The Perfect 1 Week Itinerary for Bocas del Toro, Panama
by Rebecca Hollman
updated Feb 26, 2019
Bocas del Toro Itinerary Overview
Day 1: Starfish Beach and Playa Boca del Drago
Day 2: Mimbitimbi adventure and Playa Bluff
Day 3: Snorkel or dive day
Day 4: Wizard Beach and Up in the Hill + night bioluminescence tour
Day 5: Zapatilla Tour
Day 6: Day on Carenero
Day 7: Nature/Wildlife day
Day 1: Starfish Beach and Playa Boca del Drago
Start your day by getting up early and grabbing a big breakfast at Cafe del Mar. They have an amazing assortment of breakfast, smoothies and coffee. Try the gallo pinto and plantain breakfast burrito and the iced coffee.
After filling yourself up on gallo pinto, head to the town center park and get onto a colectivo headed to Starfish Beach (the colectivos are small white vans with Playa Boca del Drago written across the front of the windshield). Once the colectivo is full, they will start on the 25 minute drive to Starfish.
If you are feeling adventurous, you could rent a quad from Skully’s and drive yourself to Starfish Beach. You would be able to enjoy the beautiful jungle of the interior of Colón much more on a quad (and could also stop easily at the bat cave). Quads cost $90 to rent for the full day and $60 to rent for a half day.
After getting dropped off at Yarisnori by the colectivo, grab a beach chair on Playa Boca del Drago and enjoy the sun and sand here for an hour or two.
Once you’ve had your fair share of Boca del Drago, follow the trail onwards to Starfish Beach. Stop at any spot along the trail where you can see a stretch of beach. The water is just as blue here, and there are probably more starfish, so I think it’s better to spend your time here vs at the actual Starfish Beach. It can be extremely crowded whereas if you make your own little spot you will be alone all day.
If you get hungry for lunch or want to see the official Starfish Beach, keep going along the trail. The official beach has a few small restaurants that sell snacks, seafood and drinks.
Hop back on the colectivo after you’ve had your fill of the sun (the last colectivo leaves at 6 PM) and head back to town.
Additional adventure: Have the colectivo driver stop at La Gruta either on the way to or back from Starfish. You can walk through this limestone bat cave in about 15 minutes. After exploring the cave and listening to the thousands of bats, hail down another colectivo on the road.
Wrap your day up with a delicious Indian meal at Om Indian Restaurant. They have amazing curries and plenty of vegetarian options - plus delicious chai tea and kulfi!
LEARN MORE ABOUT STARFISH BEACH HERE.
Day 2: Mimbitimbi adventure and Playa Bluff
This day is going to have to start early. Grab a fast breakfast, like an egg and cheese bagel and hashbrowns at Breakfast Bagels (they are fast and also cheap so win, win). Make sure to bring a packed lunch, plenty of water and a snorkeling mask.
Either grab a cab or a colectivo to the end of Playa Bluff (most drivers will stop at Island Plantation). From here, you’ll have to hoof it the rest of the way. Walk along the road until you reach a padlocked gate. After the gate, the Playa Bluff road turns into “The Jungle Highway.” Follow this (always sticking to the right if the trail splits) until you reach La Piscina.
Spend an hour or two swimming in the beautiful, calm bay of La Piscina. After you’ve had enough swimming, head on the same trail farther along until you reach a branch where there are two signs (one green arrow and one red X). Stick to the right and head to the Blue Lagoon.
Put on your snorkel mask and hop into the Blue Lagoon. Explore all the different areas of the lagoon and watch the fish and small sea life along the reef walls. This is honestly the most beautiful place in all of Bocas so I would spend a good amount of time here snorkeling and enjoying the serene waters. It needs to be a sunny day for you to enjoy the lagoon so plan accordingly.
If it’s been stormy recently the rain runoff will mix with the salt water and make the visibility poor. Also stormy conditions will increase the wave size and bring in a current into the lagoon, again making visibility poor. Try to pick a sunny and calm day.
From here, head back to the green arrow and red X point and keep to the right until you reach an intersection marked The Blowhole. There is no actual blowhole but this trail is a nice extension that brings you into more of the jungle and then also out into even more remote beaches and mangrove inlets. If you go to the right towards “The Blowhole” you will eventually reach a split where a very small path leads to the right through chest high grass. Take this trail if you just want to go to a nice mangrove inlet with a great place to swim. If you want to take a farther trail, go straight.
Finally, head back to the Blowhole sign and head straight across from the trail you were on past the Blowhole sign onto the trail opposite from you. This will lead back to Playa Bluff.
Spend the rest of your day laying on Playa Bluff and walking along the 5 miles of beach. There are a few restaurants along Bluff if you already ate your lunch and are hungry again.
Grab a colectivo or cab back into town and head to Raw Fusion Sushi for a dinner of sushi and ramen bowls, plus an amazing banana spring roll dessert.
Day 3: Snorkel or Dive Day
Depending on your experience with scuba diving and comfortability in the water, this day can either be a snorkel or dive day.
If you just want to snorkel, you can either do a pre-arranged snorkeling tour or you can hire a water taxi for the day and make your own tour. Most snorkeling tours in town will also include other stops, like Red Frog Beach or Starfish Beach, and are not exclusively just for snorkeling. These types of tours usually cost $30 per person. Otherwise, you can create your own tour by hiring a water taxi driver for the day for around $90-100. If you can find a few other tourists who want to go with you and to split the cost, this can actually be a better deal. Have the boat driver take you to Hospital Point for an hour or two, and then to Coral Gardens (also sometimes called Grandma’s Garden) for the next hour or two. These are the best (and closest) snorkel spots in Bocas. Your boat driver likely knows exactly where these spots are.
If you go on your own tour, they are not going to have snorkel masks or fins and lunch will not be provided so you will need to plan ahead more. You can buy a snorkel and mask at most of the grocery stores in town for around $10-20 and it might be worth it to invest in one from the beginning to use for your whole time in Bocas. Also make sure to bring snacks and/or a packed lunch and PLENTY OF WATER!
If you want to dive, then arrange a dive tour with either La Buga, Bocas Dive School or Diving Pirates. You can either get PADI certified, or if you are already open water certified then you can go out to different dive spots around the islands. Each dive company offers many different dive spots so pick the company you like the best and go for it!
After a day of diving or snorkeling, you are sure to be exhausted. Spend the night relaxing at your hotel or hostel. If you’re feeling up to it, grab dinner at El Ultimo Refugio - they serve a different menu of diverse seafood every night.
Day 4: Wizard Beach and Up in the Hill
Start your day around 9 AM and grab a quick and relatively inexpensive breakfast from Cool Crepes at Hotel El Limbo on the Sea. They offer savory and sweet crepes for around $5 and have a great view of the water.
After breakfast, grab a water taxi from Bocas Town to Old Bank of Bastimentos for $4 per person. Make sure to bring water, sunscreen, a towel and a bathing suit with you to Bastimentos, as well as decent walking shoes.
After reaching Old Bank, follow the only side walk from the dock to the right, about 15-20 minutes until you reach a sign that says Wizard Beach to the left. Follow this trail up through a neighborhood, and then through the jungle of Bastimentos all the way until you reach the beach (about 45 minutes).
Spend a couple of hours soaking in the sun on Wizard Beach and swimming in the ocean. Make sure to take a stroll up and down the long strip of beach.
After getting your fill of sun, head back on the same trail you came in until you reach a split in the trail (marked by painted plastic flowers nailed to trees as trail markers). The first flower will be on your right pretty soon after you start back on the trail from Wizard Beach. Follow this new trail with the flower trail markers until you reach Up in the Hill.
Spend an hour sitting in the shade and having a cold cacao drink at this cute cafe. Make sure to try the banana cake! Spend some time wandering around the garden and looking for strawberry poison dart frogs. If you come at the right time, you might even be able to do a tour of the coffee/cacao farm. After recharging on cacao, head back down the trail out of the front of Up in the Hill and back to Old Bank. Catch a boat ride back to Bocas Town from the same dock in Old Bank.
Grab an early dinner at Bocart - a fusion of Asian and Mediterranean food with a funky vibe and live music. After a bite to eat, head off to your bioluminescence night tour from Diving Pirates. The tour meets at 7:15 PM at the dive shop. The tour takes you out to show you fields of light-reactive algae and also motion-reactive plankton. At the last stop, you can get in and snorkel with the plankton that light up like stars in the night sky.
LEARN MORE ABOUT WIZARD BEACH HERE.
Day 5: Zapatilla Tour
Most Zapatilla tours start around 9 or 10 and since you don’t eat lunch on the tour until 3:30, I would highly suggest getting up early and eating before the tour. I would also suggest bringing your own packed lunch, or even just snacks.
After meeting with your tour group, you will spend the whole day snorkeling, looking for wildlife, and enjoying the beautiful white beaches of Zapatilla. You can read more about the detailed tour breakdown on my Cayos Zapatilla post below.
Once back in Bocas Town around 3:30 or 4, grab a late Mediterranean lunch at Bocas Falafel and then head back to your accommodation for a shower and to relax after a long day out in the sun.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CAYOS ZAPATILLA HERE.
Day 6: Day on Carenero
Grab a quick avocado toast and latte for breakfast at Amaranto before taking a water taxi over to Bibi’s on Carenero for $2. After getting dropped off at Bibi’s dock, head out on the island trail to make your way around the entire island.
Behind Bibi’s headed to the right is a small trail that you can follow around the island. Keep following it, stopping along the way to get in and swim or lay on little remote beaches. After taking a lap around the island, stop at Leaf Eater’s Cafe for an amazing and healthy vegetarian lunch and smoothie.
Once refueled, head farther along back to Bibi’s and spend the rest of your afternoon either laying on the beach next to Bibi’s and relaxing in the sheltered sand bar, or rent a kayak at Bibi’s and take it for a cruise across to Solarte and back.
Watch the sunset on Carenero, since it is one of the few islands facing westward, while either laying on the beach or enjoying a drink at Aqua Lounge. After sunset, take a water taxi back to Bocas Town, refresh, and head out for a high end dinner at Azul Restaurant (make sure to make reservations in advance).
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CARENERO ISLAND TRAIL HERE.
Day 7: Nature/Wildlife day
Use your last day on Bocas as a day to relax and enjoy the nature of the Panamanian jungle. This day can be customizable depending on what interests you.
Option 1 - Go on a horseback riding tour of Isla Solarte with Panama Horseback Adventures. Do a half day tour and get to experience the true, untouched jungle of Bocas from on top of a horse.
Option 2 - Do a full day hike to Polo Beach on Bastimentos. Arrange a hike from the less visited side of Bastimentos to the remote beach of Playa Polo. Learn about medicinal jungle plants and experience a full day hike through the jungle.
Option 3 - Visit the Nivida Bat Caves on Bastimentos. Spend a couple hours wading through chest deep water and exploring the limestone cave formations in Bahia Honda. See the beautiful stalagmite and stalactite formations and also see and listen to the thousands of bats sleeping in the cave.
Finish your day off with one final dinner at Oh Toro Sushi and Ramen - my favorite restaurant in Bocas. Grab a coconut bubble tea and enjoy the endless options of sushi rolls, nigiri, sashimi, and ramen bowls.