Before we left on our trip, as I was sharing our itinerary and plans with friends and other travelers. Those who had been to Bocas del Toro before kept telling me how uninteresting Bocas Town was. They said it was dirty, loud, and unsafe.
When we first arrived we had a quick transfer out to Bastimentos Island and Red Frog Beach Resort, so I didn't have a good opportunity to look around the main island and Bocas Town.
At the end of our stay in Panama we had one night booked on the main island, called Isla Colon, and Bocas Town, the main town of the Bocas del Toro archipelago. We stayed at the Palma Royale hotel and this is certainly the best hotel in Bocas Town for families.
What is the best hotel in Bocas Town?
After checking in at the Palma Royale hotel right on the main street of town, we strolled around, mingling with the locals out and about in the town square on a lazy, Sunday afternoon. It was hot, so we retreated to the air-conditioned hotel for a little siesta.
The Palma Royale was perfect for our family of four. Complete with two separate sleeping rooms, a comfortable sitting area and much-appreciated air conditioning, this was an excellent home base for our final night in Panama.
We emerged after the heat of the day had passed to discover the town waking up. As the shadows grew long, people pulled chairs outside and sat out in the middle of the streets, music poured out from the houses and children laughed and played all around.
However the level of poverty was significant. Most of the cinder block homes were dark and dirty. Scrap metal rested up against the houses, things generally looked to be in a state of disrepair.
This was the one and only opportunity we'd had to see a real Panamanian town. While ensconced in the Red Frog Beach Resort we certainly enjoyed ourselves, but didn't exactly have an immersive experience or opportunity to look beyond the walls of the luxury resort.
After making our way slowly around the island, stopping in at a local market for a cold drink, we stumbled upon the best restaurant in Bocas town, and possibly the best one we'd visited in Central America yet.
La Buga is a must if you're in Bocas Town. Part surf and dive shop, part restaurant, you can grab home-baked muffins and sweets for breakfast at La Bugita and big bowls of ceviche for only $6 for lunch and dinner when the larger kitchen opens at La Buga. Drinks were 2×1 until 9pm and the scene was light and friendly. If you're staying at Palma Royale, it's right across the street on the water.
Over dessert at La Buga we asked the kids what they thought of the town, of what they had just seen. While they had a difficult time verbalizing how they felt and what they saw, I know this experience will impact them in some way. Being so close and seeing the dramatically different way people live around the world is the power of travel. This has the power to transform.
Consider spending a night in Bocas Town before heading further in to Bocas del Toro if you want to see true Panamanian culture and have your family experience life in Central America beyond the walls of a resort.
Have you spent time in Bocas Town? What did you think?
