What's it like to live in Bocas Del Toro, Panama?
monique born - Tesoro Escondido Eco Lodge and Cabinas
What's it like to live in the Bocas Del Toro area is definitely a question that can have a hundred different answers. Over my years here, I have found that open minded, self sufficient people do best. An ability to speak Spanish, or certainly the willingness to learn, will go a great way to enhance your time here. Personally, after 18 years here, I still love it. There are a few days each year when I will question my sanity for having come here, but overall, the positives vastly...
What's it like to live in the Bocas Del Toro area is definitely a question that can have a hundred different answers. Over my years here, I have found that open minded, self sufficient people do best. An ability to speak Spanish, or certainly the willingness to learn, will go a great way to enhance your time here. Personally, after 18 years here, I still love it. There are a few days each year when I will question my sanity for having come here, but overall, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. There are many outdoor activities you can engage in, various groups you can "hang out" with. The surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. The air is clean. On the other hand, things will break down and if you cannot fix it yourself, finding the right people to do it can be challenging. It can get warm and it is humid. Living by the ocean helps a great deal with that. I have never had air conditioning, and there are maybe a dozen days each year when I find it excessively hot. If you like boating, you will find this a paradise. If you like nature, you will find this to be a paradise. The key to enjoying this place is to come with an open mind, do not have overly high and unrealistic expectations, do not expect things to be "like home", and stay flexible.
Posted April 24, 2013
Ian Usher - House Sitting Magazine
Bocas del Toro on Panama's Caribbean coast can offer a range of different lifestyles. This video shows just one possibility out of many - the Caribbean island lifestyle:-
The video was made by my stepson Finn on his most recent visit here. I live on a small, two-acre island, and travel everywhere by boat. I haven't owned a car for several years now. We spend a lot of time swimming, snorkeling and exploring the island and beyond.
...
Bocas del Toro on Panama's Caribbean coast can offer a range of different lifestyles. This video shows just one possibility out of many - the Caribbean island lifestyle:-
The video was made by my stepson Finn on his most recent visit here. I live on a small, two-acre island, and travel everywhere by boat. I haven't owned a car for several years now. We spend a lot of time swimming, snorkeling and exploring the island and beyond.
Here are just a few of the other lifestyle options that Bocas de Toro can offer:-
- Live in town, close to bars and nightlife
- Live in a tropical jungle home, seeing monkeys, sloths and other amazing wildlife each day
- Enjoy a beachfront lifestyle, and spend your time snorkeling, diving and surfing
- Build a home in a remote location, and live off-grid far away from town
- Live aboard a sail boat somewhere in the archipelago
Really, the choices are only limited by your own imagination.
"What's it like to live in Bocas del Toro, Panama?" That's entirely up to you!!
Posted June 19, 2013
JB Seligman - BUENA VISTA REALTY located in BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
There are a lot of social activities here in Bocas Del Toro that expats join, such as to celebrate people’s birthdays. Certain members of the communities have different types of activities. They had a Poker Run, where everybody gets on a boat and they go to a bar or a restaurant on every different island and play a hand of poker. There are "raft ups," where we go out on the weekends. All the boats get together and we pull up on a...
There are a lot of social activities here in Bocas Del Toro that expats join, such as to celebrate people’s birthdays. Certain members of the communities have different types of activities. They had a Poker Run, where everybody gets on a boat and they go to a bar or a restaurant on every different island and play a hand of poker. There are "raft ups," where we go out on the weekends. All the boats get together and we pull up on a beach and we have music and refreshments. That is a fun thing to do. There is always something going on here in Bocas Del Toro.
I came here to Bocas Del Toro 11 years ago and haven’t left since. It's kind of a funny story and it's almost true. It's very much "Caribbean" here, like a Jimmy Buffet’s song. The weather is very Caribbean, the beach is Caribbean. There is a Caribbean vibe to this whole place. It is an absolutely wonderful place to live, as far as I am concerned.
My wife has lived here for 14 years. She is a successful businesswoman just like a lot of people who live and work here, who make successful enterprises here. There are hotels, hostels, grocery stores, gift shops, etc. You wake up every day and you will never know what the day is going to offer. That is the beauty of living here in Bocas Del Toro. Every single day is just so different and the important part is to be able to go out and experience it. Do not just sit around, doing nothing. It is very important to get out. You can go to the beach, or go to a jungle trail, or go to the bat cave. We still do that on weekends or when we get off of work, even though we are already living here in Bocas Del Toro. Most of the people who live here have a very active lifestyle.
My wife and I both work, so Sunday is our day off, so typically on a Sunday we sleep in a little bit. We then have breakfast, have brunch, or we jump on the boat and go to our favorite little spot on the other side of Carenero, which is called “the baby pool.” It is a sand bar that is about waist-deep. We get out there with maybe five or six other friends with boats and we spend an afternoon out there. The sun is there, the water is crystal clear; it is a true Caribbean dream!
One of the really neat things to do down here is on Isla Colon. We have what is called Bluff Beach (pictured). Bluff Beach is becoming an extremely popular place. You can rent a quad or a bicycle, or a taxi and you can go out to Bluff Beach, which is a gorgeous beach. It has a bar and restaurant, which is the same feature that most people have in their head of a beach bar on a white sandy beach. The beach bar has bamboo and it is right on the white sandy beach, which is right next to Caribbean waters coming in. Bluff Beach has become a very popular place. They have great food, good drinks, and it is a wonderful place to spend a day.
There is also Red Frog Beach, which is another world-class beach. They have little taco stands over there, they have restaurants, a zipline, a marina, etc. It is an amazing place, and there are a lot of things to do over there. That could be a typical expat one day neat thing to do.
Posted February 26, 2015