It was time to get a touch of Panama’s vibrant Caribbean culture in Bocas del Toro. Bocas del Toro is a collection of 68 islands along the northwestern Panama coast. It means “Mouths of the Bull”. We went to Bocas del Toro Town which is the southern tip of Isla Colon and actually stayed at a island a $1 water taxi away called Carenero Island.

Hispanic influence is weaker here than the rest of Panama. It is made up of a mixture of native Ngöbe and Buglé people and descendants of 19th century immigrants from Jamaica. Meaning many of the locals speak English. The vibrancy and personality was like no where we had been.

Altogether the journey took us around 4 hours in total from the Lost & Found hostel. We were ready to leave. Personally I think one night or two would have been enough.

First of all, we had to get a public bus to Almirante town followed by a short $1 cab to the ferry dock. At the dock we had to buy a $5 speed boat over to Bocas. Sadly, it was raining which wasn’t the 30 degree sun I was expecting. Luckily it started to clear up quickly. The weather here is so unpredictable. Once at Bocas we had to get another short water to our hostel, Aqua Lounge. Writing this all down it seems like a long day but it actually was a easy efficient journey. Our hostel was amazing and right on the water. Only thing is it was going to be a real party hostel with people telling us to avoid.

The haters were wrong. I loved this hostel. It had a huge pool, easy access to the sea, tons of areas to chill out, diving boards, surfing equipment and a slack line. We had a private room which is always a luxury. Although we didn’t have a window there was something cosy about the submarine cabin vibe.

Both hungry we decided to not go far and eat at the hostel restaurant. This was actually separate to the hostel. The only perks you get as a resident is all day happy hour and 3 x $5 on beer. I had a tuna Niçoise salad and Ollie a burger. We both through the food was good but this is always bias after a day of travelling.

We then decided to explore the island. We first went to the local supermarket which was surrounded by kids playing football. Then naturally we headed to Bibis which was a recommended beach bar for pina coladas. I fell in love with the island which was a small forested natural paradise. The beach was beautiful and water was a gorgeous turquoise. The locals were so friendly and the horizon was full of sunset surfers. I love island life. For dinner we went into the main town and had some delicious fish tacos. Although, they took about an hour to come.

The next day we were up early to have breakfast, which was basically a full English. The weather was pretty miserable and the sky was covered with clouds. I just hoped things would change as it can so quickly here. As soon as we saw a bit of sun we quickly grabbed our swimsuits and left. In a split second we decided to go to Red Frog Beach. A beautiful beach famous for its sugar-like sand beaches, pristine blue sea and warm Caribbean water. We haggled the water taxi to $5 each but the guy wasn’t happy. We had heard a sneaky secret that you can ask to dock at the Selina Hostel to avoid the $5 entrance fee. The boat driver deliberately didn’t drop us there, he was on to us.

At the entrance you go through a small nature reserve home to red frogs, sloths and crocodiles. Sadly we only saw the frogs but they were absolutely tiny and of course, red…

We spent the day tanning and swimming. The waves were really rough and the current was strong so you had to be careful. I was impressed with how attentive the lifeguards were. We had a beer and made friends with some local kids over bananas. They seemed to like us or rather laugh at us. They thought Ollie was some strange alien.

Eventually after a long day we headed back. Although, we got a bit confused but that’s too boring to explain. Once we were back at Aqua, our hostel, Ollie ran into the Brummie boys from Panama City and had another night drinking lots of rum. I would upload a video of me waking me up at 3am but I don’t think I can expose him.

The next morning we had to go get some laundry done. I forced Ollie to not even mention the word hangover but I could tell he was struggling. We took a detour to Panis, a bakery Tina recommended to us. Ollie got a bacon and cheese swirl and I got a truffle swirl with a cappuccino. I was shocked when she said $16 and that definitely put a sour taste in Ollie’s dry hungover mouth. Although, we did get two free biscuits as they forgot about my cappuccino. Overall, it was way to expensive for what is was and I don’t recommend it. Then when we got to the launderette we were charged $20. Some days it does feel like money is just falling out of your pockets. Then again, I don’t need to eat truffle.

In the afternoon, we shimmied down to the local beach and then spent sunset practising walking on the slack line. We were both pretty crap.

Annoyingly later on we ended up going back into town two more times after we dropped off the laundry. Once, to collect it and then again for dinner. The plan was to initially go to Bibis but then I came across google reviews saying they had been spiked by staff! Instead we went to Pulpo which I had seen in many roundups of best eats. I had the most amazing octopus meal and Ollie had the jerk chicken. Full and happy we went back to Aqua for the reggae night. After that, we went back to the hostel for the famous Thursday evening reggae night. The DJs were great and it was heaving with locals until the early morning. We were the last people standing.

After a sick party our time at Bocas had come to an end. This was actually very well timed as it meant we missed Filthy Friday. An all day island hopping party full of gringos. I think the pics I saw of our friends the following day may haunt them forever. Also, I was already very hungover and we had a 11 hour night bus to get. It was time to go all the way back to Panama City for our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.