Bocas del Toro I

Today I want to share one of my favorite places. It's Bocas del Toro, an archipelago of islands situated in the Carribean Sea. This will need more than one blogpost because it's such an amazing place, there are a lot of nice beaches to visit and it is exquisite for going snorkling and/or diving. (oh, and you can see the occasional dolphin, not to forget!)
So stay tuned for some beautiful pictures and some handy informations.

This is the main island, Isla Colón from a boat

How to get there?
You can fly in by plane. The airport is situated on the main island, Isla Colón. The flight will take you about 45min to 1 hour to/from eighter San José (Costa Rica) or Panamá City.
You can also take local transport to Almirante and a "lancha" (e.g. water taxi) from there to Colón. From Isla Colón you can easily get boats to the other islands.

Where to stay?
Where to stay depends on what you are looking for!
Infrastructure is best at the main island, but if you are deperate to rest and seeking absolute quiet the other islands may be interesting as well. I'll give you a brief overview:
Isla Colón: The main island, best infrastructure, all different kinds of hotels, lot's of hostels, largest variety of nightlife.
Isla Carenero: The hostel Aqua Lodge hosts "wild" parties one or two times a week. A part from that, there is next to no nightlife going on on Carenero. There are 2 or so more hotels and I have seen the occasional restaurant. For things like supermarkets or banks, a boat ride to the main island is necessary but the good thing is: the boat ride will only take about 2 minutes because Carenero is situated just a few hundred meters from the shore of Colón.
Bastimentos: There are some very good hotels on Bastimentos Island. I have not seen a single supermarket nor a bank nor anything else. BUT I heard about beach partys on the beaches of Bastimentos on some nights. I guess this will be a quiet place nevertheless, since it is a fairly big island and I can't imagine the beach parties right next to the hotels.

A post about the different beaches of te archipelago will follow the next days!