Hidden Caribbean
The town of Bocas del Toro, which is the hub of the archipelago, is a one-hour flight from Panama City or a 90-minute flight from San José in Costa Rica. The other islands are easily reached by water taxi from the town dock. The rainiest month tends to be December. Panama is outside the hurricane belt; in fact, during hurricane season, some yacht owners moor their boats in the archipelago for that reason.
The country code for Panama is 507. Prices quoted are for January 2013.
Bocas Town
The sluggish pace of progress in the archipelago is felt keenly—and deliciously—in ramshackle Bocas, a town built by the banana industry. The town’s distinction as an after-dark party spot won’t disappoint those in search of post-11 p.m. revelry, but you can also be in bed—after a good meal and a round of vodka gimlets—by ten. Wide gleaming wood floors, a friendly bar, and a decent waterside restaurant make the 1 Hotel Bocas del Toro a snug harbor. The hotel shares the fragile region’s growing commitment to sustainable development by partnering with a Ngöbe-Buglé community to grow and sell coffee (757-9771; doubles from $129).
Happily there’s no escaping the water in Bocas, and 1 Lili’s Café juts out over the harbor on a narrow dock, serving up terrific views and a large menu including coconut French toast, eggs Benedict with crab, and enormous grilled fish sandwiches on homemade bread (Calle 1; 6560-8777; entrées from $5). When the sun dips, 2 El Ultimo Refugio comes alive with twinkling white lights strung on beams above you and the water beneath your feet. The menu includes mahimahi seviche, shrimp in passion fruit cream sauce, and, when your craving for fish ebbs, pork tenderloin in a balsamic-onion reduction (Av. Sur; 6726-9581; entrées from $10). Two minutes by water taxi from the dock, on tiny Isla Carenero, 3 Bibi’s on the Beach lives up to the archipelago’s rep for outstanding seafood with mango-pineapple seviche, Creole octopus, grilled lobster, and other morsels from the deep (757-9137; entrées from $8).
View Bocas del Toro Travel Guide in a larger map
Hotels Restaurants
Isla Bastimentos
With the infrastructure of the archipelago unable to support large-scale resorts—so far—the playing field has been left open to small ecolodges such as those on Isla Bastimentos, which provide an intimate experience of this Caribbean pocket of Panama.
Expertly integrated into the rain forest, each of the five hillside ranchos (cabins) at 2 La Loma Jungle Lodge & Chocolate Farm are like private tree houses for adults, open on three sides but utterly secluded and private. The service is top-flight, the owners steeped in Bocas lore and leisure activities, and the food outstanding, a locavore fantasy come to life—especially since the nearest market is 45 bumpy minutes away by boat. The family-style meals in the main lodge draw from the catch of fishermen and the lodge’s own kitchen garden and chocolate farm, and may include coconut milk pancakes with guava syrup for breakfast; palitos of yuca with chombo chili aioli; red snapper with a lemongrass-tamarind broth, coconut rice, braised red cabbage, and bele leaf; and chocolate cake with a dulce de leche rum sauce and cashew pralines. The lodge shares a percentage of its profits with the Ngöbe-Buglé community in Bahía Honda (6619-5364; cabins for two from $220, including meals, with a two-night minimum).
Lest you forget you’re in the Caribbean, 3 Casa Cayuco opens onto a white sand beach and lapping blue water. Like La Loma, it is an example of sustainable tourism blended with exemplary service. The kitchen turns out amazing food, such as pumpkin blossoms stuffed with rice cooked in coconut milk, mixed with chorizo, and fried in coconut oil with a light tempura batter, and fresh-caught barracuda poached in coconut milk, lime juice, cilantro, onions, and white wine. The owners will make sure you’re well guided, whether hiking, kayaking, diving, or snorkeling (no phone; casacayuco.com; doubles from $275, including meals, with a three-night minimum).
Map at top by Mike Reagan; slideshow images courtesy of the properties