Panama People & Culture

Its a place with nice people, special frogs singing in the evenings, the busses with painting like grafitti, and the spanisk south american musik, guns, guns guns and the market and the barbershop.

Don't be fooled. Bocas Del Drago does not exist. If someone tells you to take a nice hike across the island to find it, they are ill-informed. My friends and I spent a day and night foraging through the wilderness trying to find Bocas Del Drago but only found bugs, alligators, scrapes, cuts, scratches, a lack of water and thank god some people who lived in the middle of the jungle who helped us find our way home.

If you are looking for an interesting experience for beaches and culture on the caribbean coast and not far from Panama City, Isla Grande is a nice tranquil getaway that will make you think you landed in Jamaica. Driving is the eastiest way to get there, but i recommend a 4x4 or high clearance vehicle. i had a 2x2 nissan xtrail and did just fine but wish i had the 4x4. there is a lot of African culutre, try the different shrimp and fish dishes. overall very cheap. and the there are plenty of small boats(lanchas) or fisheman willing to take you back and forth to the island. car parking is about $5 for the day.Going to the resort is not necessary, but not a whole lot of upscale places to eat. perfect for a day trip or picknik. the locals are very friendly and helpful. To get there, take the Panama-Colon Highway towards Colon, look for signs that say Portobelo, follow the road and when the pavement ends, keep going and you will finally arrive to Isla Grande

Best place in Panama to do snorkel and scuba diving!!

great night fishing from the boat, drop a (strong) line on a (very strong) rod with a piece of fresh fish to the bottom after dark and wait: be prepared for rays. They fight like hell, so bring your shark-size equipment!

just a plane landing site, starting point to several islands of san blas archipelago. Robinson's place is fine, but bring lots of water and food, as they cook like hell. Or buy fresh lobsters from local fishermen and do your own thing. a botttle of good rum matches perfectly to coconut-water and a bonfire. a machete will help cutting the many coconuts you will find, but a good swiss knife does it as well.
The island offers nothing but mediocre snorkelling and sun-bathing. you can spot small barracudas.

great place for some relaxing days - good food and some short but nice hikes nearby

There are ruins from the city's old fortifications, which you can hike up to and provide a really cool view of the bay.

Hotel Las Olas de la Madrugada in Bocas del Toro is the place to be if you like surfing.. and they serve great breakfast! great atmosphere... http://www.hotelolas.com/

Hold on to your bags and money!

You can (should?) experience a canal transit:
A partial canal transit tour operates three times a month, every Saturdays, except for the day when it operates as a full transit. We took the full transit tour and enjoyed it very much. After all the partial tour tourists leave (after 4 hours), there is a peacefull ride over the lake and a more impressive transit downwards to Colon (total 8 hours).

We bought our flight tickets to Bogota and then to Quito from Avianca. Then included a trip to Cartagena and did not have to pay 1 cent more!!!
For a Panama-Cartagena-Bogota-Quito tickets we paid only 353 USD!!! Try variations, you will be surprised!

Just outside of Portobello you can experience a fantastic canopy tour.. good relation between price/quality and very nice guides.. http://theadrenalinefactory.com Also in the same area they serve the best octopus in coconut milk! you really have to try some!