Bocas del Toro, Panama’s Caribbean jewel, is recognized as a prime tourist destination. The Bocas region boasts clean, calm waters, huge tracts of virgin hardwood and rain forests. It is a last refuge for many endangered species. The diversity of birds, coral and aquatic life are rivaled by few other places in the world.

A standard for visitors is a trip to the Bastimentos National Marine Park. This 13,226-hectare (1,630 inland and 11,596 of mainly shallow waters) marine park is one of the most beautiful and important marine habitats that exist today. Apart from its reefs, it includes the pristine Zapatilla Cays.

More than a dozen coral reefs protect a marine environment un-equaled in most of the Caribbean because its remote location has ensured that it has remained untouched; it is a protected zone for the endangered manatee and is a tarpon spawning ground.

Snorkeling excursions can be ar-ranged with bilingual boatmen (the majority of Bocas del Toro people speak Spanish and English).

Bocas del Toro has several excel-lent beaches. On the northern tip of Isla Colón, we recommend Bluff and Bocas del Drago (Mouth of the Dragon). These can be reached by boat in 45 minutes or by road (taxi) in 20 minutes.

A three-minute, 300-meter boat ride from Bocas town (watch for dolphins!), will land you on tranquil Carenero where there are several small hotels.

Bocas offers a number of good restaurants. The speciality of the islands is, of course, seafood, but a good variety of food is offered from pizza to "typical" Panamanian.

Getting to the islands poses no problems. Domestic airlines fly from Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Panama City (one hour) daily to the Bocas del Toro International Airport.

Bocas belles with a local product at the annual Fair of the Sea.

Overland adventurers can go by bus or car from Panama City or David. From the Panamerican Highway turn off and head north across the Continental Divide to the port of Chiriquí Grande. From there, water taxis and ferries leave for Bocas del Toro or you can use the new road which has recently been constructed as far as the port of Almirante on the mainland, opposite Bocas.

On this road is to be found La Escapada Eco Lodge, a delightful hostelry run by Kyleen and Ron Bennett, a retired couple from Florida who take the tranquility of the lodge so seriously that no TVs are allowed. La Escapada is on the waterfront and flanked by verdant forest.

Any number of small, low, and medium-priced hostelries are available in Bocas town and there are several small resorts a short boatride from the town’s waterfront. Hotel El Limbo on the Sea is one of the most charming hotels on Isla Colon with a private beach and bedrooms with balconies over the sea.

Outstanding among the island´s resorts is Punta Caracol Aqua Lodge run by José Luis Bordas from Barcelona, who discovered Bocas while on a special scholarship from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. José Luis combined his hospitality skills, and a love for the tropical wilderness, to create a "boutique resort". It is not rustic by any means. Orthopaedic beds and haute cuisine come with the thatched-roof cabins built on piles over the water.

But Punta Caracol is a wilderness resort with a "green" consciousness which incorporates solar panels and a biological waste treatment system.

Many of the foods and vegetables served are produced at the resort’s organic gardens (coconuts, tomatoes, bananas, etc).

Visitors can plan diving excursions to the island of Escudo de Veraguas, organize adventures up jungle rivers or plan airplane tours of the entire Bocas del Toro province.