A trip to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica: visit Bocas Del Torro, Panama

Whilst the rains kick-in sometime during the month of October down here in Santa Teresa, it is probably one of the better times of the year to visit the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

We took a week's vacation and traveled overland to Puerto Viejo at the southern most tip of the east coast. The drive from the Nicoya Peninsula was a long and wet one. We broke up the journey by spending a night in San Jose, which if you have children, is a must. The second day's drive was much more fun. Once we passed through the rain forest of the Braulilo National Park, and down to the plains on route 32, we hit sunshine, passing Limon with its miles and miles of banana fields and then finally arriving at Puerto Viejo around 2pm. Its a small bay with gentle waves, lots of little shops and some fantastic restaurants too. We stayed at Casa Verde (cabinascasaverde.com). It was clean, staff were very friendly and helpful,there was a pool for the kids and the it was reasonably priced.

After a few nights here, we traveled an hour or so by car to the border with Panama at Sixola. This is probably the best and worst border crossing in the world. Best as there are hardly any people and queues and worst because of this:

Bridge border crossing, Panama

 
32km from the Costa Rican border, lies the Archipiélago de Bocas del Toro in Panama. It consists of six densely forested islands, scores of uninhabited islets and Parque Nacional Marino Isle Bastimento Panama’s oldest marine park. Although Bocas is Panama's principal tourist destination, you don't feel like you are entering a tourist trap area and it still manages to retain its charm and authenticity.

Bocas' laid-back Caribbean vibe is enhanced by the archipelago’s spectacular natural setting. The islands are covered in dense jungles of 100 year old vine tangles and forest palms that open up to pristine beaches fringed by reeds and mangroves. Beneath the water, an extensive coral reef ecosystem supports countless species of tropical fish while simultaneously providing some seriously gnarly surf breaks. In Bocas, hiking through huge swaths of rainforest to arrive at an empty stretch of wave-pounded shore is pretty much the norm. We saw dolphins, huge starfish, microscopicly tiny red frogs, puffer fish and sloths. It was heaven for the kids and us too.

We stayed at an incredibly peaceful, well designed and authentic hotel called La Coralina (lacoralina.com). The owner Stacey, has created a haven for travellers to enjoy. Her taste in decor, amazingly delicious cooking and friendly parrot Bert, all make you never want to leave. If you heading to Bocas, please, please stay there. 

Dahlia Nahome is the Costa Rica editor for Wandering Educators.
As well as running her rental business, www.costaricanvacation.com & launching www.purasonica.com (a local radio station & whats on guide with her husband) she also enjoys writing about and raising the profile of the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica and has work published on various travel blogs.
You may reach her at dahlia at costaricanvacation dot com.