Our Arrival
The ferry dropped us off one street back from the park in the middle of town.
Where We Stayed
Hotel Cayo Zapatilla - on the SW corner of the park. $25 for a double room with TV and bathroom with hot water showers. Hotel had a kitchen, communal balconies and good internet. We were on the 3rd floor and it worked well in our room. There is cheap laundry available.
Apparently Bocas Del Toro is a big weekend destination and when we arrived on a Saturday afternoon a lot of places were full.
What We Did
Walked to the beaches on the East side of the island. Playa Bluff has a couple of bars/restaurants at the end of the road and big waves. It is a long walk of about 11kms.
You can rent bikes from $5-$10 a day and there are snorkell trips available.
Where We Ate
There was a kitchen in our hotel so we didn't eat out at all. There are plenty of supermarkets in the town.
We heard that you cannot drink the water there and bottled water was quite expensive. Once you have a bottle you can get refils in some restaurants around town.
Where We Went Next
We went to Panama City. It is a long journey so we decided to take advantage of the 1pm checkout and get a night bus.
1. Catch a boat to Almirante. We took Taxi 25 which leaves from the road near the water. It left at 1:20pm, cost $6 and took half an hour.
2. Walk to the bus stop. If you want to get a bus to Changuinola turn right to the main road, turn right again and you will reach the bus station. It is less than 5 mins walk. Buses to David don't go into the town so you need to go to the road junction. Turn right from the boat to the main road and turn left. Walk until you reach the juntion next to a green building. Walk is about 15 mins.
3. Catch a minibus to David. There was one waiting when we arrived. It left at 2:20pm, cost $8.45 and arrived at the bus terminal in David at 6:05pm.
4. Catch a bus to Panama City. Buses to Panama City leave from the same terminal. When you get off the minibus walk back through the terminal in the same direction as the bus drove in and the buses to Panama City are at the end. There is a counter outside for ordinary buses which cost $15.25 and leave quite frequently until about 8pm. Inside the waiting room is a counter for express night buses which leave at 10pm, 11pm and midnight. We caught the 10pm bus to try and arrive in Panama City at a more normal time in the morning and avoid paying an extra nights accommodation. Whilst we were waiting we visited one of the cheap restaurants in the terminal. Unfortunately the bus was more express than we thought and we arrived into the Albrook terminal in Panama City at 4:25am.
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