Bocas Del Toro 😈 Town & Carnival!
The Bocas town carnival is a kaleidoscopic celebration that pulsates with the rhythm of Caribbean culture. Nestled in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Panama, this annual extravaganza captivates visitors with its riotous parades, electrifying music, and dazzling array of costumes.
From traditional dances to exhilarating street performances, the carnival offers an intriguing experience into the heart and soul of Panamanian festivities, attracting adventurers and revelers alike.
Highlights
- Getting to Bocas del Toro
- Eating in Bocas Town
- ‘Noo, Don’t stop de carnivaal…’
- Flying Pirates
- Boat Trips to the Islands
- Hotel Deals in Bocas del Toro
- Hotel Residencial La Terraza
- Fly from Panama City to Bocas
- Our Complete Panama Itinerary
Getting to Bocas del Toro
A water taxi is most people’s introduction to Bocas town in Bocas del Toro, though you can also fly directly to their small airport not far behind the town. Since we were travelling in by bus from Boquete, we made our way to Almirante and took a boat from there
Our initial impression was of a town out of the wild west movies: Wooden shacks with boardwalks and upper level balconies. Most of the buildings seem to be constructed on stilts overlooking the water on the seaward side.
… and there are in fact quite a few ‘cowboy’ establishments that will soon have you reassessing your budget.
Bocas Town – View when arriving by boat
Hotel Terrazza
Our first priority after arrival was to find our hotel. We were booked into the Hotel Residencial La Terraza. This turned out to be an excellent little hotel resort with a swimming pool and large deck area facing the sea.
The chalet-style rooms are arranged around the central swimming pool.
Our room had a comfortable bed, bathroom, fridge, tv and safe. There is also a locked gate to the compound and an all-night watchman sitting in the grounds.
We paid $69 per night for the room, including taxes and excluding breakfast.
A little on the expensive side, but in our experience the quality of hotels in Panama starts to plummet as soon as you go below $50 per room.
We liked the hotel so much, we returned 6 days later for another 2 nights stay. This was after our disastrous experiences on Islay Bastimentos.
Eating in Bocas Town
While staying in Bocas we ate at some relatively cheap buffet-style places as well as a few of the more upmarket restaurants in town.
Apart from an exceptional case of mild food poisoning from one of the cheap sandwich bars, we ate quite well in Bocas town.
We don’t recommend this sandwich bar 🤮
The amusingly-named El Ultimo Refugio at the far end of town had good reviews and didn’t disappoint. However we didn’t get much change out of $80 for 2.
Eating at El Ultimo Refugio
The Indian Om restaurant on the main high street was a little cheaper, but delivered at best a mediocre Indian meal for two for close to $50.
Bocas Town – The Indian Om restaurant
‘Noo, Don’t stop de carnivaal…’
In Bocas town they were preparing for Carnival the following week. The Bocas carnival is an odd event. It lasts for 5 days spanning a weekend at the end of February.
During this time they cordon off the small central garden square with a wire fence. The entrances at either end are controlled by police who perform body and bag checks.
You’ll need to pass through security checks
In fact, there was a heavy police presence throughout the town.
There are lots of deafeningly loud sound systems blasting out Spanish rap, hip-hop and salsa. Street vendors set up stalls to sell drinks and food. Apart from that, not much was happening during the day. There weren’t even that many people about.
Not quite the ‘pre-party’ we were hoping for.
Bocas Carnival – A little underwhelming
Towards the evening the ‘diablos’ start to make an appearance. These are young men and boys dressed in devil outfits, with large garish masks, brandishing whips.
They represent the Spanish slave masters, and are free to whip anyone who enters their area, or who ‘challenges’ them.
The Diablos – watch out for those whips…
Adult diablos are dressed all in black. Their little demons’ costumes are red, but as they get older they gradually get to add black bits to their costumes for each successive year they participate.
We heard a lot of whip-cracking and saw a lot of posturing, but that was about it.
Don’t expect Rio.
Flying Pirates
Renting a quad bike and following the Flying Pirates route around Isla Colon is apparently the top-rated activity in Bocas Del Toro. Here they call quad bikes ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles).
We didn’t try it, but we saw plenty of others who did. The experience will cost you $110 for half a day (4 hours). For 2 people sharing one quad bike, you’ll pay $60 each.
Flying Pirates – There’s safety in numbers
For the more energetic (or less affluent) you can follow most of this route on foot. You’ll lose some calories but will get more of the feel of the place this way.
‘Where the heck are the beaches?’
You won’t see any worthwhile beaches in or around Bocas town. If this is what you’re after, you’ll need to spend money on taxis and/or boats to get to anywhere decent.
The closest beaches of interest are Bluff Beach and the Blue Lagoon 5km or more north of Bocas town in Isla Colon.
The boat touts are always on the lookout for new punters
Boat Trips to the islands
There are various boat trips you can take from Bocas to visit spots of interest in the surrounding islands.
The Red Frog trip takes you to Bastimentos to try to spot their elusive red frogs (you won’t see any).
Bastimentos is also hyped for its beaches and jungle trails. Wizard beach is one of the best with clean, white sand. However, the killer waves and powerful undertow make it a hazardous place to bathe, and almost impossible to swim.
Bocas Town
Another option from Bocas is a full-day boat trip to 5 locations, including snorkeling. This isn’t a bad option for just $30 per person.
Jungle Trails
The jungle trails, both in the north of Isla Colon and in Isla Bastimentos, offer some serious uphill trekking exercise. However, don’t try this alone or late in the day.
The daytime police presence on the trails is testament to the danger to tourists of robbery or worse. Just 2 weeks earlier a foreign tourist was found murdered not far off one of the trails in Bastimentos.
Getting Cash – ATMs and Bank
The main street in Bocas del Toro is called Third Street. When you run out of money (and you will…), head over to the north end of Fourth Street.
There you’ll find the one bank and the only 2 ATM machines.
Bocas Town – Queueing for the ATMs
But get there early on a weekday. We found large queues of tourists at both ATMs, and it isn’t uncommon for the machines to run out of money. The machines charge a $4 or $5 ‘service’ charge, so make sure you take out the maximum.
We were never able to withdraw more than $500.
Bocas just before the busy carnival period 😉
After spending our first couple of nights in Bocas town, we were next heading to the beaches and jungle trails further north on Isla Colon.
We had booked a room at the Tesoro Escondido Eco Lodge and Cabinas, located on the edge of the jungle and high up on a cliff.
If you enjoyed Bocas Town Carnival, check out our Panama Roundtrip. You may also like:
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