is not a tourist-disneyland-fake enclave and you will see some poverty with all that this entails. It’s life. There’s also lot’s of kids in uniform going to school and families hanging out together on porches. it’s a real community.

There are several islands around Bocas that are a quick boat ride away. Water taxis are easy to find if you want to visit Carneros, Bastimientos, Zapatilla or any of the increasingly (with distance) remote and unpopulated/wild islands. Having however spent three days on Coiba and currently living in the jungle, those things had little draw for us. Especially since kick ass beaches are within easy bike rides from Bocas town center.

Relatively close by, the two beaches that stand out are Paki Point (I know right?) and Playa Bluff. Both are surfing spots and Paki Point has a nice bar/restaurant on the beach. You can watch the surfers while enjoying a cold one.

The roads to get there go from nice, to teeth rattling, to sand track that may or may not be passable. It’s all part of the adventure.

A good ways further up from Paki Point you will get to Playa Bluff. You can’t get lost, there’s literally only one road. Well track to be more precise, and it is really touch and go in some places, it winds through the jungle or close to the beach. We had to get off the bikes and push at times. It was worth it though, it is one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. It is a wild and empty place, or at least it was when we went. Leatherback sea turtles nest there so it is a protected area. Zero buildings on the beach.

Some stretches of beach didn’t have any tracks or footprints at all. It was a long wet (rain) ride back to our house, with the smells and the humidity of the jungle never far away from the sound of the waves.

Even the “little” jungle in the back of our house was forbidding, never mind some of the real wilderness.

You can believe that our days of exploration and diving ended with a well earned cocktail. Or two.

Some of you that have graced the Manor with your presence and have eagle eyes might recognize the juicer, yes, we took it along with us. Are you surprised?

The family of parrots living in the tree next door sure seemed curious.

There’s so much that can’t be conveyed about a place like Bocas, the smells that range from fetid to fantastic (swamp vs roadside bbq), the hot rain, the tides you suddenly start noticing, the people, how things are different yet quickly familiar. Like I said, you should go.

Meanwhile I’ve started thinking of the next trip, Cartagena? San Andreas island? The three Caymans? The Keys? We’ll keep you posted.

Be well.